Dairy of a Madman

Website redux in progress. Please excuse the glorious mess…

A reasonably uneventful day — the typical Wednesday, with dull class punctuated by dull work. Tired today, which made things nearly unbearably slow on all fronts.

Comics are the usual lot this week, though I find that I’m not terribly excited about anything in the batch, with the exception of DK2 — Frank Miller makes comics fun again, and in a ridiculously big way — without sacrifcing any meaning at all. Quite the contrary — large amounts of commentary running through this series. I was hesitant, but I have to say that I dig it. At any rate, new reviews are up at revolutionsf, or will be once Shane posts ‘em. The writing for that eluded me tonight — I just don’t feel on at the moment.

TIN CUP is an entertaining film, though a bit on the slow paced side. Could’ve used a bit more editing, in my humble opinion. Rene Russo is absolutely gorgeous — though I prefer her in the LETHAL WEAPON type roles more, from the actress standpoint. Her character in TIN CUP seemed like it was written for Susan Sarandon (which, I should add, Russo still pulled off well). Costner in one of his better roles.

Listened over the phone as James talked to his future stepson today — what a strange thing to hear. The little brother that I remember picking on and playing with is going to be a father[figure] before me. More power to him, in some ways — I just don’t know that I’m ready yet, and I hope he is. Tina’s a great girl — James, it would appear, has finally broken free of the dangerous girl trap. And earlier than I managed, too…

Ed Easter came by to pick up the script for MOON tonight. He seems excited, and I’m glad. Ed is a talent, and I’m glad to have him on board. With him, David, and Mom, there’s no reason that the acting in MOON shouldn’t be phenomenal. Now I just have to hope that I’m up to acting and directing it, and that the technical ends work out okay. But’s that a worry for a later time.

Melissa and I discussed briefly the role that the actor and the director play in bringing out a good performance — while I agree with her that the actor bears responsibility for the part, the director can certainly stop the action and make adjustments where necessary. For thought: would ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES have been better received if Costner’s accent hadn’t fluctuated from bad British to American, but instead remained American throughout? I would argue that it would have, if only because suspension of disbelief would have been easier.

My sleep schedule is badly out of whack, and it’s my own damned fault. And I don’t feel like correcting it right now.

Ridiculous spring day, for the third in a row. It was nice, admittedly, with the wonderful pain of reminscence, but I’m not ready for that yet. Give me until March, or preferably April. Let me enjoy the cold, and give me snow, while you’re at it. I would say that’s not too much to ask, but I am in Birmingham…

Jhonen Vasquez is a beautifully demented creator. I must work with him on a black comedy one day. Or perhaps a musical. Like JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR, only with dolls and paint.

To do tomorrow: ignore horoscope, pretend to still care about FRIENDS, and pet Cassidy more.

-km

So this is how it begins.

I’m keeping this for me, as a reminder of what came before. This is not for you, which excuses me from doing a recap of my 30 + years; that’s good, because I don’t want to let the present past get bogged down in the distant past. At least, not yet.

Besides, you if you’re really interested, you can read on. Perhaps eventually you’ll find what you’re looking for.

GOODNIGHT, MOON is now two months away from filming. In the meantime, the script gets tweaked, the actors get prepared, and the technical angles get washed across my brain over and over. I’m afraid I may over think this; then again, perhaps that’s better than not giving it enough thought?

Writing is at a standstill — and that’s part of the intent of this journal thing, to stay in touch with words and what it feels like to put them down and out there. I suppose the next thing on the agenda is to finish TWO RIVERS, the screenplay about David / Jonas and myself. At this point, though, I’ve got too much that I want to put in, most of which doesn’t belong. And of course, not enough time to let myself get sucked in to the story like I’d prefer. After that — who knows? The AI concept needs to find its way out of the stone in which it exists, but as I said to Daniel, I only get one shot at getting it right. And it’s a good idea, one that deserves to be right.

The BEAUTY OF DISTANCE music is on hold, as well. I don’t want to force anything (and there’s no need, since it’s a soundtrack for an unfilmed movie), and I want to save any ideas for MOON, since it comes first. Should something come, it will, but no rush. And really, as I’m no longer playing with Lunasect live, there’s no real urgency to pick up an instrument. This is, of course, a good and a bad thing — I won’t get tired of playing night after night, but I’m less apt to play at all… Though I will try to make a conscious effort to avoid that pitfall.

In less meaningful hours, watched KISS OF THE DRAGON (stylish Besson goodness, with Jet Li and Bridget Fonda, who are both fun to watch for different reasons) and ROCK STAR (which I expected too much from, though playing “spot the musician” was fun for five minutes). Picked up King Diamond’s ABIGAIL II, which I fear will be a regret (especially after the latest Dream Theater disc(s) and the deconstructed Nine Inch Nails disc). Gave Dan the videotape of the GCW show at Five Points (from 1/25); hopefully, he’ll dig that.

Which reminds me again that I need to find a workaround for the audio capture issue that prevents me from putting together a GCW documentary.

But not now, because it is late.

-km