Wendago

Last weekend the gang met a Buca’s to celebrate another year in the life of Misses E.

And if anyone has earned the right to party, well it’s probably misses E. She quietly tolerates our addiction to Warcraft, Melanie’s numerous conspiracies, Dean’s occasional murder sprees and, of course, my perfection.

Of course, Jimmy was there. He was flying solo and I forgot to ask where Ms. Maggie was on the evening in question but I would guess she was off somewhere doing the acting thing.

Ruth and Andy were there. Ruth and Elizabeth go way back…they met in college or in some Panama City “Sailor wanna hump-hump” bar. I don’t remember. I’ve heard them talking about their origins but I probably wasn’t paying attention.
Ruth and Andy have been dating for…I have no idea. A year or two? Anyway, he moved out here…Christmas? Maybe it was Thanksgiving. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that we all like Andy. And this is something of a big deal since I and my circle of friends tend not to like anything or anyone.

JP and Regina were there. JP’s an artiest. Fantasy art…at least for the most part. One of his paintings hangs over Dean’s fireplace. They are new to the California as JP’s now working in the video gaming industry.

And, of course, Mel and I were there as no party is truly complete unless we make an appearance.
Elizabeth presented us all with gift baskets. Her birthday but we all get gifts. As far as I’m concerned, it really is the best way to celebrate someone else’s birth.

This picture represents the “cool” side of the table.

We broke the Italian bread and the wine flowed.

We’ve known the Dean and Elizabeth since nineteen hundred and ninety six. We’re barking up ten years. Knowing them has made me want to be a better man.
Not really.
But yeah, you spend close to ten years with someone you get to know them pretty well. And over those years we’ve been fortunate…blessed even to see the many faces of Dean.

Of course, there’s Angry Dean.

And who could forget, Hairy Dean?

Bashful Dean.

And, of course, Sexy Dean.

And there are just as many faces for Comedy-Team Dean. But we won’t get into all of those. And no, there’s nothing wrong with the picture…Jimmy smeared chocolate on his lip. I am not privy to the reason or reasons why.

It was a fun evening…and I’m assuming at some point I took a picture of Misses E’s feet…although I have no clear recollection of doing so.
And as great as the party was, the following day Ms. Melanie and I paid the price with pounding hangovers. But no regrets. Tis but a part of life.

On the work front…busy busy busy. Meeting after meeting.
Last week, Goldstein and I met with Mike, the producer who brought him the “Grave’s End” book. We discussed the story and the plan is for me to now come up with the pitch. Time. Need more time.
Fox 21 passed on our little procedural but we still have our meeting with David Madden at Fox Studios. There are lots of Foxes it seems.
The Tiger Hill boys are wanting the film pitch for Psychopath. With Carpenter now on board everyone wants to move on this thing…yesterday. Have I mentioned time?
I dove back into Sleepers for F.J. and just finished the outline today. Will give it a read tomorrow and hopefully shoot it out sometime before noon.
I also finished Alien Pig Farm this morning and sent copies out to Tom and Steve. Chee had read the first draft and based on the pages has been creating assorted paintings. Amazing stuff. I love the artwork. The lighting and detail blow me away. In my opinion, which probably means little in the scheme of things, the art he’s sent for this project is way better than what he did for Dawn of the Dead. And this is art he’s throwing together quickly to give us an idea. Very excited about this project.
Dean asked me today if Tom plans on being in the film. Good question. I should ask. I also need to inquire about the Lions Gate deal. Has it wrapped? Is it still pending?
Over the weekend I made a pass through Narcosis. That outline was never really meant as a sharable outline. It was more a guideline for Patrick and me to use for our verbal pitch. So I gave it the old college try and turned it into something I’d be willing to let others read. Gonna send it to Tom and Steve at some point.
All has been quiet on the Necroscope front…which is a good thing as I really don’t have time to deal with it right now.

