Breakfast With Scot

Sooo...

The biggest thing in the movie that made me go 'huh'? The credits.

Produced in association with both Corus and Astral. This is... odd to me on a number of levels. Please keep in mind that I don't work for either of these companies and most of my knowledge of these companies has to do with their radio assets... but...

First of all... since when is Astral into film/TV? As far as I know, Astral used to be Standard. Standard owned very little TV stations... they did buy out the Craigs (who owned a block of specialty stations), but I think that Craig maintained ownership of their TV assets and only sold off their radio stations. I could be completely wrong. And who knows, maybe Astral has aquired more TV related assets since buying Standard... or maybe they were bigger into TV than Standard was... but until the buyout happened, I hadn't even heard of Astral... and I'm someone who's shopped for employment with most major media companies. I check Corus' job postings regularly. I check all TV job postings regularly.

And... usually, these companies are too busy duking it out to team up on anything. Now, maybe the film recieved several grants and that's where the partnership ends, but it still strikes me as odd to have these two companies linked to the same film. It's kind of like Disney and MGM deciding to share Shirley Temple. Believe me, the amount of politics involved is absolutely insane when it comes to media. The stuff I deal with on a dialy basis would blow your mind.

While we're on this topic... media is changing in Canada so fast that it's hard to tell what the hell is going on most of the time. When I started out, there were a few big companies... Corus, CHUM, Standard, Rogers, CanWest, CTV, maybe NewCap and GoldenWest if we're feeling generous. In literally the last few years, CTV has become CTV Bell Globemedia which is a huge conglomerate and they then bought out CHUM (MuchMusic, MTV Canada, etc) after CHUM had just bought out another company... I believe it was the remainder of the Craig assetts but to be quite honest, I can't remember. Astral then came out of left field and somehow managed to buy out Standard. NewCap recently bought out a whole bunch of Corus stations (recently as in the last 5-10 years). The landscape is changing and becoming smaller and smaller. Sooner or later, we're all going to be working for the same people and there'll be no wage competition, no benefit competition, no reason to treat us well. We don't have a union. If this is getting disjointed sounding, that's because I'm having a minor panic attack just typing this. Some radio/TV stations are unionized, but it's a market by market thing. I believe Astral may be unionized? I know that some stations are. I also know that the CHUM station in Winnipeg was unionized (possibly). But, there are no specific unions, like ACTRA or WGC for these people (me included). Many people may claim that unions suck, and I would have to agree with some of their points, but as talent, what makes me different than an actor? Why shouldn't I have union scale and all these things? Why shouldn't my employer be forced to pay me fairly for the work that I do? Why can't I demand green M&M's in my dressing room? Wait... got a little off topic there... :P

Okay... I'm ranting now... so I'm going to end this right here. The movie was good by the way. Highly recommended and I'm going to pick the book up tomorrow.

EDIT: One nitpicky thing I remembered about the movie... I really liked the guy who played Eric, but I have one minor eyebrow raise about the whole thing. He doesn't really look like and NHL goon. He looks more like... Brian Orser than Tie Domi or Mark Messier. I just couldn't picture him mauling people on the ice! No matter how tough you are, if you're the size of Theo Fleury, you're not going to win against Mark Messier. No matter how many Lays potato chips he's packing back these days. And I just know that because I used those people to make my point, someone is going to come up with a YouTube video of Fleury beating the crap out of Messier. But whatever. I think you get the point.

I'm ...

... not studying in the library. Yes, I'm in the library and yet I'm not studying. Interesting concept.

I'm SMRT!

I'm taking intelligence in psych right now. Apparently, despite the fact that I have practically no mental math skills (I use my cell phone to figure out how much to tip at restaurants for pete's sake!) and I can't spell for shit, I'm gifted.

Your general IQ score is: 139

I shall now gloat appropriately and not think about how there is most likely some sort of error in the testing or calculating.

Enlightenment Via My Little Brother

My little brother is one of my favorite people. Sure, he's annoying (hell, most 14 year olds are), but he's like my baby. I know that sounds odd... but I'm sure that other people with siblings who are a whole heck of a lot younger than they are can relate.

I remember the first time I saw him. I was flooded with unconditional love for the first time in my life. I mean, I know that my parents unconditionally love me. They always have. I've always loved them. I've never known any different. It's always been that way. Same with my other brother. But with my baby brother, it was almost a feeling of *snap* here's someone else you'd jump in front of a bus for and it hadn't been like that a couple seconds ago. It was like a flood.

Anyways... my brother is a little sheltered. Although he has a dirt bike and lives in the country, he somehow manages to be the biggest city kid you've ever met. I was talking to him on the phone one night and I had to explain what a rodeo was to him. Explain a rodeo!

I explained that people ride bulls in rodeos. He gave the best reply.

"But... why?" Why would they do that! And you know what? He's right. Isn't it really retarded when you think of it? Who was the first person to go 'wow... there's a big, mean, bull and I'm gonna get up on his back and ride him!' and why on earth would they think that's a good idea? It's kinda like mutton busting. Who the hell thought 'let's put our precious little babies on the back of sheep and see how long it takes them to fall off!'

I swear. My kids are going to be wrapped in bubble wrap.

I'm watching the Lion's game on TSN right now. BC place is empty compared to places like WPG Stadium and Mosaic Stadium (Sask). It always amazed me that places like TO and Vancouver can't get a decent crowd out.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

There were some changes at work today that changed my job description. Basically, in the spirit of giving me more time to do my main task, something that I enjoy doing was taken away. It's really a mixed bag. Part of me needs the time and part of me wants to scream and yell. I've been very busy at work lately and it's obviously not working... I need to focus on my main task... but at the same time, I don't want to give up something that I love.

