Wendago

Well, the site’s back up and running strong. Thanks to Jeremy and Devin for taking a look at it.
I bought a couch and what they call, a chair and 1/2, 62 days ago. Sigh. It’s still a no-show.

A large group of players from the guild White Rabbit joined our little guild The Stand…eh…about a month ago. A great group of guys. Together we’ve spent most of our time raiding. For those who don’t play the game, “raiding” means 10 or 15 members join forces to tackle a Dungeon. After two failed attempts, 15 of us were finally able to fight our way through Upper Blackrock Spire and kill the General. Been doing it successfully ever since.

Comic Book celebrity, Steve Niles celebrated his 40th last month with a little party at his house. Steve’s name may well become a household name soon enough. Stuart is adapting Steve’s “30 Days of Night” into a movie and Steve has four or five other comics in development at the moment.
Steve and actor Tom Jane recently started RAW Entertainment where they will deliver both comics and movies to the world. The three of us have been working on a project for several months.
The party was fun and I took picture after picture…of course, I left my camera so no pics for now. There’s a part on the 4th in Malibu so I assume I’ll get the old camera then.

Ben found himself in San Diego for a family get-together and drove to Calabasas for an evening on the town with Dean and me. Ben plays Warcraft with us. Benski, Benita and assorted others.

I snatched Ben from the splendid Goodnight Inn and shuttled him to Kings where the three of us broke fish together. On the drive over it occurred to me that we should have had other LA Warcraft members show up. Didn’t even occur to me (had been a busy week). Tom, Jeremy, Paul, Veygus…even Mel could have driven down had I or Dean planned better. Oh well.

We had a great time telling stories about Orcs and Raids and killing that I’m sure any ease droppers overhearing most likely grabbed their checks early and ran. Dean called it an early night while Ben and I hit the bar and threw back some Johnny Blue before hitting the hay.

This is my space-age litter box that no sane cat on the planet will use. Mel bought it months ago for the price of a hybrid Lexus and I think Spooky may have used it twice. So there it sits, in the corner…alone. I have, however, pissed in it twice just so I could feel I’m getting my monies worth.

Mel and I have been playing around with the Hunter class. It’s actually alot of fun. Hunters are perhaps the least populated class in the game but oddly enough are a blast to play.

This is a painting I had commissioned. I told the artist I wanted a map of the US but 1 million years from now…after California has slide into the ocean, the SuperVolcano under Yellowstone has created a lake, Canada is frozen, Florida has broken off and the States are scared from nuclear blasts. I realize I’m slightly twisted but it makes me giggle.

This is where I read and chill. It’s the reason we moved to Thousand Oaks in the first place…for the view…and to get out of LA, but man do I love my deck.

Ms. Taylor and I met some friends and hit Santa Barbara last weekend for the Summer Solstice Parade. It’s an odd little thing. Not unlike Benton Kentucky’s Tater Day Parade but much more tree-hugging.

It’s basically a big party. Homemade costumes and no corporate America sponsorships allowed. No Nike, no Pepsi, no one is allowed to make money off this gathering…well unless you sell hemp clothing, tie-dye and homemade soap.

This was actually my favorite picture. Daddy and daughter watching the parade together. As grumpy and longing for a fist fight to break out as I was I find it odd that I can actually have moments of decency. Not many mind you but once a month or so.

My grumpiness aside, it was enjoyable. I’ve no idea why there was a giant foot as a float but I’m since learned not to ask how the mind works within the elitist Santa Barbara. Instead I spend that time thinking about myself…

…like, my own feet for instance. Stunning if you ask me. You can take the boy out of Kentucky but you can’t make love to his cousin.
Anyway, I took about 50 pics with my little Treo 650 but only these came out looking like anything other than the tons of Tie-Dye they were pushing after the parade.

Dean dropped by a few weeks back and we took all my paintings to the framer. I miss my truck. Well, I got the paintings back this week. This one’s hanging in my office behind my desk. Eastwood as Harry. I bought it because it reminded me of Dean Riesner who split for the Happy Hunting Grounds three years ago. Good thing too. He’d cringe if he saw the crap-fest my life has become.

