WWdN: In Exile

that spooky generation gap

Nolan and I carved punkins this evening, on the kitchen floor, the same way we have for the last ten years.

I was particularly impressed with Nolan's creativity . . . even though put a pretty fine point on the generation gap.

Link to the jack-o-lanterns in the dark, on flickr.

nearing the rubicon

I'm at a crossroads right now, with regard to my blog: I sort of feel like I'm living in a hotel here in exile, and I'm doing whatever I can to help the hotel feel more like home while my real house is rebuilt, but the longer I stay here, and the more I try to make it feel home, the more likely it is that it will become home. I even tried to import the old WWdN entries to this blog, but (big surprise) the import failed. I wonder if I am doomed to have my archives in a useless textfile on my machine in my office until I eventually just suck it up and pay someone to fix the stupid fucking thing.

If I sound frustrated, it's because I am.

I spent several hours the other day working on WWdN. With absolutely no progress to show for it when I was done, I was so pissed I slammed some drawers, kicked some things, and realized that I don't give a flying fuck about the technology any more. I just want to write. Yes, it's nice to have the "I did it myself" merit badge, but trying to do it all myself is eating up time I would rather spend on other things, and is rapidly sucking the life (and enthusiasm) out of me. When I started with blogger and geocities way back a thousand years ago, I loved that the technology made it easy for me to scrape things out of my brain and moosh them up on The Internets. Then I got into the technology and had a good time scooping my brains out, and manipulating the technology to make the stuff I scooped out look a little better. But now, I just want it to work.  It's the writing that I care about, and time I spend waste dealing with technical bullshit is time that I can't spend creating things that matter.

Yes, Virginia, I am starting to hate computers.

So I'm working with a friend of mine to completely rebuild WWdN from the ground up. We're still puzzling out the final design, but it's going to be very cool (and very different from the current layout) when it's done. I'm conflicted about sticking with TypePad (and domain mapping) or banging on MT 3.2 until it has the same functionality as TypePad. Right now, I'm leaning toward domain mapping, even though TypePad is having what appears to be the worst technical difficulties in its history (Six Apart has assured TypePad users that these problems are about to go away. I see no reason to doubt that, but it's still annoying in the mean time, and is the best argument so far to stay with my own installation at WWdN.)

I don't know what I'll ultimately end up doing, but it's clear that I'll be in exile for much longer than I originally anticipated.

I've changed the feedburner feed to reflect the WWd:iX xml file, rather than the WWdN xml file. If you're subscribed through feedburner, WWdN:In Exile should start showing up in your RSS reader pretty soon, and we'll all feel . . . at home.

happy halloween!

It's 82 degrees and gorgeous today, here in sunny Pasadena. When the little ghouls come trick-or-treating tonight, it should be nice and balmy.

I was going to go as a zombie, but in honor of the beautiful day, I've decided to go as a Palm Tree.

And after you see that link, you'll probably understand why the last place in the world I want to be today is inside. One of the benefits of being self-employed is that I can take the afternoon off to walk my dogs and have a cigar on the patio while I catch up with some podcasts, so that's where I'll be if anyone is looking for me.

REVIEW: Dawn of the Dead documentaries

My call for the movie today isn't until 4:30, so I watched the documentary disc of Dawn of the Dead: The Ultimate Edition. Here's my quick review:

There are four features on this disc, but the two documentaries, "The Dead Will Walk" and "Document of the Dead" make it required viewing for any serious fan of DotD. The contrast between the two is remarkable, and the result is much greater than the sum of the individual parts.

"The Dead Will Walk" is the obligatory look back at the making of the film, complete with cast and crew interviews, and original behind the scenes footage from the production. It's an enjoyable retrospective, and it's nice to see people look back fondly on this great film.

"Document of the Dead" is a documentary made during the prodction of DotD, and has a decidedly different point of view. Interviews on the set and a narrative examination of Romero's style are woven together to give us a much more in-depth look at the making of this landmark film, which was clearly not an easy production and struggled to find distribution. "Document of the Dead" was made long before Romero was the unquestioned master of the genre, and after watching him discuss his philosopy on filmmaking, it's easy to see how he earned the title.

UPDATE: I'm out of the ACME show the next two weeks

Sigh. This is always a risk when the cast is made up of working actors, but it still sucks.

The schedule for the movie can not be changed, so I had to take myself out of the ACME shows for the next two weeks. This means that you one and only for reals chance to see me in the show will be on November 19th, our closing night.

I'm really sorry, and feel terrible for the cast, the theatre, and especially the WWdN:iX readers who were planning on coming out to see the show. I hope everyone understands.

