Not too long ago the muse got ahold of me and I finally got my short film script where I want it.  I have begun putting it into the hands of a few people to get feedback and I have given it to some confidants who will help make it better.  We are currently on the third revision of the script!  We are tightening it up and prepping to shoot which is where we are currently stuck.

The short is called “The Convenient Short” and if I had to describe it one line this would be fitting:

When a convenient store in a small southern town is purchased by an outsider, tensions rise and the locals find out there’s more to this foreigner than meets the eye.

I promise it’s funny (I got feedback remember!). It has been accepted well by all of the people who have read it (which is a plus! +).  But like I said – I am kind of stuck.

Let me share the good stuff first! First,thanks to a friend my main location (a convenient store) is secure! Secondly, I am currently negotiating for the use of equipment that would be mostly free.   I know I have awesome friends.  I have also come close to completely casting the film.  There are still a couple holes to fill, but we are getting close.  Here’s where I will share the bad.

Unfortunately some of those actors and actresses aren’t close, and some of the equipment will cost.  Also, I would like to be able to help take care of fiscal needs of those taking days off to make this a go.

SO  . . . this is a plea for help!  If you can give anything to the cause it would be much appreciated!  The ROI on a short film is normally not great. You will get a thanks in the credits and  my intention is to enter it into film festivals once we have finished post.  If it does bring anything, (online sales, prizes, etc.) I will share and share alike with those who have helped.

If you are a lover of the arts and gift big ($1,000 or more) guess what?  You’re now an Executive Producer! Yeah – may be dreaming on that last one.  If you’re like me that’s not real.  But any $5, $10, or $20 donations would be appreciated!  Any little bit helps!  The goal is to film in Locust Grove, OK in March 2010!  YOU CAN DONATE ONLINE HERE!!!

Thanksgiving break was a blast. A solid week of no work was just what I needed. Well it wasn’t quite a solid week of no work, but close. I spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday working on some projects for Gateway Church in Austin, TX. I did all of their artwork and layout for the Christmas season. I was honored to be involved and it was a lot of fun.

Wednesday is when the madness began. Wednesday night I headed on over to The Cain’s to catch a show with Dustin and Travis. The show was looking to be grand – Anberlin, Taking Back Sunday, and the All American Rejects.

I had been really excited about this show. I saw Taking Back Sunday back in September with Weezer and Blink 182. And to be honest with you, they were the only reason I bought a ticket for the show at The Cain’s. I do like The Rejects, but they are a band that releases catchy singles and the rest of their albums aren’t that great. I like to be able to listen to a record from front to back and I could never do that with them.

Anyway, we started the evening with dinner and beer at the Mexicali Cafe. I dug the restaurant and it was a great place to kill time waiting for the doors to open since it was just down Main St. from Cain’s, we had a short walk back in the cold. The bad news was that Travis didn’t have a ticket and a guy was trying to sell him one for $80 bucks – way more than it was worth. But after embarrassing himself walking up and down the line he finally found a ticket for face value and we were in.

The first band out of the gate was Anberlin and they rocked the house. Anberlin is a band with a big sound. They have swelling, heavy, catchy guitars and they had a TON of energy. Even though they were working with limited space they were all over the place. And they sounded good too. The vocals were amazing and they were so tight. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were playing to a click. Their keyboard player was rocking a Mac that I am assuming was running Ableton Live. They kept high energy playing like that and it was impressive. My favorites from their set were “A Day Late” and “Paperthin Hymn.” 3 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Next up was Taking Back Sunday and they ROCKED THE HOUSE. We had been standing in back for the Anberlin set, but as soon as TBS started we worked our way into the mosh pit and had a lot of fun. Although things had been tame during Anberlin, the crowd started moving for TBS. It was crazy. IF you have never seen TBS live before you are missing out. Front man Adam Lazzara was delightfully entertaining as usual. His microphone acrobatics are fun to watch and is set off nicely with the band going nuts in the background – dancing, jumping, and flying around. Their drummer (Mark O’Connell) is so fun to watch. Unlike a lot of drummers, he uses his arms heavily instead of his wrists and he just pounds the kit and it really takes things to another level. And of course they’re TBS so you’re gonna enjoy the music. They sounded amazing – a very full sound. And it wasn’t sloppy at all, but just what you would expect it to be. My favorites from their set was “Liar (It Takes One to Know One)” and “MakeDamnSure.” 4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.