I’m sure there’s more but my dogs are barking and I’d much rather talk about Warcraft.
Dean hit sixty about 24 hours after I did and Mel hit sixty last night. That’s level 60. That’s it really…then end of the road. The best of the best.
Our little guild “The Stand” is thriving. We are extraordinarily picky. We have people wanting to join all the time but we always make an excuse. Eventually we’ll open the doors to a couple but they’ll have to earn it. Our guild has much the same complex as I do. Superiority. I suppose of all the complexes to have I’d rather have it though.
Ravane’s flown to Japan. So, we’ve lost our rogue for a time. Oh he still plays but the time difference may turn out to be a challenge. It’s 1:30 PM in Tokyo. This according to the Treo 650.
Of course, Braindead and/or Kyoushu are always filling to fill in as our rogue/rogues and as time goes by it looks like The Stand and Guilty as Sin may merge to some degree.
Why am I so tired?
Mel and I have decided to ask t.A.T.u. to marry us. Somehow I’ve a feeling this will result in my constantly sleeping on the couch. Just a hunch.
…okay…no more chit chat. My eyes are drooping.
I leave you with the immortal words of Melvin Udall, “People who talk in metaphors oughta shampoo my crotch.”

Hi.
So, John Carpenter is on board to direct the video game and film version of Psychopath. The game version of the story is done but I’m assuming he’ll have his own spin, which I have no problem with…considering his name will be at the top of the thing. As for the film version, I have a take in my head but am waiting for our sit down before putting anything on paper.
Clive Barker is attached to Demonik although there the paper work isn’t done. So, anything could happen.
In both situations I’m hoping Boesky will agent the project on my behalf. Boesky was one of my ICM agents but left to create his own management group late last year. He has a consultant deal with ICM now so I’m waiting on word whether or not he’ll take care of me.

Ravane, a friend of ours from the World of Warcraft, hit level 60.

We had a little party to celebrate his reaching the highest of levels in the Elfie city of Darnassas where we proceeded to drink and dance and strip as is nearly always the case. Braindead (the skeleton) from Guilty as Sin showed up. Kindrid (one of the naked Night Elves) from Goldshire. Vaygus, the little male gnome with the shockingly large man bubes. And the rest of the gang.
After leaving the Guardians of Goldshire last week we fielded offers to join numerous other guilds but in the end we formed “The Stand”. Named after the Stephen King book our tabard shows the pic of a dark tower on a blood red background. Those who have read the book will understand the tie between “The Stand” and “The Dark Tower” series.
Mike Goldstein and I had yet another successful pitch of our little serial killer procedural. Fox is clearly a front runner. But there has been lots of talk about ABC which I think is a great idea. I love the direction the network has been going and what they are missing is a solid one-hour procedural.
Goldstein also sent over a book that they are in the process of acquiring the rights. It’s a ghost story told by the woman who lived it. Mike has been going on and on about it. Gonna start the read this evening. From what he’s told me it sounds like the story is right up my alley.

I also hit the ol’ level 60 in the World that is Warcraft. I bought me a new kitty. Actually I bought the little fella several levels back. My first kitty runs 60 percent faster than running on foot. This new white kitty runs 200 percent faster. It cost 900 gold so my days of spending money like a king are coming to an end as I’m down to my last 400. In game I haven’t exactly broadcasted my new ownership of a white kitty. They’re pretty rare as 900 gold is hard to come by. But I’ve been lucky. Actually, Purity (Mel), Primo (Dean), we’ve all three been lucky with gold. We’ve made way more than most ever dreamed was possible.
But we’ve never been stingy with it. So I don’t feel bad spending it on ourselves the way we do. We’ve helped several others in-game buy their first steeds. I’ve made tons of leather armor for guildies…and most of the time at my own expense. Purity (Mel) has done the same with her weaponsmithing. Primo (Dean) with his alchemy. While others were out leveling up…we were out making money. Hey, it’s good to be king.
Niles has been sending over artwork by assorted talent for Jane and I to consider for our little Graphic Novel. I’m very excited about this little project. There’s no money up front though. I will only see money if the Graphic is successful and/if we get a movie gig out of it (which I’m attached to write).
But with so many development projects I do for free (hoping to eventually reach the point when someone eventually writes a check), well, you can’t ask for one to have been more fun to work on than this one.