I had two of my maps framed as well. They hang across from my desk and I love them. The pic doesn’t do them justice…they’re huge. I love that I can cross over to them and map out the geography of a story with a simple glance. Before I’d spend hours thumbing through an Atlas or zoom out inside Google Maps.

Got Inos reframed. Here’s the before pic. Ignore the red wall…that’s from the LA apartment and I actually miss the red wall.

Here’s the after. … Okay, perhaps I should have zoomed in. You can’t even see the frame. Sigh. I’m moving back to LA.

The big painting is the New York skyline now framed. Next to it is a painting Rip, Sarah’s father sent me. Painted years ago on the back of a wood shake, I dug it so had it framed as well.
And below both paintings…what I like to call…my temporary couch. It’s a giant bean bag covered in plush fake leopard skin. Why fake? They weren’t selling the real thing, that’s why. Bean Bags are out of style you say? Who cares, you try watching the World Poker Tour sitting on the floor for 62 days.

Then we have Bold Jazz. And the new entertainment center. I grabbed it off eBay for 30 bucks.
So, the place is coming around…slowly. I’m in no great rush.

In closing, several of us met at a dwarven inn in the small snowy town of Kharanos to drink mead and shoot off fireworks.
It was a friendly way of saying goodbye to the members of White Rabbit. Officers of The Stand met a few nights back to discuss the status and future of the guild and came to the unanimous decision to pull back from so much raiding to instead focus on quests, player vs player and five man crawls. The White Rabbit members, however, would like to focus are bigger raids so they have left and reformed their old guild. Best of luck to them.

For some reason the massive block of text and pics I have put together to post…won’t post. I can post in small chunks but no biggies. I’m chatting with Gearworx in an attempt to resolve the problem, so I should be up and running in no time.

The Sexy Olga has finished her tentative pass on the design of “The Stand” web page. The site created for the World of Warcraft guild, The Stand. Click on the above pic to experience the brilliance.
So far only the main page and forums are up. Tom and Jeremy (Ladbury and Mandala) are in the process of working their magic to implement Olga’s design. Soon to come are the News, Info, Profiles and Tutorial pages.

This is clearly a tutorial I suggest all members of The Stand as well as various members of the human race take part in.
14 members of the former White Rabbit Guild joined our little rag tag band, boosting our numbers to nearly 50 accounts. We made Mokoto an officer and based on the raids we have ripped through so far, their presence has truly strengthened our guild. Nearly fifty players spread across the Earth. All extremely skillful players. They are mature and considerate. I’m sure we may see our small challenges along the way as can be expected from a gathering of strong personalities, but I’m not worried. Our officers are simply a thing of beauty. I’ve seen each of them go out of his or her way to make sacrifices and work unpraised in the background. I can’t imagine the challenge that our members and officers can’t overcome.

Dean and I met at his place and made our way to the Burbank Airport Hilton for this year’s Fango Convention. Of course, no convention is truly complete without some cheeseburgers.

The convention is put on by Fangoria Magazine which focuses on horror movies and the gore that makes them unnatural. Needless to say you get the more interesting of the human race in attendance. I would like to think that I fit right in.

This year was celebrating 30 years of Friday the 13th and Dean and I were there to speak to the crowd from the panel of Friday the 13th screenwriters.

Tony Tempone, Fangoria Mag’s leader in all things bloody and evil, started out by introducing Peter Bracke, perhaps the foremost authority on all things Friday the 13th due to both his passion for the series as well as his writing the upcoming book, “Crystal Lake Memories”.
Peter led the panel by making introductions and asking questions. First up was Barney “part 4” Cohen (the furthest away in the above pic). Followed by Dean “Jason Goes to Hell” Lorey (the bald, grumpy looking one), then Todd “Jesus Christ: Superstar” Farmer (not pictured and finally Mark Swift of Freddy vs. Jason (seated between Barney and Dean). And that’s Peter, closest to the camera, listening intently.

I started the panel out by tossing my camera to my good friend who I lovingly refer to as “Front row, third from the left” and asked him to take a picture of us.

He kindly obliged although he cut out Mark and Barney Part 4 from the pic. Peter ran us each through the ringer of questions and although we weren’t the most life altering of convention moments, I certainly had fun.