I had an honest conversation with my APD today about it and pretty much reminded him that although I know they're not going to change their minds, what was being changed was something that enticed me to come out here. Basically, it was a bit of a hold over of my old job to the new job because I didn't want to give up all of my old job up. It was something that was part of the package when I moved out here and I just feel like it's been taken away piece by piece.

So, he asked -- very politically correctly -- if I was thinking of doing this thing ever again. Which really meant that he was asking if I was looking at leaving. I told him that if I ever did this thing again, I would hope that it would be with the same company but that I wasn't sure. Very uncomfortable considering that the APD is actually a good friend.

I'm good at being talent. I don't mean to sound conceited, but I'm a good DJ. I moved up the on air ladder quite quickly and when I moved out here, I gave most of that up. I listen to shows from when I was really good and I feel... upset. Because since I'm not doing that sort of thing all the time, I feel that I'm off my game and out of practice and maybe not as good as I used to be. But I also struggle with the public part of being a DJ -- always being on -- you might laugh, but it's actually kind of awful if you're a little shy like I can be. I struggle when I'm in front of a crowd. I struggle when random people approach me in superstore. I struggle when wackos memorize my bio off the station web site or ask me out via the request line. I struggle with a whole lot of things that come naturally to most on air talent. I'm not anti social... but I'm also not the most outgoing person, so that's why I moved away from that social aspect a bit. But for whatever reason, I'm now struggling with not being talent.

I have a choice to make. This career is going to get me through school, so I'm going to be in it for quite awhile longer (maybe forever) and I need to think long and hard about what makes me feel happiest. Am I willing to give up the talent part of my job? Or, am I willing to force myself into situations that I feel uncomfortable with to keep that aspect of my job?

I've always said that I've never wanted to do a morning show. A morning show is the epitome of success. I've never done it full time. I did a two month stretch once when a DJ was very sick and worked with a co-host that I had no chemistry with and I think that turned me off. Plus, by 11 AM, I didn't want to talk to me because I was so damn grouchy. But, now, I think that I might really want to get there some day. I want to be able to say that I did it.

I don't know why all of these thoughts are hitting me now. Confusing.

Just Quickly...

... There are a new set of shorts up at the NSI website for their online short film festival. I've watched a couple and it seems like a good batch.

http://www.nsi-canada.ca/film_festival.aspx

So...

... I'm done stoically wallowing (Is that an oxymoron?)

I'm going to see 'Breakfast With Scot' next week. I'd post a link but everyone has google and I'm lazy. Basically, it's about an atypical gay couple who ends up with a flaming little boy. It looks hysterically funny and it's neat to me...

It's neat because I'll admit that I wrote a 'gay-mance'. It came about because I couldn't write any sort of romantic female characters. I just couldn't. I know... I'm a girl. And actually kind of romantic. But I was having problems (which I have since rectified) and being lazy, I just simply eliminated the female eliment *rolls eyes*.

I actually started it quite awhile ago, but it's only recently evolved into what it is now. I would actually say that it's one of my better pieces.

Here's the thing... if someone asked to see some of my work, it would probably be the first thing I would show. It would probably also be the last of my writing that I would ever expect to be produced.

I still don't think it'll ever be produced. Realistically. But things like 'Breakfast With Scot' give all of those personal favs of ours hope. You know, the stories that we all want to tell and we're not sure how others will like it... or we're nervous about the content... or you're pretty sure that there's no chance in hell that anyone will ever produce it...

Many indie films are... risque... but hardly any have the success of 'Breakfast With Scot' (and I guess that you could argue that the film isn't all that risque if you really wanted to. I mean, we live in Canada).

I'm trying to keep up with Canadian cinema because it seems that more and more great Canadian films are being made... YPF is another recent success story (although you could argue that if it wasn't called YPF and Bill C-10 had never come up, it might have went on pretty much unnoticed) and it's awesome to see great Canadian movies without the booms in the shots and all of that other stereotypical bullshit.

After that rant... I can't not mention the funding cuts to the national schools. I'm an NSI alum and I have to say that the training I got was top notch. Two thumbs up. In order to be competitive with the HUGE film market south of us, we need things like the NSI. I'm probably going to get eaten by vultures here, but I don't necesarily need to see that money returned to the NSI. I'd settle for just staying within the arts training stream. Want to try doing something different with the money? Fine. Just don't cut us off. New can be good... stopped is what's bad.

Lastly...

Before I go to bed I just wanted to post this because I've completely ignored the news (blog-wise) that Jeffrey Buttle has retired.

So... here's the CBC coverage of his winning long program at Worlds. Try to ignore Scott Oake :P



When I first heard that Jeff was retiring, I was a little shocked. I think that since he looks so young, we tend to forget that he's getting up there for a skater. He'll be 28 for the 2010 Games. While I still think that he has a couple more years in him, I also understand his decision. I don't mean this in a critical way... because I'll never land a triple, never mind a quad... but at the age that Jeff is at, it's very unrealistic that he'll add a consistent quad to his repertoire. Sadly, if he wants to compete for the gold at the Olympics, he'd need one. His win at worlds said a lot about skating and how the whole package is important to be competitive... and he won by a whole heck of a lot... but realistically, the quad is still very important.

Quad or no quad, this program will still go down in history as one of the best long programs of all time and one of the most surprising wins of all time.

This Ararat program is gorgeous. If you have time, go back and watch his first performance of it at the 2007 Canadians when he came back from his back injury. Truly inspiring. I simply love this program. Every component is planned. Every movement is choreographed. All to gain maximum points. And yet, it looks so free and easy going. Kurt Browning is known for his Casablanca long program. This is Jeff's Casablanca.