We took Benita and Fessa to the lovely Scarlet Monastery and tore through the joint killing everything. Now Benita and Fessa aren’t noobs. They both have other characters that have reached the level 60 mark. But it was fun.
Mr. Washer and Ms. O’Brien are slated to wed June 11th. Unfortunately that’s the date our Farmer sibling vacation is supposed to start. So I’ve put a call in to a couple of the sibs. Gonna see if I can shift the dates around. We’re heading East anyway so we should be able to pull it all together.
So, “The Stand” is gonna get it’s own website. Jeremy and Tom who play Mandala and Ladbury from WoW are going to run and set up the site and have already gotten it underway. Today the Sexy Olga agreed to do the design. She said she’s been turning down work but the idea of doing a site for silly game guild made her laugh. I’m very excited. We will have the most amazing guild site on the net. No doubts. I’ll post the address once we’re ready to go live.
So, Scarecrow’s production draft is nearly finished and pre-production is underway. It starts shooting this month. I’ve no clue on cast or any of the fun details as I’m only the writer, one with little more power than the fella who plunges the giganto-turds from the 7-Eleven toilet on Hollywood and Vine.
As for now, it’s time to catch up on some TiVo then start reading my little ghost story.
Be safe, lovers.

The Sexy Olga has been making some tweaks to the site. The biggest issue comes to this journal’s comments. Too many ads for poker and sex toys. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of both but advertise on your own dime, not mine. Basically we’re setting it up so that a person wishing to comment will have to register. I know it’s a hassle but once I’ve okay’d you then you can post comments all day long and you can get as nasty or saintly as you like.
Goldstein and I have been jumping the hurdles in the game of pitching our little one hour procedural. We still have another Fox pitch coming. Guess we’re slowly climbing the ladder to get to whoever will finally have the power to say yes.
But, I think it’s worth all the headache. We have the entire first season mapped out and half of season two. I can’t help but think this will be a blast.
“Scarecrow” goes into production next month. Goldstein is working with the writer who did the latest draft. It’s been an odd little journey for the little script. I wrote the first two drafts for Revolution. Stuart Beatty wrote a draft based on Garner’s notes. Then it went into turnaround. Raimi’s Ghost House grabbed it. Eventually the Pang brothers were brought in to direct. Then they wrote their own version. And finally this latest writer. He told Goldstein that he’d read all previous versions and it was decided that the best story was the original. So the previous two versions were tossed and his rewrite was a polish of the original.
It means little in the scheme of things. But it made me feel good that they wanted to go back to my original story. It doesn’t happen very often.

Mel and I dropped in for Tommy Jane’s 36th birthday party and had a hoot. What an fun crowd. From Pee Wee Herman to Rob Zombie to Lawrence Kasdan.
This was actually the first time I’ve had the chance to actually sit on a couch and talk with my agent about…nothing. Perhaps my favorite part of the evening. Mel and Nicole clearly hit it off. Who knew they both loved boxing?
Mel and I learned early in life to befriend the caterers. Smart move on our part. We sat there on Mrs. Arquette’s couch as our new best friend caterers brought us plate after plate of finger foods. And all the Margaritas you could drink.
Speaking of Margarita…what happens when you cross half a dozen saucy drinks, one digital camera and Melanie?
Well, this is what happens.

Steve’s Chin.

Jonathan’s legs.

Too close.
Finally I jerked the camera from her and took the pic myself.

Niles, Hensleigh and Farmer.
Niles was excited about his little project with Rob Zombie. The first issue comes out next week. Hensleigh and I talked “Riddle Me This” as well as his crazy schedule.
All in all it was a great little evening. Mel and I eventually stumbled out to the car and tried not to pass out as our driver rambled on and on about the rappers he normally drives. Half way home I started deducting 5 dollars from his tip every time he said “Snoop Dog”. Once we pulled up to the house he owed me two-hundred fifteen dollars.

Warcraft is still going strong. I noticed our friend and local LA resident, Vaygus, had reached level 42 so I asked the little gnome if he’d bought a steed. You see you can buy a steed at level 40.
He said he had not. That he was still about 30 gold away but that he was enjoying the process of saving the cash.
“Then you should ignore the 30 gold I’m sending you.”
So, that day Vaygus got his robotic chicken.

Played my priest to level 35 so that I could max his tailoring skill. Now he’s making 16 slot bags. It seems mundane but it’s very exciting in a geeky sort of way.
On the work front, the Tiger Hill meetings went great. Clive Barker is now a part of Demonik. Now agents and lawyers are doing their thing. I’m not sure what my involvement will be at this point. It was clear that the Developers wanted very little Todd Farmer in their life. They hated the idea that Hollywood was stepping on their video game toes. But now they have very little say. The question is, will Barker want my involvement? If so, it will be fun. If not then I’ll cash the check and take a nap.
John Carpenter also signed on for Psychopath. His agent said he’s never said yes in a meeting before. Carpenter’s contracts are finished. Now we all sit down and discuss the next step. So, more to come on that.