I just recall, looking into the crowd and thinking to myself, “Of all conventions you can go to, it is within this convention, more than any that you can bet someone in the crowd has killed before.”

I had understood from Tony’s email that it would be nice if we hung around for autographs after. But we were never really told where to go after, so we wondered around, checking out the sights. Besides, it ain’t like the autograph of a Friday the 13th screenwriter brings bank on eBay.

Got a pic with what I think could be the star of High Tension…at least she was standing near the poster packing a big stick wrapped in bloody barbwire.

Dean was like a six year old in a candy store. Fango Security kept a close eye on him as we found out later that several of the women present were complaining that he was a little creepy.

I ran back in to get a shot of Sean and Adrienne’s big reunion. Sean created and directed the first Friday and Adrienne was his heroine. Of course, I was too far away and my flash was on so the pics came out crappy.

Dean pointed this one out and he’s right. It perfectly sums up a Day in the Life of Fango. An adorable little girl sitting beneath the “I Fuck Nuns” sticker. Need we say more?
Of course.

On the way out we grabbed a quick pic with the Sad Clown and relax folks…yes…I got her number.
Mark Wheaton grabbed us as we were leaving and introduced himself. Mark is the current writer on Scarecrow. Seemed like a very cool guy and clearly he did a ton of work on Scarecrow for the powers that be. He mentioned nearly a dozen outlines and at least six drafts. But he says they start shooting on the 30th. Shortly after I assume he, Stuart and myself will start the arbitration process.

Took a quick screenshot of my Six Demon Bag. I mentioned it to Carpenter, who was aware already. But next time we meet I’ll show him the pic.

I guess some find it a little odd that Mel and I are still tight but then we never did anything like normal people. Why should we split up like normal people? Notice her attire as Purity. You can rest assured that not every piece of the armor she is wearing is actually the best piece of armor she owns. Nosir. In the world of Ms. Purity, style and fashion go a long way.

A lizard has taken up residence on my deck. He shall henceforth be renamed, Shaft. I expect we will share many wonderful adventures together.
F.J. and I met with Tokyopop last week concerning “Sleepers”. It was a great meeting and we worked out the storylines for books one and two as well as most of the meat and taters of book three.

Dean (as Primo) purchased the leatherworking dragonscale pattern for the Chromatic Cloak last week and passed it on to one of the newer members. There are several materials needed to make the cloak, one being Red Dragonscales. This required a trip to the Wetlands. Purity, Ladbury, myself and Primo met under a stary sky to kill dragons.

We killed several but in order to continue we had to remove the named level 62 elite who was simply a threat and in the way. The four of us, with the help of two mechanical Yetis were successful. I was looking forward to skinning the big dummy but my maxed 300 skill wasn’t high enough. I needed 310 something I can’t accomplish without finding a particularly uber rare skinning knife. So, sadly all that work and we had to leave the corpse to rot.
This week promises to be a busy one. I need to finish the treatment for “Grave’s End” as well as tweak the outline for “Sleepers” so that the Tokyopop boys can pitch the concept to their team. Dean and I should probably do some work on our little comedy and I still haven’t finished the rewrite on “Past Tense”. Boesky ran an idea by me concerning a Godzilla flick which made me chuckle so he’s setting that meeting. Gotta follow up with Nicole about “Riddle” and I gotta find time to hook up with Patrick so we can implement Tommy Jane’s notes on Narcosis before Patrick tears out of here on his European vacation with the family.
Not to mention I have couches to be delivered, artwork that needs framing, a cat to pick up from the vet, a shopping spree for new dress shoes and T-shirts…yes…it promises to be a very busy week.

It’s been a wonderfully busy couple of weeks.

First off, Spooky’s getting old. Or stubborn. Whichever the case the Vet suggested we give her a closer shave to assist in her daily cleaning routine. Now she looks like a weenie dog.
Shortly after the last update I went in and met with Brad Fuller, Matt Cohan and Andrew Form of Platinum Dunes to pitch them my take on the remake of The Hitcher. Spoke with Nicole after to learn once again I was a frontrunner but they still have a few pitches to hear. If I had a dime for every time I’ve been a frontrunner. Anyway, got word from Nicole today that they are passing on my take. Don’t cry for me Argentina…I’ll be fine. On to the next.
Brenna mailed my Season One of Deadwood back to me with a note…

Those who watch Deadwood will understand.