It's My Blog and I'll Whine If I Want To...

I'm sick. Like oh-God-shoot-me-in-the-head-and-put-me-out-of-my-misery sick. I have the cold from Hades and I cannot get rid of it. It took forever for me to come down with it... for a good week, I staged a counter attack with coldFX and it seemed to back down. Then BAM! And it's taking even longer to go away.

I've tried everything to blast this thing out of my head. Benadryl. Contac-C. Dristan. Sudafed. Nothing works. I've drank not one, not two, not three, but four containers of Sun Rype Citrus Blend over the past two weeks and a bit. Four. Any more vitamin C and i'll give myself an ulcer.

Kill me now.

The only thing that makes me feel any better? Mentos. I have no idea why.

Free Writing, ect.

I should point out that the writing exercise in the post below is pretty much 'free writing'. My prof is obsessed with it. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I cleaned it up a bit before I posted, but, yah, still free writing.

I'm not really qualified to lecture anyone on anything -- except, maybe, why Metallica and Rhianna should never, ever be played back to back -- although I do sometimes rant, but whatever. So, I think I'm going to do more posts like this one where I bring forth a topic that kind of interests me and then let whomever is reading this take from it what they will and leave it kind of open ended.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how people play different roles for different people or maybe play different roles at different times in their lives. Now, despite using the word 'play', I don't mean that we're fakers... just that one person is many things to many different people at different times in their life. Also, context matters a whole lot. Take these two examples:

I once saw k.d. lang in the grocery store. Now, I've always thought of her as a feminist-lesbian-vegetarian. That's just what she was when I pictured her in my head. When I saw her at the grocery store, she was wearing jeans and a striped shirt that looked pretty much like something my non-feminist-non-lesbian-non-vegetarian mother would wear. She smiled at me and we both carried on our ways with no rants over the Grade A Canada beef in my cart. It occured to me that it was a little silly of me to expect her to be a feminist-vegitarian-lesbian at the grocery store. That might be part of who she is... it might be what we see on TV... but that doesn't mean that's all she is.

Example 2. I'll use a bit of a personal example for this one only because I'm pretty sure everyone has 'this person' in their lives. The first person who broke their heart. Let's call my 'this person' C. C and I struggled through a whole lot for many, many years before deciding that it just wasn't working. I actually moved to live close to him at one point. I know we loved each other and I know I worked really hard to make things work and I'd like to think that he worked really hard, too. But, sometimes working really hard isn't enough and I ended up with my heart broken into about a billion pieces. To me, he'll forever be the person who broke my heart for the first time. But he's also someone else's best friend, someone's brother, someone's son.

I know I said I'd leave this open ended... but I will say this... do you ever feel that you trap your characters within one person's view of who they are? Do you sometimes forget that maybe the person who broke someone's heart in whatever you're working on is also someone else's something else?

Hopeful Problem Solving

If you couldn't tell from the below post, I'm still having problems with my creative writing assignment. I feel like this should be easy for me -- I mean, this is my thing.

But... not everything is easy... so...

I flipped open my text book and found an exercise that asks me to remember childhood moments and think about what parts of the memory are vivid and why. Also, why do I still remember that memory as a whole? Why does the experience stick out?

So... here we go...

When I was about 13, my Dad got mad at me for getting mad at him. Looking back at many times when I got mad at my Dad, I wince and think 'man, I was being a total bitch' because my Dad is actually one of the best people on this planet. BUT, there's a few memories that I still look back at -- to this day -- and I still think that he was in the wrong. I guess parents can't be perfect all the time.

Anyways, as my punishment, my Dad told me that I had to take the bus home from summer day camp. He usually picked me up -- he worked about three minute drive from where I was at camp. I'm not sure what he thought this punishment would accomplish. Other than terrifying me. This might sound silly, but I'd never taken the bus alone. My parents lived outside of town and I was driven everywhere. I'd probably taken the bus with friends in the city and with my mom when I was very young, but never on my own.

The night before my bus trip, I was absolutely freaked out. My Dad insisted that I would be fine. He told me to walk to Main Street and get on any bus with an 18 on it. It'd take me out to the highway and I'd have to walk the rest of the way.

So. I walk to Main Street. Get on a bus with '18' on it. The thing is... there's about four #18 buses and they all go to different places. I remember that the one I was on turned and headed down to the rink where I figure skated. Hmm. Interesting. I got off the bus because it was now headed into unknown territory and by getting off at the rink, I at least had a vague idea of where I was. I walked up to Main Street (once again) and started walking home.

I think my Dad found me a couple hours later, still shuffling down Main Street. I'm pretty sure I had just hit the highway. When I failed to arrive home, he checked the bus schedule and realized that there were multiple #18 routes.

I know it might not seem that horrible... but I was miserable by the time he picked me up. He actually had to drive beside me for a good couple minutes before I would even look at him and get into the car. And I have to say, up to that point, I'd never seen him look so guilty.

I know this might sound like a pampered princess story, but it holds up one of the laws of parenting that I think every parent should follow: Never, ever use fear as a punishment. My Dad knew how genuinely scared I was of that bus ride. It never should have been used as a punishment.

So... why does this memory stick out to me? Because it was one of the few times that I felt truly betrayed by my dad (and that makes me a very lucky kid). My dad was usually the rational one, but that time, he made a bad parenting decision. Usually, those were reserved for my mother. It sticks out because it's so the opposite of how he usually parented.

What sticks out about the memory? I still remember exactly what I was wearing -- black shorts and a red t-shirt. My Dad had the top down on his car. I stopped at McDonalds and spent the money I should have used on a pay phone - but I was too angry to call my Dad - and bought an Oreo McFlurry. It was really hot and my backpack was sticking to my back and t-shirt with sweat. Oh, and my dad picked me up from camp for the rest of the summer :P

The Word Weird....

