Final touches are being made to THE HOLIDAY MEN in THE MASSACRE MEMORIAL DAY SALE MASSACRE EXTRA-SPECIAL COLLECTIBLE BLACK AND WHITE PRINT EDITION #1. And it is, if I do say so myself, Thoroughly Awesome.
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EXCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THE SKYPE
It took an expensive headset/microphone combination, but Skype now works. I've had all of two conversations on it and can already see this thing is going to waste a LOT of my time.
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MAYBE NOT MORE ACCURATE, BUT A DAMN SITE MORE SATISFYING THAN THE 6:00 NEWS WEATHER FORECAST
Anyone can talk about the weather, but it took the coming Olympic Games to prompt the Chinese government to do something about it. Specifically, shoot it and blow it up.
At least it provides an opportunity for 30+k farmers to get out of the fields and behind some heavy artillery. Because, obviously, completely arbitrary physical contests are MUCH more important than food.
I can see the situation now:
WANG: Colonel Li!
LI: Report, Sergeant Wang.
WANG: Radar's spotted a potential rain cloud forming to the east of the city!
LI: Ah, yes. The rain cloud. One of nature's wonders, a gift from the gods, showering us with the very essence of life...We must DESTROY it. Wang!
WANG: Sir!
LI: Summon The Farmers.
WANG (shuddering): The Farmers, sir? Are you...are you sure?
LI: Do it, Wang! I won't have a bunch of foreigners trying to run from an arbitrary point to another arbitrary point as fast as they can getting wet on my watch...
(via CanadianGeek.org)
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WORKS IN PROGRESS
GONE outlines for The Pack. - This is taking longer than it should. Much, much longer.
THE LITTLE BROTHER outline and script for the artist - New comic project conceived of last week for the artist. Have the beginning scripted, the end figured out. The middle, however...
Spec Movie Script #1 revisions for the manager - Still going to be a hassle to "fix", but I think I see how it can work. Maybe. To say I'm approaching it with trepidation is to use about five syllables more than are absolutely necessary.
Spec Movie Script #2 for manager - Taking too long, and going to take longer now that I'm back working on Spec #1.
THE HOLIDAY MEN...#1 - Obviously. But not for much longer...
Spec animated pilot script for the sake of having it - Primarily to show some hypothetical mentally challenged producer-types who aren't going to get it otherwise. (Theoretical) Morons.
THE HOLIDAY MEN Episode 3, for Nick - It's a good thing Nick's got all of Ep2 to get through first, because this is not flowing as well as I'd like. At all.
It also feels like an idea that's been rattling around my brain for a month is finally making a decent effort to get out of it. Feels like another pilot spec, and why not?--I like bashing my head against brick walls as much as the next guy. More, if one's to judge by my career choices...
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PROJECTS THAT ARE OUT OF MY HANDS FOR THE MOMENT
First 18 or so comic pages of VANQUISHED are with the artist - This is going to be interesting. Or disastrous. Which could still be interesting.
First 22 comic pages of MASTER OF THE HOUSE are with the artist - And it's going to make us both incredibly wealthy when she's done them.
Skype conference call with Senior Editor and Creative Director for the company I'm going to be editing for on Wednesday. Got a pretty good idea what the project's going to be, and hopefully of the artist. This should be fun.
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ANDREW READS (BRIEFLY)
A BIG BOY DID IT AND RAN AWAY, ONE FINE DAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, and THE SACRED ART OF STEALING, by Christopher Brookmyre. All perfectly entertaining romps, the first two featuring would-be tough guy terrorists getting their asses handed to them, generally by plucky Everymen assisted by someone who's actually good at killing. "Stealing", which brings the DI de Xavia character intro'd in Big Boy back as the main protag, was shaping up to be my favourite of the bunch due to the theft-as-art angle. Unfortunately, it ended on a disappointing note--basically, nothing ever really went wrong for one of the two leads, and while I suppose that speaks to the nature of the character, it kind of bugged me. Also, by the end if was way too close, in principle if not execution, to Elmore Leonard's "Out of Sight", or at least to the George Clooney/Jennifer Lopez film based on it.
THE STEEP ROAD TO GARBADALE, by Iain Banks. About a dysfunctional but wealthy family that built its fortune on the back of a boardgamme called Empire!, and more specifically the one son who broke ranks with the family and his neuroses, this is one of Bank's more touching books of recent years. For about 2/3's of it I thought I was looking at another CROW ROAD (which I really should read again). However, as interesting as Alban McGill's unrequited love for his cousin and strange family life are, Banks' attraction to the perverse is becoming a bit old hat. I predicted what I think was supposed to be the Big Reveal about halfway into the book, which made the finish a bit of a hollow experience.
CANDY GIRL: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF AN UNLIKELY STRIPPER, by Cody Diablo. Reminds me of articles I read in DETAILS magazine fifteen years ago. Took about as long to get through, too. Entertaining enough, I suppose, and even if it wasn't I finished it in all of a day, so not a lot of time lost. But I guess all the hype about this and "Juno" had me expecting a bit more from Hollywood's latest It Girl.
BAMBI VS. GODZILLA: ON THE NATURE, PURPOSE, AND PRACTICE OF THE MOVIE BUSINESS, by David Mamet. "On Directing Film" is probably the more valuable book of Mamet's in terms of actual craft, but, judging by the first half of this book, which is all I've read, this one is a lot more fun. This guy does not have a lot of respect for...well, pretty much anyone in Hollywood. And that's always good for a laugh, at least for me.
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