Ravane joined our little guild. That’s him on the left. Me on the right. Standing in the Dwarven City of Ironforge.
I’ve started rewriting “Past Tense” and I’m loving it. Nicole says I need to change the name. I like the name.
Agents sent me a script to consider rewriting. Ugh. This piece of drivel didn’t even have a decent idea behind it. I just didn’t get it. It was like reading an instructional manual through the reflection in toilet water. Not only would it be a page one rewrite…it needs a page one concept. If I’m gonna do that much work then I’ll just create my own everything and double my money. Why in the world would they buy a script like this in the first place?
Baffles me. Dean and I never sold Thunder yet this turd got bought? How? Am I in the freaking Twilight Zone?

Ravane and I discovered the Crystal Caverns. Now, you gotta understand that we weren’t supposed to be there. Officially, the area has not yet been opened to the public. There’s a wall covering the archway where you enter. We should not have been able to get in. But we did. :)

And the truth is, I need the discovery. I love exploring new places.

And once this place goes live it will clearly be like no other.

Bless her heart. Ain’t she just the cutest thang?

As all Odd things must come to an end…I call this the “We quit the Guild” party. Primo left first. Then guild chat started up and someone must have said something about Primo which pissed Purity off. So she quit. Then I jumped ship. Later Benski left. Ravane will leave as soon as he logs in and finds out what happened and I suspect at least six others.
Nothing against the guild. Hate that it had to go down this way. But it’s a game. Games are meant to be fun. And we weren’t having fun. Nothing more than different styles of play.
Best in all that you do Guardians of Goldshire.

Yeah, I know. It’s been awhile.
It’s been a hectic few weeks.
The Necroscope meeting kept getting rescheduled and when it finally looked like it was going to happen, I jumped in the explorer and hit the 101 to LA. 5 minutes later I had a Honda Accord sticking out of the back hatch. I’m fine, for all those concerned. But the meeting was postponed again.
We rescheduled and had the meeting this week. It was a good meeting. We got the first and second acts mapped out and I actually liked the results. I still need to do a bit of research for the third act but once that’s done it’s back to Warner Brothers to pitch and dazzle.
The Dummy returned from the Bahamas and we dove into Warcraft together.

Of course the first thing he did was get a table dance from the girls of goldshire. Look, the man needed to let his hair down. He’d worked hard, deserved some…comforting.