... is funny.

Sometimes, it can mean, well, weird. But sometimes it can mean I FEEL OUT OF PLACE! THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL SO CREATIVE AND I'M NOT!

Just some food for thought for you.

Where I Go All Five Year Old And Throw A Tantrum

I have no clue what to write for this stupid creative writing class. It's retarded how hard it is to pick something while not only knowing that your work is going to be heavily critiqued, but also knowing exactly who your audience is.

I've been toying with the idea of posting this assignment here. If I ever get anything written. Nothing will come! Ah! Back on topic... I figure that since it's just a class assignment, it couldn't hurt to post it here.

Funny how that is... I'm fine with posting the finished piece of junk on the interweb for everyone and their cats to see, but I can't think of what to write because the thought of twelve amateur writers with a penchant for the weird reading my work has me paralyzed.

Dumb.

Oh well... back to it... I have all of three vague ideas in my word processor and none of them look all that appealing.

Wish me luck!

EDIT: Also, does anyone else catch themselves gravitating towards certain names? I always think of John and Jamie first...

For Whatever Reason...

Okay, back to writing.

I'm having problems in my creative writing class. I'm woman enough to admit it.

Part of it is because the people in the class are mostly pretty weird and that seems to be shadowing my own writing. But really, why should I write something completely retarded just because the rest of my class is going to venture off into the land of sociopathic-lighter-carrying-body-burning-psychotic-knife-wielding-ex-boyfriend-carpenters. (And that really is a mix of a couple ideas that people shopped around during the class.)

I can be normal if I want to! It doesn't make me any less creative.

Still, I'm not sure what to write. I think I'd like to try a sci-fi piece, but I'm not really sure... it scares me a bit... but at the same time, it's something I haven't really done before and it might be exciting.

If it comes down to it, I'll just hack a twelve page piece of my novel out of the bowels of my computer and use that... but that feels like a bit of a cop out and I'd rather write something fresh.

I'm approaching finding a starting point somewhat like finding a thesis statement or an introduction. I'm looking for a topic I'd like to see expanded on and then I'll build a fictional story around that issue.

Any ideas?

McCain

Interesting POV...


Part of me feels that requesting full medical records is too invasive... but part of me feels that if this man has a chance of being the next President of the United States, it's only fair that the people who might vote for him have the chance to make an informed decision on whether or not he'll make it through the presidency and/or if he'll be able to carry out his duties.

This also brings Sarah Palin into the equation a bit more than the conventional VP candidate. I know more things are coming out about her views and that's only fair considering that -- in all honesty -- John McCain may very well die or become incapacitated while in office and she stands a good chance of becoming president. Do you really want someone like Sarah Palin to become president? Becoming VP is one thing... the possibility of inheriting the presedency is another. Because, let's face it, she's no Hilary Clinton no matter how much the GOP wants us to see her as exactly that.

Yes, it's american politics... but you're naive if you think that, as a Canadian, who wins isn't going to effect you.

New WPG Stadium

David Asper wants to build a new stadium in Winnipeg and get control of the team in return. For most Winnipegers, this is an old story. There's a new plan though, check out TSN for info.

I have major issues with this plan. Not only will it pull the Bombers away from being a publicly owned team (which I love) but I think it's a major conflict of interest because David Asper owns CANWEST GLOBAL! Who has bomber rights in Winnipeg right now? That would be Corus and CJOB. How long will that last with a competing media company OWNING THE TEAM? Probably not long.

I like David Asper. I think he does great things for Winnipeg and most times, I really like the way he conducts business, but I think this whole 'buying the bombers' thing is a horrible idea. How long until CanWest reporters get the first scoop on stories? How long until that inner connection starts to show? And that's not fair for the rest of the people covering the team. It's also not fair to the rest of the league, who has a major contract with TSN/CTV Globemedia.

This is different from a situation like SkyDome becoming Roger's center. To the best of my knowledge, Roger's does not own the Argos (although I could be wrong), and even if they did, it wouldn't make David Asper owning the Bombers right.

That's just my opinion.

If David really wants to build a new stadium, I think he should go for it. He should pay for it, and then he should rent it out to people like the Bombers just like Winnipeg Enterprises does right now with Winnipeg Stadium. The team should stay publicly owned, but if that's not possible, at the very least, it should be bought by a team of investors or at least someone who isn't going to change/monopolize the media landscape in Winnipeg by owning the team. Where's Mark Chipman? Hello, Sam Katz (although this one might not be that much better)? Burton Cummings? Randy Bachman? ANYONE?

And...

I came across someone I know on the BC roster. Traitor! Just kidding.

I went to High School with this guy... despite his SCARY roster pic, he was actually an okay guy although he was a bit... um... dim? I feel bad saying that because I never saw one of his report cards or anything, but he was in a couple of my classes and that's certainly how he came off.

Lorne Plante

#69 C

Let's revisit his year book entry (because I can):

NN: Plante, Plantster
FS: "Little Zeekers"
PP: People who walk slow (stand around) in hall
AMB: Pro football player, to have a helper monkey *I wonder if he's still working on the monkey...*
FATE: To be 210 Lbs. *not sure from the wording if this is good or bad, but he's 305 right now*
MMM: Tom's beer bottle incident

Seriously?

They couldn't get a pic of him in a BC uniform?

From the official BC Lion's web site:


EDIT: Ah... since I posted via link, I see that they've now changed the pic to one of him actually in a BC uniform. Obviously, I wasn't the only one that thought the previous picture was completely stupid.