And last but not least came The Rejects. As I said before I was least excited about them. We were in the bar/merch area when they hit the stage (although we could hear all the pre-teen girls welcoming them). They opened with “Dirty Little Secret” and from the start it was a little off. Lead man Tyson Ritter started singing and it just sounded off. I am all for originality, art, and expressing yourself. But the time comes when you just aren’t on and it’s not art it’s messy. At one point I thought maybe a 14 year old girl had wrestled the mic away from him. I thought musically they were tight, but Tyson was all over the place and not in a good way. After about four songs we bolted. Couldn’t take it anymore. It was just off-putting and weird. 2 out of five stars.

It was a good time though. On Thanksgiving day we headed to OKC to have dinner with Tina’s family which was great. It was good food and very relaxing. Had a lot of fun – especially watching them all strategize and game plan for Black Friday. On Friday – all the ladies shopped and I hung out with the kids. We had breakfast at McDonalds and spent some time at the park.

On Saturday I had the privilege of attending BEDLAM. It was a TON of fun – after the first quarter. Gotta say a big thanks to Zach for hooking Blake and I up with the tickets. They were great seats and it was fun to watch OU play up to their potential. It was a rocky year, but I think they battled through it well. On Saturday night after the game we drove back to LG and spent Sunday recovering.

All in all it was a good time. Hope everyone had as much fun as I!! SO thankful for my family and friends and what they mean to me in my life.

Zach drove in Thursday night and got here just after Salina put the whooping on LG. Tina, Zach, and I stayed up late watching King of the Hill and talking and the next morning we headed out to see the show. The closest show was Kansas City or Dallas, and since KC was closest to Scott, that’s the one Zach chose. So we spent the morning and early afternoon fighting the rain on the way to good ole Kansas City. In fact we drove past the worlds largest McDonalds. Well, it used to be. Anyway – we rolled into town and met Scott for some Applebee’s.

The great part was that Travis and Dustin decided to go – which was awesome! They headed up Thursday night. It was great hanging out at the show with all my friends from college. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Travis and Dustin we would have had horrible seats! Yahoo for Dustin and Travis! They spent a lot of time in the rain waiting.

Zach, Scott, and I got into the Sandstone Amphitheater at about 3:30 p.m. The rain had stopped by then and Chester French was finishing up as we walked in. We missed them though and spent the next 10 minutes trying to find Travis and Dustin and figure out how to get to where they were saving seats.

The first act I caught was the Von Bondies. They were alright. They played a short set but were real jerks about the sound. True professionals. They asked the monitor guy to send a fax to front of house so he would get the message to fix the sound. If I were mixing I would have just turned them off. Anyway, decent performance – wouldn’t buy a record. C’mon, C’mon was their finale.

The next band to hit the stage was Taking Back Sunday. I really like them and was excited to see their set, and I was not disappointed. They were energetic, had a great set list – and you could tell they were having a great time. It was still daylight out when they were on and I am sure that took a little away from it, and they were blue-mixing so, yeah. But anyway – they were wonderful and closed with makedamnsure. Absolutely amazing! I would have loved to seen their set after dark with the full production of lights and such. Two thumbs up.

Then next up was Weezer. They stole the show! Best set of the night in my opinion. In fact you can check out their set list. It is pretty accurate, one or two got cut and a couple of songs were moved around. The guy sitting in front of us worked for the venue, so we got a little sneak peek. Anyway, the only thing I wish they would have played that they didn’t was El Scorcho.