Last weekend I made the long drive to Lake Arrowhead for Natalie and Patrick’s wedding. Lake Arrowhead…don’t go if you don’t like heights.
After the wedding I walked up to a group of guys, proclaimed I knew no one and that I was going to hang with them. And that’s what I did.

This is Sergoff outside the reception…before even the food was served. He’s shirtless because…well, bless his big Russian heart, he’d hurled all over his clothes having sucked down a ton of cheap whiskey. That’s Alicia’s sister (who’s name escapes me for the moment) forcing him to drink water. Much of the reception was spent trading off guard duty over Serg.
Since it was so far away and since I assumed I’d partake in the wedding spirits, I booked a room at the Lake Arrowhead Resort. I ended up spending most of my time with Alicia (Natalie’s childhood friend), Eli (who I’d actually met once before just after he’d been hit by a car – long story for another time), Robert (the drunken Sergoff’s roommate) and Alicia’s sister…who’s name still escapes me. They all had a room elsewhere but came over to the resort because it was shmancier. We hung out at the bar and eventually Patrick, Natalie, Natalie’s sister and a dozen others from the wedding joined us. The evening fades slightly at this point. My room became a shelter for the inebriated. There were people passed out everywhere.

Dean called Tuesday night with concern. We had plans to meet up late Wednesday night to stand in line for the Midnight Episode III. But Dean had just checked the tickets. Wednesday 12:01 AM. We would have missed it. He scrambled to inform JP and Rodney and we all started making our way to the Commons in Calabasas.
We were so excited. Rodney was going to be a bit late so JP, Dean and I decided to grab a bite. It was great…until Dean walked over to the Theatre to check on the line and found only crickets.

They’d misprinted the tickets. The show was still 24 hours away.

We were angry.

So the next day found me at E3. It’s like Christmas and Disneyland and Love rolled into one. Xbox 360, Huxley, PS3, there’s simply too much to see and do and report.

I spent most of my time with Brad and David…above their MMO game through WebZen…the movie demo played constantly from a gigantic screen. They’re very proud of this one and I can’t wait to check it out.

David offered to click a pic of me with the EQ Girl. I don’t like EQ and haven’t since they would do nothing when one of my accounts was hijacked years ago. But I hardly think the EQ Girl was responsible. But, the pic didn’t go as planned since the bonehead in the background accosted me for touching her. All I did was put my hand on her back. It seemed the appropriate stance for a picture opportunity. Oh well.

I ran into Keith Boesky while there which is pure dumb luck when you consider how big the Convention Center is and how many people were there. Boesky has been handling my Video Game/Comic Book business since he was with ICM. In that world, there simply isn’t a better, more knowledgeable deal maker in the business. I ended up with two meetings from just standing near him. And when I first met Boesky he had that short haired business agent haircut. Just look at him now. He’s the man.

I stopped in at NCSoft looking for JP and ended up staring at City of Villains which I gotta think will release soon. They had it last year at E3 when Mel and I were there and she proceeded to annilate every other gamer in the area. I was unable to hook up with JP although I knew we’d see each other later that evening for our second attempt at seeing Star Wars at Midnight.

As for the normal world of work and play. Goldstein and I met with David Maddon at Fox Studios again this week to discuss our little one-hour procedural. Great meeting. We’re still a bit too early to start pitching networks so I’ll keep refining the pitch and we’ll make the rounds in a few weeks.

Clearly E3 wasn’t all fun and games. There was real work involved.

We did have meetings.

From left to right…Starbreeze lead programmer…Ivan? I’m having a brainfart. I’ll have to load Riddick and double check the credits. Then Magnus, their founder. Brad Foxhoven of Titan Productions. Me. John Carpenter. Johan Kristiansson, Starbreeze CEO. Cody of William Morris, one of John’s agents. And finally David Wohl of Titan Productions.
The Starbreeze boys showed us their Darkness trailer which was amazing…and oddly enough based on the Comic Book that Wohl had co-created while back at Top Cow.