BC SUCKS! Wait... I need them to win tonight!!!

I need a BC win to go 4 for 4 this week in the CFL pool I'm in. Anyone want to join me in some finger crossing?

39-9

First off, I would not want to be a Toronto Argonaut tonight. Yikes! Or tomorrow morning. Don Matthews scares me, although he does look like he's calmed down a bit.

As for the Bombers... my god... why haven't they been playing like this all season? They actually looked like a team that made it to the Grey Cup final last year. They've announced that they're still competitors, and hey, with how TO is looking, it might not be all that difficult for them to wrap up a playoff spot. I know that sounds absurd, but look at the standings in the east before you argue with me. As long as Hamilton loses this weekend, we still have some hope. Winnipeg could have dismantled Montreal or Saskatchewan tonight, never mind just lowly TO.

I'm already in my PJs. I think school is like childbirth... it's horrible when you're in it, but then you get a break and start thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad and that you really like the results, so you sign up for the next year only to realize that you were being delusional. I have sooo much reading to get through this weekend, but I refuse to look at it tonight. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

And back to football... I was joking with a friend that before they named a street after Milt Steegal they didn't really think of what people should call it or the ways it could be... manipulated. What are we going to call it? The Steeg? The Milt? 'I'm taking the Milt to Polo?' BUT, I'd never thought of this one:

I got a text from one of my friends the other day that simply said: I'm riding Milt Steegal.

I'm riding Milt Steegal.

I'll leave you with that.

Today...

We all know what today is. I think we're all torn because we want to remember to honour those who were lost and those who lost them; but at the same time, we don't want to remember how we felt seven years ago today. I know I don't.

I wasn't going to talk about September 11th, but I heard a story this evening that made me realize that I couldn't just try to forget. I couldn't ignore the date. I was fine until I was driving home from school and I heard one of the DJ's on another radio station in the area recall a personal story from September 11th. She'd known someone who had lost their life. As she was telling her story, I couldn't help but cry. When she was done, suddenly I felt so silly to be listening to Maroon Five and doing all of this normal stuff. My stomach started to feel sick. I felt anxious.

I thought about what I could post on this day. Maybe the story of what I was doing when I found out or thoughts on the situation, and I came to the conclusion that no matter what I posted, it just wouldn't be enough. It wouldn't be enough.

I will say this though... I think we should all live our lives today. Some people tried to scare our freedom out of us, and so far, it hasn't worked. Love that. Go for a walk. Hug someone. Enjoy something that you love.

I would say that I'm spiritual, but I'm not particularly religious. This song always makes me cry, though. I first heard it before the 5th anniversary of September 11th. I suspected that it had something to do with 9/11 but it wasn't until I saw the intro to this video that I heard the story of why it was written.

The Story In It's Simplest Form

When writing a huge project, it's easy to lose sight of the basics. Let's face it... when something is 100+ pages long, it can be very easy to get lost.

To remind us of the basics, let's think about the story in it's simplest form. Shrunk. Songs.

Many songs present concepts or abstract thoughts and don't really get into a plot, but some of them really tell a story and in order to do so, bring that story down to it's very bones. Yes, songs can leave a lot up to the listeners interpretation, but still, they can tell a story.

Plus, in songs, things need to be basic -- compact. You need to get down to business and just tell the story. There's no room for dilly dallying. If I ever feel stuck -- like I don't know where I am in a project -- I always turn to a good song.

Here's one of my fav story teller songs:

Blue Rodeo - Five Days In May

They met in a hurricane
Standing in the shelter out of the rain
She tucked a note into his hand
Later on they took his car
Drove on down where the beaches are
He wrote her name in the sand
Never even let go of her hand

Somehow they stayed that way
For those 5 days in May
Made all the stars around them shine
Funny how you can look in vain
Living on nerves and such sweet pain
The loneliness that cuts so fine
To find the face you've seen a thousand times

Sometimes the world begins
To set you up on your feet again
It wipes the tears from your eyes
How will you ever know
The way that circumstances go
Always going to hit you by surprise
I know my past
You were there
In everything I've done
You are the one

Looking back it's hard to tell
Why they stood while others fell
Spend your life working it out
All I know is one cloudy day
They both just ran away
Rain on the windshield heading South
She loved the lines around his mouth

Sometimes the world begins
To set you up on your feet again
It wipes the tears from your eyes
How will you ever know
The way that circumstances go
Always going to hit you by surprise
I know my past
You were there
In everything I've done
You are the one

I guess that, really, it's a mix of a concept song and a story telling song... or you could argue that all songs tell some sort of story... whatever... I'll strop ranting! Here's a vid from the CBC:


Here's another one...

Tracy Chapman's Fast Car

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs
You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way

That Feeling

There's a few scripts that I'm working on but the one I talk about most here is a screenplay that I've been working on for most of the summer. Maybe I should give it a fictional name to distinguish... maybe another time.

Anyway, for the last month it's been sitting around taking up memory, untouched, because I knew changes needed to be made. I outlined them and things still felt wrong. I was looking to change what happens in my scenes but I wasn't opening myself up to a major rewrite that meant scrapping a good twenty pages.

You see, when I write, I've so heavily outlined that I make most of my story/plot changes before I ever get to final draft. I toy with the characters and story. Write down dialogue. Change plot points. Change characters. By the time I get to actually writing the script, it's really just a matter of getting it all into Final Draft.

That said, I think this is the most substantial rewrite I've ever done. I ripped apart the scenes and looked at what I wanted from my ending at a very base level. If you read back through my blog, you'll find that I just wanted more. I wanted the resolution to be a bit more dramatic and less snap your fingers and it's done. Less 'I love you, you love me, we're a happy family'.