They came out in jump suits and were amped up. Their set was tight and they sounded phenomenal, the mix, the harmonies, every little piece. Rivers was hilarious and had great stage presence, only picking up the guitar for part of the show. They brought out a mini-trampoline and he threw a guitar off of it, and later used it to jump on a little and to move around the stage, onto the drum riser and such.

They played a lot of my favorites, but when Rivers broke into the intro to “Say it Ain’t So” I was instantly a seventh grader again and all these memories came racing back to me from middle school to high school. It was amazing! The band took a break during the set while Rivers used a loop machine to play Island in the sun himself. He played the drums and they looped it, he got up and did the same with the tambourine, bass, acoustic, electric, then he got the crowd doing backing vocals. It was great! You can read their account of it and see pics here. It ruled. I want to see Weezer again and soon. They ended with “Buddy Holly” and a great cover of “Should I Stay or Should I Go”.

Now to the disappointing part. The headliner, Blink 182. Now, I realize that they were going through a lot, just losing a friend. But they clearly were not ready to come back to tour. The crowd had been so into it all night, but it seemed like it lost a little steam when Blink hit the stage. Their production was amazing. Great set design.

They opened with Dumpweed, and I was ready. Mark was bouncing all over the stage – their instruments sounded wonderful. Travis had turned into a monster behind the kit – however once Tom started singing I was immediately taken out of the moment. It was awful. He immediately looked at the monitor guy stage left and started making signals. But it didn’t help. All night long it didn’t help. Although Mark sounded better than Tom, it was still dreadful.

All my life I have given crap to bands who sound good in the studio, but then can’t reproduce it live – and now my favorite band is in that category. They didn’t sound that bad on their live album – but who knows, it was recorded and you can clean up recordings. The set sucked, for me at least as a result. Although I could have just watched Travis play all night. He is amazing.

The other thing I had been excited about was Travis drum solo. I had read reviews about it but had avoided any video of it because I didn’t want to ruin it. He didn’t do it however. Which sucked. They ended of course with Dammit – and a whole lot of confetti in the air. Travis walked off while Mark and Tom were still strumming. he was done – but it felt the whole set like they didn’t want to be there.

I wish they hadn’t shown up. I would have rather them take more time to recover and us go and watch later. Or they could have just let Weezer be the finale (that would have ruled). Anyway, I was not impressed with their performance. Everything seemed forced – their crowd interaction and their bits. Two thumbs down. I won’t listen to Blink for a while, that’s for sure. I need time to recover. I am extremely bummed about it.

Anyway, that was the show. A lengthy review I know, but whatever – you didn’t have to read it.

August 23, 2009 marks twenty months since Jack and Elaine Denney were last known to be alive. At approximately 11:00 am December 23, 2007, a relative dropped off the Sunday newspaper, which was the normal routine. They were fine. Sometime between then and approximately noon on December 25, 2007 a person or persons entered the Denney’s home, in rural Cherokee county near Locust Grove, and shot them multiple times. They were found by their daughter, Sarah, and son-in-law, Ladney. Since that day, many people have been interviewed, fingerprinted, and some polygraphed. However, as of now, no suspect has been identified and no arrest has been made. The family feels strongly that people in the Locust Grove area have information that could solve these murders. The family is asking that August 23, 2009 be a day of prayer. The family and community need answers. Please pray for a resolution to this case so that the family and friends of Jack and Elaine Denney can have some peace of mind and be able to move on. Please keep Agent Vicki Lyons with the OSBI, and Undersheriff Jason Chennault with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department in your prayers and all other law agencies that are involved in this investigation.