Anyway, E3 was great. It was fun and extremely productive. I was telling Mel about it and it was clear she would have loved it. We had a blast at E3 last year. And for those who have never been, find a way to get there next year. You’ll love it.
So, I parted with Brad and David and started the journey back to Calabasas for Star Wars.

JP, as it turned out was probably going to the same party Brad and David were hitting so he was going to be late. Rodney wasn’t showing until after 10:00 so Dean and I met at Mi Piaci for a romantic dinner. Our waiter was…odd to say the least. A gay Italian man who spoke like Latka on helium. We ordered a bottle of wine and while testing it, Dean spit it out as if choking on the horrible taste. Latka turned pale at which point Dean informed him that he was kidding. To which Latka stated:
“Homey don’t play that.”
And walked away in a huff.
Dean and I were stunned silent. And folks…that don’t happen often. I honestly can’t think of one example where someone turned the tables on us. It was funny and creepy and thought provoking at the same time. One for the books.

So Dean and I stood in line forever. I kept raising the camera over my head and clicking shots of the people behind us. This was my favorite.

We endured the long line and the stream of cars pulling in and out to park, illuminating us up in their brights.
Eventually they let us in. I held the seats while Dean went out to hook up with Rodney and JP.

Rodney showed up first. Rodney’s the big dude, producer on My Wife and Kids and former Charlie Sheen body guard. And holy cow is he funny. Once the four of us were seated (where we had to wait for another hour) we were in stitches we were laughing so hard.
The funniest event of the evening was while Dean and Rodney were waiting in line for popcorn, JP showed up and…simply strolled in. Ignoring the ticket guy completely. He didn’t even give the guy a glance. Rodney and Dean were stunned — the ticket guy was stunned and didn’t know what to say. They were certain JP was about to be shot. Rodney said watching JP stroll in without a ticket and without a care was the first time he truly felt free.
Anyway for that remaining hour we cracked jokes about it. From the theater staff’s raffle over who was going to approach JP about not having a ticket to their confusion at seeing these two large black men sitting with two bald Aryan brother looking white men. It was around here that Rodney mimicked one of their voices and proclaimed…
“The small one must be their leader.”
That’s where I lost it. I was laughing so hard I cried.
Anyway…after 72 trailers for upcoming movies we finally got to see Episode III. It was wonderful. We’re back into the quality of Empire Strikes Back with this one. Blows Episode I and II out of the water. Made 50 million its first day. That blows all the records out of the water. It’s dark and wonderful. Go see it.
So that brings us up to date for the most part. Gonna watch Lost then curl up to a book until I’m snoozing.

The Vampiric blood boils stronger than usual. The sun burns my skin. Feels like I should sleep while it’s up but I don’t. Can’t sleep while it’s down. What time is it? What day is it? Who farted?
Can’t decide how to work out. Too many choices. Yoga’s relaxing. Running is liberating. I like the burn of lifting weights. Swimming is soothing but I know the kids pee in the pool. Lots of choices at Gold’s but someone always smells funny. Dancing. Ahh, dancing. The only workout where beer is the standard drink during the break.

But what to wear? It won’t matter. Epiphany. Because I don’t care. Just want to get out. Tired of writing…no…tired of needing to write. I miss building houses…no…I miss hitting things with a hammer.

Music. Loud. Lots of faces. Sad. Happy. Lost. Odd, I’m in the minority. Honky white boy in a sea of Latino. What do I care? A Rezner mix of Enigma. It makes me smile. Eyes shut. Move. Glide. Groove. The world fades away. Mood lifts. It’s temporary. It won’t last. I don’t care. Embrace it. Protect it. Dance.
Why are so many attracted to the darkness? Do they sense the loss? Is it simply the mystery? I make new friends. Lots of them. Mohawk stands out…perhaps because of the mo’hawk. He introduces his girl. Did I hear that right? Her name is Flower? Bless her heart. The heart on her neck that is. The tattoo. There are seven acceptable places for a tattoo on a woman’s body. The entire right side of the neck is not one of them.
Bow Tie concerns me. He’s in their clique but I get the sense he’s currently stalking his next kill. He has a knife in his boot. No one goes dancing in boots. The bouncers should stop them at the door. His girl is abused. She’s cute but she doesn’t know it…no…she doesn’t believe it. Abused. Not saying he hits her…but she lets him treat her poorly. I don’t see examples…can just tell.
There’s Business Girl. She’s been on her cell phone the whole time. How she hears over the music is beyond me. She has nice legs. The dummy should be dancing like the rest of us. Who brings work to a club? I can see the stress. She’ll be lucky to see forty.
Dark Hair. She’s the prettiest. And she knows it. She keeps glancing. Wants to catch me looking. I won’t give her the satisfaction. Humble up, darlin’. I’ve had better.
Stop it. Stop people watching. Dance. Close eyes. Dance. It’s good music. Embrace. it.