So, I left the confines of what I'd written and deleted the last twenty pages and changed what gets them to the end. In the original draft, one of the characters realizes that he's a dork and does a BIG EVENT to make up for it, but there's no talk on why he was a dork. We never really find out. Plus, the BIG EVENT was a little cheesy and I didn't really like it when it came down to it. So, I brought the story down to earth and added some defining moments where he realizes what he's done wrong. I also added an apology which hadn't been in the first draft. (I know -- how could I miss that?)

So, now I have that feeling where I know I made the right decision. I love that feeling.

Completely Self Serving...

Why do I love Paul McCartney? And really... my love for his music is beyond normal...

Because not only was he a member of one of the most prolific song writing pairings of our century -- or ever -- but he's still making great music almost 50 years later.





I could go into a huge rant about why he's so amazing (he never sounds like he's trying -- he writes what he likes... he never went crazy and let his wife squawk like a bird on his album... he's not about being 'artsy' and is fine with 'silly little love songs' while still writing really beautiful pieces...) but I figure that a video is worth a thousand words.

I know this sounds blasphemous, but I love his music so much more than John's.

Let's Try Something...

So, I want to learn how to write dialogue and actions that are clear and not ambiguous. I'm not talking about the ambiguity of 'I put money in the bank' or 'I ate cookies on the couch', but I guess a deeper ambiguity. Sometimes, looking at lines, I see an infinite amount of ways that they could be read. Take this simple exchange for example:

KRISTY
We're going to my mom's for dinner. She's making her famous meatloaf.

MAX
I love your mom's meatloaf. It's so -- meaty

Okay... ignore the fact that that's the worst set lines I've ever written. Think of it on a technical level. Is Kristy being sarcastic? Does she like her mom's meatloaf or is she making fun of it? Is she excited about going to mom's for dinner? Is she dreading it? Is Max being sarcastic? Is he being placating? Does he really love the meatloaf? Is he making fun? Being mean? Shy? Teasing? If he is making fun, is he being malicious or is it a playful tease? Are Max and Kristi arguing? Playing? What's the tone of the exchange?

The possibilities are endless without context. One might quickly move to put a parentheses under Max's name, but as a former actor, I know that most actors want to take the character and make it theirs. They don't want to be outright told what to do.

Let's try something different... I've randomly opened a book I just finished reading (Stephenie Meyers' The Host P.236-237) to some dialogue. Read this carefully:

Jeb laughed when I emerged; his eyes were on the soap in my cautious grasp.

"Smarts a bit, don't it? We're trying to fix that." He held out his hand, protected by the tail of his shirt, and I placed the soap in it.

I didn't answer his question because we weren't alone; there was a line waiting silently behind him -- five people, all of them from the field turning.

Ian was first in line.

"You look better," he told me, but I couldn't tell from his tone if he was surprised or annoyed that I did.

He raised on arm, extending his long, pale fingers toward my neck. I flinched away, and he dropped his hand quickly.

"Sorry about that," he muttered.

Did he mean for scaring me now or for marking up my neck in the first place? I couldn't imagine that he was apologizing for trying to kill me. Surely he still wanted me dead. But I wasn't going to ask. I started walking, and Jeb fell into step behind me.

So how would you change that into script form without leaving it ambiguous and open to interpretation? How would you convey Wanderer's thoughts on Ian? How would you convey that she really thinks that Ian still wants her dead? Is a simple flinch enough? How do you instruct Ian's 'Sorry about that'? How do you make sure that whomever is playing Jeb doesn't laugh maniacally with the intent to scare?

How do you stop the above scene from turning out like one of those remixed movie trailers where Mary Poppins is evil? I think something like those trailers are perfect examples of how quickly and easily lines can get twisted into something you didn't intend.

You might think that the above exercise is baby stuff and not worth your time. Some writers may claim that their writing is ambiguity free. That's bull crap. The easiest way to confuse a person is with the written word. People take vocal, social, and assumption induced clues when interpreting ambiguity in speech. The written word eliminates those cues unless you're very careful. Having a conversation play out via email instead of face to face can be disasterous. If you doubt that your writing holds ambiguity, give it to someone else to read. If you can't wrangle a couple actors, grab a couple friends and have them read your work aloud. You will be absolutely flabergasted at how differently they interpret your writing.

So. Ambiguity. How do you eliminate it?

Since I'm no expert, I'm going to leave the end of this blog open ended. I've raised the question, but I'm not qualified to school you on the answer. Someone else take a stab.

Ya Ya!

I watched Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood this weekend. I had a bit of a learning moment 3/4 of the way through as I was sobbing -- I always sob when watching it. My revelation was this... Ya Ya was probably a really cheesy script.

Scripts are a whole different ball game than books. I've read really crappy scripts that made great movies. Well, crappy might not be the right word. The thing is, scripts lack the narrative freedom of a book and they're going to read differently. The trick is to be able to see what people -- actors, directors, producers -- will do with the words written on the page. Scripts are very limiting in the fact that they deal with only what you can see/hear. There's no Jason felt that, maybe, Chantelle didn't love him in scripts. You have to show how Jason feels. If Jason feels that Chantelle doesn't love him, you need to have him discuss it with someone... or have Chantelle be a bitch... of go off of Jason's facial expression. There's no narrative insight into his psyche. In a way, it keeps you honest: you really have to paint things out with dialogue and actions... But mostly, it's very restrictive for readers.

Ya Ya is a perfect example of a script that many non industry people would have rolled their eyes at while reading but balled their eyes out while watching.

I'm not saying that we should all accept that scripts are crappy or something. That's totally not where I'm going with this. What I'm trying to get at is that scripts are different. The story is told differently.

