Look sharp. 

This is the end...

Wow, it's been a while. I'm putting the finishing touches on the STAPLE! project this weekend to hand off Monday for pressing. It's been quite an involved process, but valuable experience in the industry. Look for the DVD to go on sale by the end of June, if not sooner.

This coming week being my first real free time without commitments in months, I hope to do some writing and get back to watching movies on a daily basis. More to come.

End of an Era

Well, the Star Wars saga is finally complete, and it went out with a bang. Lucas did indeed wrap up most everything, and I can't wait to see them all in order and get the whole emotional arc of the Anakin Skywalker character. I really felt (and I know I'm not alone) that I didn't want Anakin to fall, even though it was inevitable and necessary to give us Darth Vader, one of the greatest villains in sci-fi. This movie had a feel that was instantly recognizable as different from Episodes 1 and 2, more deliberate and implacable in its progression. I'm still digesting it, and I plan to see it again this weekend. What a great birthday present these movies have been for me.

By the way, if you want a very tiring 36 hours, get up for work at 7am, work until 5pm, drive three hours to Dallas to see the movie at midnight, get out of the movie and drive three hours home, get an hour and a half of sleep, then get up and work another nine hours. Around 2pm the next day, I was having real trouble keeping my eyes open, despite several cups of coffee and multiple Dr. Peppers. Then I got a second wind and went to bed at my normal time. Go figure.

Personal

I recently posted a personal ad on Craigslist to try to meet some new women around Austin (try to guess which one's mine!). I haven't been out on many dates lately, and I'm about to have a lot more free time on my hands when I wrap up my first feature-length project in a week or so.

I'm not sure why, but I was pleased to get quite a few responses in less than a day. I've posted a couple times before, and gotten 3 responses and 0 responses, respectively. Phil suggested it might be like callers for his radio show. Sometimes he gets nobody calling in, sometimes several-it just depends on who's paying attention. I guess there's probably always new readership, so even repeat posters will get responses over time. I'd like to think it's not only the same people looking every day, since that would mean it doesn't work and we're all wasting our time.

Anyway, I wrote back to everyone who wrote me (do unto others), and sent them a link to this blog if they wanted to know more about me...and I haven't heard back from any of them since. I can only assume they read my last post about "no job, no insurance" and wrote me off. Otherwise, it might mean I need a new profile picture, but since I think that's a good picture of me (taken by Phil at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2004), I'd at least like to think I'm not that unattractive-although it might be the facial hair and cigarrillo, since I hear women run from both of those.

Let me assure you, ladies, I once again have a good job, and insurance, and I still have my own side business as well, so I'm doing all right. But I'm keeping the facial hair. Still interested? Write me here.

Proms and problems

Tonight I went to the KVRX prom, thrown by UT's student radio station. I've met quite a few people there through Phil, so I recognized half a dozen or so faces. This wasn't a real prom obviously, but it had all the trappings: dancing, spiked punch, photos, dresses. It also had free beer, a live band, and a few kids tripping on acid, which made it a bit different from either of the proms I attended.

It started raining about halfway through, but not too hard, so the band finished their set before Phil and I packed up the video equipment we were using to project Pump Up the Volume on the wall of Irongate Studios, in whose parking lot the prom was held.

Did I mentioned it rained a little bit? Less than a mile from home, Phil tried to make a turn too fast on the wet road and hit the curb hard (he wasn't drinking-he's a teetotaler). It didn't blow out the tire, but when we stopped at a tire place right around the corner, I thought I could hear a hissing sound and the hubcap was broken, so it's definitely shot. We left the car there to see what the damage is Monday, when they open. I just hope the axle isn't bent, or else he's out some money, since his insurance won't cover it.

While he was waiting for me to walk back to the apartment, get my car, and come back for the equipment in his trunk, there was a wreck at the stoplight closest to our place. As I drove by, the cops hadn't yet arrived, but the two cars had spun into position to block both directions on that side of the intersection. Rough night.

I told Phil I knew exactly how he felt, having cut my finger a few months back, when I was still looking for work. No job, no insurance, and it's going to cost you a bunch of money you don't want to spend. That's life for you. Always throwing curve balls.

Spring is here again.