Life of the party. Funny guy. Big bald guy with a touch of rhythm. I’m asked what I do for a living. I lie. I build houses. The friend I brought hears me. Knows I’m lying. Grins. Yeah, whatever. Laugh it up fuzz ball. That’s what Han said to Chewy, you know.
Rhythm going. Fatigue bar filling up. Sucky song anyway. Time for some Gatorade. Replenish the vitamins and minerals. I order a milk. The Bartender stares. Doesn’t get the humor. He says something smart. I didn’t catch it over the music. But I get the gist. Count to ten. Let him live. Doesn’t he realize I haven’t been in a fight in over a year? That I’d love the excuse to give the ol’ mallets a fresh workout?
There’s nowhere to sit. A good corner wall is high dollar real estate. My new friends stumble over. They’ve had alot more Gatorade. I wonder if they’re driving. Conversation. Stories are told. Bonding. I laugh when others laugh. But I’m not listening. I’m ready to go. I’m thinking about the ocean. No clue why. I don’t even like the ocean. But now I have to pee.

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.
I tell my new friends goodbye. And oddly enough I find myself genuinely smiling. I guess I like them…well…except for Bow Tie who I’m certain will kill before the sun rises.
It’s been raining. Or misting perhaps. Little beads of water cover the little blue car. I drive my friend home. No thank you. No coffee for me. I should get some sleep. I lie. I have an early meeting. It’s actually a late meeting. 5:00 at Fox. No reason to hurt anyone’s feelings by saying, “No, darlin’, there’s a hole in my life and your particular brand of coffee won’t fill it.”
So…I drive.

Not another car in sight. I am legend. I end up on Kanan Road. Wow do the German’s know how to hug the curves. I park at the fish joint. I can’t recall the name. It’s so quiet that the Ocean is deafening. Well, we aren’t talking ears bleeding or anything but it’s louder than I expect. And cold. I’m clearly under dressed.
I curse the Queer Eye girls. They said I shouldn’t wear socks with dress shoes…now I got sand rubbing my feet raw. There’s a boat out there. I can see the lights. It’s gorgeous. It’s so overcast I can’t tell where the sky and the ocean meet. The glow of lights in the center of a void.
I want to take a picture. My phone tells me to go away, it’s full. I hear rhythm. Metal against metal. A chain. A dog collar. A dog trots along the beach. I kneel for him to come closer. Jerk doesn’t even glance at me. Just keeps on going. I can only assume he was busy. His family must have moved to Seattle and he’s on a journey to be reunited with them.
It’s cold. But I’m determined to hang for a couple of hours so I can watch the sun rise. Then I remember that we’re on the West freaking coast. Yes, it’s true. The sun sets in the West. Sigh. I could have been drinking coffee but instead I’m standing knee deep in seaweed with sand in my shoes and cold ocean air blowing up my bum.
It’s time to go home.
The drive seems longer.
A song starts to play from a CD. And it’s perfect.
They call her Mississippi
But she don’t flow to me
Spends her light on the bayou
But she don’t come to see
She’s the one that makes my dreams
They call her Mississippi
But she don’t flow to me
The shape of her horizon
Makes the morning sun
When she puts her eyes on
Each and anyone
She’s the one that makes me fall
Midnight moon shines through it all
She’s the one that makes me fall
Midnight moon shines through it all
She’s the one that makes my dreams
They call her Mississippi
But she don’t flow to me
They call her Mississippi
But she don’t flow to me