That's just my opinion, anyways. It'll probably change next week.

False Advertising

There's stretching things and then there's false advertising. When I tell you what product I'm pissed at, you're going to roll your eyes, but I really don't care.

I bought ice cream awhile ago that proclaimed 'loaded with suff!!!!' on the label. Cookie Dough. I've found maybe half a dozen cookie dough pieces in this 'loaded with stuff' carton. And it REALLY PISSES ME OFF! I seriously want to call their customer service line and complain. I take my ice cream seriously! If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be ice cream. I've worked at two different ice cream shops. I love ice cream and I really wanted 'loaded with stuff' cookie dough packed ice cream! Dammit!

I know -- I'm pathetic. I get it.

Fav TV Characters

I have my chips and dip ready for the Banjo Bowl. So far, as long as Montreal continues to kill TO, I'm 3 for 3 in the CFL pool I'm in for this week. WPG and Sask should be good. Hopefully. If Winnipeg shows up it'll be good.

Onto my title subject... my fav TV characters. I figured I'd look at what stood out to me and try and see if I could piece together what makes a good character.

So...

1. Chandler Bing - Friends

Why do I like him? Well, he's a bit weird but pretty cute. He's a little clueless with the ladies and dates chicks like Janice but ends up with Monica. He's smart. Basically, I think Chandler is the guy that every reasonably smart girl wishes she could find. Not dumb... not a womanizer... a bit of a 'fixer-up-er'... and reasonably good looking.

2. James Wilson - House, MD

Why do I like him? He's smart but also a little stupid. I mean, he continues to let House destroy his life. This also shows how dedicated he is despite how many times he's been divorced. I'm pretty sure we're going to see Wilson get a backbone this season, though, after the whole 'Amber' thing. He's a nice guy. Tragically flawed, though.

3. Sam Carter - Stargate: SG1/Stargate: Atlantis

Why I like her? Sam is a great leader, a strong personality, a great character. She's also a girl through and through. She has problems with boys. She cries sometimes while still being strong. There's a great scene in the locker room with her and Teal'c -- when both Jack and Daniel are 'missing' -- where she breaks down. It doesn't take away from how strong she is... it just shows how caring she is. She pines over a guy for ten years. Ten years, people! So many writers (both male and female) struggle with writing female characters with any sort of depth acurately. You'll find that the 'shallow' characters all seem fine... the attorneys on procedurals, etc... but there's no real depth. Sam has depth. She's actually a developed character. She's realisitic (as much as she can be on Stargate!) and she's will written. That is so rare.

4. Leroy Jethro Gibbs - NCIS

Why I like him? Gibbs is like an onion... the writers are constantly peeling back layers. He seems to be 'all business' and kind of detached, but we quickly realize how dedicated he is to his team. His back story is very strong and it's still not completely told. The onion! I'm telling you! What he's managed to come through in his life is amazing but you still get the feeling that there's even more that you don't know about. I love Mark Harmon and I think he does a great job with the character.

5. Anthony Dinozo - NCIS

Why I like him? Tony is a bit nuts. He's always smiling and teasing, but when it comes down to it, he's a great agent. He might step a toe over the line a couple times, but he seems to know where to stop. Also, after seeing him serial date for a few seasons, it was nice to see him completely fall for Jean. Even though Tony is strong, you get a bit of a feeling of vulnerability from him... a need to be liked and loved. I've always wondered what made Jenny trust Tony oh-so-much, but I don't think we'll ever find out what it was now that Jenny is dead. I love NCIS. It's so well told. So well put together. Every time they start twisting a story, they give you enough info to placate you and then you realize that they've also opened up so many more questions. In my opinion, all aspiring writers should make a habit of watching NCIS. They know how to tell a story.

6. Elliot Stabler - Law and Order: SVU

Why do I like him? I like Elliot for the same reasons as I like Gibbs. But you also get a feeling of something being just a little 'off' with Elliot. That he could just snap. I haven't watched much of SVU in the last couple years, but Elliot is still up there on my list. Love him. Wish they would do a bit more character development with him, but it's a procedural... you take what you can get!

7. Huff - Huff

Why I like him? I love Huff... both the show and the character. If you've never seen Huff, the first season is worth picking up on DVD. It's one of the most screwed up shows you'll ever see, but it's like a train wreck. You can't stop watching. Huff is a psychiatrist and despite all of his knowledge, he finds himself slipping. He wants so much for things to work. He'll do anything to try and keep things together. But things start to get to be too much and he starts to crumble. His brother is sick. His mom is fucking his best friend. His best friend is a drug addict. His wife is leaving him. His son is up to questionable behaviour. I never did see the 2nd season and it isn't on DVD, but the first season is insane. Love Huff.

8. Fox Mulder - X-Files

Why I love him? Because his story is so sad. Because he's so dedicated and brave. He doesn't care what other people think about his views and that's very noble. Also, there also seems to be something 'off'. Like he could lock himself up in a house with posters all over, sporting a huge beard, scaring the hell out of Scully. Oh, wait, that happened!

Okay... so what do we see here? Most of the characters on my list are tragically flawed with a good heart. Well, all of them I guess. They're all 'fixer-up-ers'. They're also all frairly deep with an intricate backstory. They're also mostly male. Writing female characters is a a whole 'nother blog post, though.

I'm not sure if other people's lists would be the same, but I think that most people would list similar characters. We don't mind our characters being a little screwed up, but we want them to be good at the core. We want them to be realisic and yet still brave. I'm sure there's a whole lot more I could deduce from the above list, but to tell you the truth, this post is getting a little long... I'll leave further deduction up to you. It isn't rocket science.