I do need to thank some people. Let’s get this going. I need to thank Caleb for being willing to help me do a lot of dirty work setting up the first week. I would like to say a GIANT thank you to Dustin Stokes. He allowed us to use a lot of Crosspointe’s video equipment. He let us use his Big Dog HD camera and Firestore for all the highlight video stuff which kept us from having to capture everything. Which was nice. Made my life much easier. He also let us use his switcher and his GL2’s for IMAG. Thanks D, I know it was a lot of work tearing everything down and packing it up and then getting it on Friday and having to set it all up again. That’s a lot of work and kindness. Thanks man.

Next I have to thank some Hillsdale students for the help they provided. Jeremy Campbell for basically being my right hand man for the last two weeks. He made life much easier. My friend Lyndsey Barentine for drumming up Hillsdale students to help at the drop of a hat. And not to thank my camera operators. They were not only great operators, but they had great hearts and were willing to help at the drop of a hat: Sonja, T.J., and Kelly. I know other people ran too, but these three went the extra mile. Thanks guys! I would also like to thank the Hillsdale rec team for taking me in as one of their own and letting me play Nukem with them. They also made me laugh hard. Great stuff.

I also have to thank some people who helped tremendously when it came to making me feel at home and feeding me: James Coffelt, Kenny Myers (really it was their wives and volunteers, but we did have some great conversations), Curt & Becky, and my sister Tam. I also need to thank Jess and Sharon for helping with Josie, as well as Cassie and Cal. And of course I want to thank the entire LG youth group for making the first week rule.

I don’t really have anything to thank these next guys for, but it was fun hanging out with the talent : Jeff Henson, The Brandon Grissom Band, and From The Branch. Bow!

I would also like to thank the C.E. Board for letting me be a part and bringing me in.

I am sure I have missed someone, but I just want to say to everyone. Thanks. It was fun.

The guys at TNT give their thoughts on the sketch here:

Anyway, that aside lets get to the heart of the matter. The Main Event. Sometime this week we will be relaunching maineventmedia.com as a TV and Film news and discussion site. It will be a place where you can catch news and reviews on all of your favorite shows and on upcoming films and DVD releases. And hopefully it will also be a place where people are discussing it too.

People will be able to sign up for an account and enter the discussions. Each user will get their own profile page that lists their recent activities, comments, posts, social networking info, etc. It should be a fun hub for news and discussion and we hope you join in on the fun. Stay tuned and we’ll let you know when we go live!

Like the other day – I was watching TV with the family and I saw this commercial for Beethoven’s Big Break. Ugh. You have got to be kidding. There still making these movies? I thought Hollywood was worried about the recession? No way anyone is making money on this.

Anyway, a quick glance through IMDB and Amazon and I found that this would be the sixth Beethoven movie. Six. Seriously. It’s enough. We have all had enough.

I have decided that the only way I want to see another Beethoven movie is if the title is – forgive me, I don’t mean to sound cruel – “Beethoven Euthanized” – or “Beethoven is bit by a Rabid Squirrel.” Whoever is putting these things out needs to take a cue from Old Yeller and put the dog down. That’s all.

UPDATE!!!: It seems Engadget has some evidence to further this mystery.

Macenstein is reporting that there will be a new Mac Mini in the wild soon . . . this is a picture that they received from a “tipster” who was “anonymous.” Hype or the real deal? If it’s true then you can sign me up. But I think it’s to good to be true.

Although either way – I think I would eventually want to pick one up. I would like to use it as a home computer – something to just browse the web on and manage our family photos, or maybe as a real Apple TV via Boxee. Also , I have always wanted to experiment with using one of these in my car as a media system. No more plugging in iPods or burning cds. Plus you could play movies. Anyway . . .

Well hello all!  Just wanted to post my latest web endeavor.   It’s a site I did for the Sunday Night service and community at Crosswinds Church in San Francisco, CA.  

They were looking to get a site that more prominently featured their podcast, and that was easy to update.  Enter this one page design – CSS/XHTML/JQUERY – and I feel it matches the emphasis they have on art.  Although my wife said she thinks it is girly.  Whatever. 

You can check it out here.