But he shouldn’t have danced. He dances like a goomer.
I got a call a couple weeks back about doing a rewrite on a scary flick. I’d read an earlier draft of this particular flick and to be honest, I didn’t really like it. The idea was okay but the execution was horrible. Although there had been a rewrite since the draft I’d read I kept thinking it was going to be a page one rewrite and I just wasn’t sure I had the time or if I wanted the headache. But that night the script arrived from ICM and by morning I was in love. The newest writer had done a fantastic job and in my opinion all it needed was a polish. I was game. I was ready to dive in.
Of course, as are most deals out here, nothing is simple.
The original writers had made a deal with the original producers which guaranteed them the credit. This really is frowned upon. And what it meant was, a Writers Guild writer really couldn’t be involved. Because credits are determined by the guild. If a guild writer wrote on the project and felt he or she deserved their name on the script then they could arbitrate.
My understanding was that the original script was little more than a good idea. A non-guild writer was hired to do the rewrite and that’s the draft I read. Wasn’t very good. You get what you pay for I suppose.
Then came the most recent writer. A guild writer. But to get around the whole “guaranteed credit” thing, he was hired more or less under the table. It’s a risky little undertaking. Were it ever to come out, the guild would boot him out and his career would take a dive.
But, it’s not my place to police Hollywood. And his rewrite was good. He turned the script around. It’s really an odd thing. Either you know how to write or you don’t. It’s not something you can teach…no matter what the books or the lecturers say. And you can’t give studio notes to fix it. It’s second nature. Either it’s there or it isn’t. In this case it was there. It was a solid script. Good characters, good pacing. It just worked.
And the studio liked it so much they were going to buy out the original writers. They were going to buy out the whole “guaranteed credit” thing. Thus, I or whoever they hired, could come in and rewrite the thing on the up and up.
So, I and three other writers pitched our takes. My take was pretty simple. I told them I felt it only needed a polish. I thought one character needed to be completely rewritten because he played more cartoon than real and I felt that was a left-over from a previous version. I had some notes about streamlining the goals and clarifying the beats of the second act.
I’m told the other writers had some good ideas but came in more or less wanting to re-invent the wheel. So, as with most projects I go up against…I ended up being the front-runner.
If I had a dime for every time I’ve been the front-runner only to lose the job to the other front-runner…well…I’d have about a buck fifty.
It was around this time that the walls started to crumble. The original writers wouldn’t take the buy-out…well, not for the money offered. They wanted more. The studio wasn’t willing.
So, for about a day that was the end of the story. I played Warcraft.
Then I got a call. What if the studio hired me to write “Project X” but I would really do the polish on the script in question…would I be willing to pursue that sort of deal?
I’ll be honest, I toyed with the idea. I mean, money is money but after a night’s sleep I just couldn’t go there.
This whole thing was an exercise in politics anyway. I was only doing a polish. Even if it went into arbitration I’d never get the credit. So I told them I’d be willing to sign whatever document that simply stated, “I, Todd Farmer, will not seek credit or arbitration.”
Never heard back on that one but the next thing I caught wind of was that they were thinking about making me a producer. Producers tweak drafts all the time. This would make me slightly more legitimate while making sure I couldn’t seek credit. It was still a cheat. Still a lie. You can still go to hell for it, but the money was supposedly gonna be better. I put in a call to my lawyer but it wasn’t neccisary.
At the end of the day the entire situation was an enormous waste of time.
They’ve hired another non-guild writer, who I’m told, oddly enough, had some of the same ideas that I myself pitched.
Is not the world a magical place?

Purity and I lead Gondo through Scarlet Monastery to battle the evil Mage, Doan. Doan used to carry this staff which…well it makes you smarter. Gondo wanted this staff. Gondo now owns this staff as poor Doan is dead.
Gondo quit our guild yesterday. I suppose he had his reasons.
Wohl called this this week about Demonic and Psychopath. We’re meeting with Clive Barker next week concerning Demonic and John Carpenter concerning Psychopath. Should be a fun week.

I’ve started playing, Farmer, my priest, and Mel and I went back to Scarlet Monastery to kill Doan again. Fella just won’t stay dead. After doing so we took a nap.
After sending the little alien outline out to Niles and Jane, Jane felt the budget was too big so I’ve gone back in to trim it down. I should finish this weekend.
I’ll be glad when we’re all in agreement and can start writing the issues. With the success of “30 Days of Night” and the pending film on it’s way, setting up the graphic novel is already a done deal. The trick will be convincing Lions Gate to make the movie. But that should be fun.
Speaking of Lions Gate, Patrick’s “Flight of the Dead” flick is moving right along. I read the latest draft and thought it was wonderful. I expect they are doing some tweaking but hopefully he’ll have a greenlight soon.
I met with Jack D’Annible at Bruckheimer. It was a general meeting but I liked the guy. He used to work at ICM. I mentioned my and Patrick’s “Mass Destruction” which he was interested in. Nicole sent over the trailer for his viewing pleasure. I also mentioned “Past Tense” which I have started rewriting. Once finished we’re gonna shoot him a draft. I always thought it would be perfect as a big Bruckheimer type film.

I took Mel, Krakka and Vaygus into a tower to work on their lock picking skills. All three are rogues, I’m not sure what path Vaygus went but Krakka went more strength and Mel went Stealth. Once Mel’s caught up to him in levels I’m looking forward to watching them duel. I think Krakka’s in for a rude awakening. I don’t think, I’m certain.
We finally closed the deal on “Riddle Me This”. Constantine now has a six month extention. Of course the question now is the same question that always comes at this point. How long will it take them to pay me?
I’m tired of journaling now. It’s nearly 2:30 in the PM. I really can’t think of a better time to take a nap.