School

I'm just so tired of school. I think I'm going to stick out this semester, but I'll be taking next semester off.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I work really hard at all of my classes. As a result, I'm completely done with school. The effort. The dedication. The time commitment. I don't want to have to study anymore. Exams make me want to cry. I used to look forward to exams because I worked so hard and I knew that my hard work would be rewarded... But now, I just feel frustrated at the time that it takes to prepare and the inability to be perfect no matter how hard I try. I hate reading boring text books. I hate sitting through boring lectures.

So, feeling the way I do, I figure it's best to take a break before heading into an intense year in 2009.

Why am I justifying my decision to a bunch of strangers? Gah! My brain really is mush!

HOUSE!!!! NCIS!!!

My fav show is back in a little more than a week...




My co-fav show will be back soon as well...

Fixed!

Okay... never playing with the layout again!!! :P

Just need to add my blogroll once again.

Layout Problems

Just a test to see if my layout problems only apply to old posts...

Interesting Assignment...

One of the assignments in my creative writing class is to eavesdrop. Seriously. Find a conversation that you are not part of and write it down. The purpose is to look at how dialogue is actually said and how to incorporate actual dialogue into your writing. I think this is a super cool assignment, but I have to admit that I'm already dreading it because I'm going to feel like a complete tool sitting and writing down someone else's conversation while trying not to get caught. And speaking of getting caught, if anyone is going to get caught, it'll probably be me! lol.

Still, I think this assignemnt will he a great way to learn. I don't say that about very many assignments. Actually, I find most of them completely useless. So, this will be a nice change.

Useful Q and A

I usually check Joseph Mallozzi's blog once a week or so and scroll through, trolling for useful information. Let's face it -- he's one of the few currently staffed writers (or showrunners) who actually posts useful info on a blog. He'll actually do scene by scene run downs of how episodes changed, etc. While these are interesting for fans, I find them even more interesting as an aspiring writer... there are other tidbits as well but they're usually liberally coated in other stuff and take some actual reading to find... it's his blog, so he can post about books and food as much as he likes (which he does), but I always look for the behind the scenes stuff.

He often does guest Q and A's. To be honest, I usually skip through them because they're usually full of very fannish questions -- especially when it's a guest star or something -- and to be completely honest, I really have no interest in whether Joe Flannigan was wearing his own clothes in a certain scene (if you read the below rec'd Q and A, you'll find out, though).

Nevertheless, I always scroll through any that look like they're going to give useful info... Joe has one up with director Andy Mikita... and while there are some very fannish questions, there are also some great questions and I really enjoyed reading through most of them.

Check out the Q and A HERE.

School

I added a neat course this evening... it's not exactly what I need, but it's better than the bonehead grammar course I was signed up for.

It's a fiction writing course and it'll help me build a portfolio (you know, because that's what we're graded on). It seems like I may have to write short stories... it's been awhile since I've done anything in the short narrative arena, but I think I shall enjoy it.

Bought new skates today. After all of my whining and moaning over Jackson/Gam (I think my exact words were: my hate knows no bounds), I actually purchased both Gam skates and blades at the recommendation of the skating coach who owns the near by skate shop. She assured me that if they didn't work out, she'd take care of me, but was adiment that they'd be perfect for me. I actually ended up spending less $$ than I thought I would, so as long as they're better than what I've got, I won't complain. And hey, they came with fuzzy monkey skate covers and bright pink, sparkly guards. I feel like a five year old, but I also think both of those accessories are awesome.

MacGyver

Just some food for thought late at night because I slept 14 hours last night and can't sleep :P

But... what other shows can you think of with a main cast of one. I mean, there's one other person in the credits, but the show is pretty much all MacGyver. And really, one other person in the credits!!

Shows like 'House' are named after a main character, but when you think about it, 'House' actually has a huge ensemble cast. MacGyver, not so much.

So... not only are their challenges writing wise... but think about the challenges shooting wise. Those were probably some pretty long shooting days for Richard Dean Anderson when you consider that he was in pretty much every scene of that show! At least it wasn't heavy on exposition... lol.

In all seriousness, I really can't think of any other shows so very focused on one character. Feel free to prove me wrong.

There. Chew on that!

Why Radio Stations Are Worse Than Kindergarten...

Aside from the sometimes kindergarten-ish behaviour...

When one DJ gets the plague, I can almost guarantee that almost all of the on air talent in the building will catch it. Radio studios are worse than the sandbox at a kindergarten. Think of it this way... We all sit in sound proof booths, talking into the same mic sock, touching the same buttons, touching the same screens, breathing in/touching each other's germs for however many hours every day.

Also... Most DJ's hardly ever call in sick. There are no sub morning show hosts (although most stations have a designated fill in should the need arise... I've been that person... getting a call at 4 AM is not fun...) like there are sub teachers. For example, say you're Joe Shmoe, Morning Guru at HOTTT FM (Home of the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and TODAY!) and you're sick. That means that you have to phone your PD at 4:00 in the morning and he's either going to have to haul his ass out of bed and fill in for you himself or he's going to have to call yet another unsuspecting soul to haul their ass out of bed and fill in for you... meaning that you'd better REALLY be sick or you have a really cold heart. The only time I ever got called in to do a morning show, the regular host was literally in the hospital. I've only ever called in sick three times. Two of those times, I had such a sore throat that I couldn't swallow my own spit... the other time, I'd lost my voice (meaning I was a pretty useless radio DJ).

So, it's almost comical to watch bugs travel through on air staff. One person is coughing and suddenly everyone is hacking up a lung.

I think I'm catching a cold. I think I'm patient zero. I'm preparing myself to be more hated than Judas for the next month.