Toe-wik-a-whissa

Heeding the "it's not real until you're actually on the set" philosophy, I haven't written about this movie that I'm working on tomorrow.

Yeah . . . I booked a movie! I'm have a cameo as a director called "Alan Smith" in this great movie, which has a title I can't disclose. I'll call it The One Where Wil Wheaton's Cameo Kills And Wins Him Some Stupid Award (TOWWWCKAWHSSA, which is actually pronounced "Toe-wik-a-whissa." Which makes me giggle like a product tester in the nitrous oxide factory.)

The thing is . . . I was supposed to work in the morning and make it to the ACME show at night. I just got my call time, and they're bringing me in late in the afternoon. Unless they change the schedule, there is no way I'll be able to make it to the show. I know that several WWdN readers are planning to come to the show tomorrow night, and I reminded the folks at The One Where Wil Wheaton's Cameo Kills And Wins Him Some Stupid Award that they assured me the movie wouldn't conflict with the my show. They're working on it, but I'll be very surprised if they can shuffle around an entire day's work just to accomodate a day player, (even if he name *is* in the title of the movie.)

The cast will survive without me, and the show will still be hilarious, but if you want to see me do my funny, you're probably better off waiting until next week.

Check back here in the next couple of hours, as I'll update when I know for sure whether or not we can make it happen.

i walk the line

I've been watching I Love The 80s 3D for the last 90 minutes or so, and I keep seeing commercials for I Walk The Line.

Huge Johnny Cash fan that I am, I have been really excited about this film . . . but I'm scared to death after seeing the commercials. I really hope the personalities of the lead actors don't overwhelm the characters they are playing.

. . . just like me.

Ryan and Nolan played basketball in the driveway. I had my PowerBook on the breakfast table, and I caught bits of their conversation through the open window as I worked.

". . . a freshman?" Ryan said.

"Yeah," Nolan said.

"What's her --" A car drove up the street, and drowned Ryan out.

Her? My parental spideysense switched on, but I tried to stay focused on my work.

"That's cool." I thought. "I shouldn't be listening to their conversation, anyway."

For the next several minutes, I couldn't hear anything but the bounce of the ball, and then "Brick!" from Nolan as the ball bounced off the backboard, and landed beneath the kitchen window. Ryan walked over to pick it up.

" . . . is so freakin' hot," Nolan said.

"Yeah," Ryan said as he picked up the ball, "but she's not your type. She's a geek, just like me."

I looked out the window. Did he see me? No. He tossed the ball back to Nolan.

"Your ball," he said.

I closed my Powerbook and watched them play in the fading afternoon sunlight. I saw that Ryan was wearing a Mozilla T-shirt.

. . . just like me.

commentary tracks of the damned looks at Nemesis

Star Trek: Nemesis is featured in this week's Commentary Tracks of the Damned in The Onion AV Club.

What went wrong: Nothing, though Baird's offhanded and repeated dismissal of pre-established Star Trek canon—characters, design, relationships, backstory, previous Trek films—strongly implies a fatal contempt for the series. He brightens noticeably when describing the parts of the film he got to design from scratch, or redesign to override previous series installments.

Comments on the cast: Virtually none. Baird devotes a bare word or two of praise to actors Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner, but mostly seems to regard them as props amid his more interesting sets and computerized cameras. Judging from an awkward reference to "Patrick and Brent and... Worf," he doesn't even necessarily remember their names.

Inevitable dash of pretension: Baird's entire commentary is self-important and affected; his gravelly murmurs make him sound like a beat-poet wannabe at his first open-mic. Suddenly the film's ludicrously weighty tone makes more sense.

I wish someone could explain why the final film in the TNG canon was given over to a man who had such obvious contempt for the legacy and mythos of Star Trek. What a waste.

reminder - the WWdN: Up4Poker invitational is tomorrow

Just a reminder that The Friday Game at PokerStars is all set up, and taking registrations. We had 152 players last week, and I can't wait to see if we match or exceed that number this week.I've had a great time in the first two games (even though I haven't gotten anywhere near the money) and I'm excited to see what the third week brings. I can honestly say that I've been looking forward to the game all week.

Last week, I live blogged the action at CardSquad, and I plan to do it again, to keep the "TV table" meme alive.

Here are the details. Please share them as you see fit:

What: WWdN: Up4Poker Invitational
Where: PokerStars.
When: Friday, October 28th. 9:00 PM EST
Password: monkey
Tournament number: 14090593
Buy-in: $10+1

As always, if you bust me out, you get naming rights for next week's game . . . but I'm feeling lucky this week, so watch out for my raises. Hope to see lots of you there!