Leading up to the Tennessee Christmas trip, Mel and I were receiving updates from Arinne and Tim’s Disney Cruise Adventure.

Arinne and I have discussed a sibling vacation this year. Which I’m still pushing for. Be nice to get the sibs and their lovers off on a big adventure.
And as Hollywood shut down for the Christmas season Mel and I had the time to dive into Warcraft with much passion. The game is a fantastic escape from real world worries and thus the reason some are referring to it as WarCrack.

I continue my lone adventures where I mainly explore and take screenshots.

It’s fun to do stuff with the guild but at the same time exploring the world is wonderful and pressure free.

Just log in and take off running until you end up somewhere new.

You simply never know what you’ll find.

For instance, an evil goblin driving and robot.

The trip to Tennessee was lovely.

We had us a semi-white Christmas…could have used about a half-inch more.

Grandpa Robert was an engineering Santa throughout the vacation. Not only was he building the toys out of the box…within minutes they’d be broken due to feverish play and he’d be out in the garage fetching the hot glue gun. It should be noted that he’s turned down many offers to work in Santa’s toy shop.

While there we had to do Captain D’s. Don’t ask me why. Mel has some twisted need to go there as often as possible.
While on the trip I did get some work done. I finished my graphic novel pages and shot those off to Steve and Tom.
Then the day after Christmas we were on a plane back to Cali. Man was it a long flight. I’d give all my DVDs to Mel’s folks and while she slept I sat there staring off into space. I never have been able to sleep on a plane. Turbulence, you know?
Mel and I returned home to the beginnings of California’s rainy season.

And would you have thunk it? Turns out we live at the Beginning of the Rainbow.

And oddly enough, the end as well.
Once back in town we dove back into Warcraft.

Mel and I joined forces to kill the Abominable Greench. He was trying to kill Christmas. It was actually pretty great. They’d implemented lots of Christmas stuff into game play.
Before the trip, Ravane had invited Mel, Dean and myself to journey to a place called Scarlet Monastary.

The journey led us passed a giant dome…still no idea what it’s all about.

And later we ran across humanoids who’d been hung from the trees. You gotta know when you see something like that, that you may be in for it.

Once there, Ravane, very seriously applied poison to his daggers…while Mel, Dean and I danced.

Later while taking Ravane to a small town he’d been visited…we had to kill everything along the way. Seems the elf never met a giant he didn’t want to kill.

I covertly met a man about an underground purchase from the Horde Blackmarket. I got the info I needed and then journeyed across the world.

…where I bought a chicken on the blackmarket.

And I bought my mighty steed. Very sweet indeed.

And not to be outdone…Mel learned to ride a horse and bought a Pinto. Each race gets a different mount. Elves ride Cats, Humans ride Horses, Dwarves ride Rams and Gnomes right Robotic birds.

It certainly makes travel faster as well as safer. Last night we hooked up with Edo, Benski and Lessa and it reminded me of the old west as we galloped across the sands of Tanaris.

Melanie has become a Weaponsmith Specialist and she’s very excited. Together with her armor/weapon crafting skills and my leatherworking skills, gold doesn’t seem to be an issue for us.
Shepherd has gone through some changes.

He’s gone from Cowboy Shepherd to…

Dark Shepherd. I like Dark better.
On New Years Eve, our guild, the Guardians of Goldshire (those silly enough to be playing a game on New Years Eve) met up in Goldshire…

…got drunk on Dwarven Ale and danced. In the real world Mel and I popped the bottle of bubbly Dean and Elizabeth gave us for Christmas and I’d like to think that’s the reason the dear Ms. Purity…

…took all of her clothes off…
So, overall it’s been a good Christmas.
I’ve jumped back into work. We’re back into Negotiations on “Riddle Me This”. Awaiting notes on the graphic novel. Got a meeting to discuss “Narcosis” and the outline I sent Pre-Christmas. Magnus (now under and different name) is back in full force. “Scarecrow” starts shooting next month. And the list goes on.
And today Olga and I had a chat about doing some website updates. She did some hacker dances which hopefully will stop the comment spam I’d been getting. I’m excited about making some changes. We’ll see where our talks go.
So, I’ll keep writing while the sun’s up and playing while the sun’s down. Dean gets back from the Bahamas next week and with his hiatus I’m sure we’ll be warcrafting and screenshots will be taken.