Refreshing Pause

Friend Ken sent me this awesome bit of improv.

Don't Say His Name Out Loud

One of the episodes we commented on yesterday was "Candle Jack," written by Paul Rugg. Paul really had a feel for using stock footage. Scott Jeralds directed and Kenneth Mars guest-starred.

Freak-a-Commentary

At a sound stage in Hollywood, Tom Ruegger, Paul Rugg and myself provided DVD commentary on several first season episodes of Freakazoid! The DVD is due to be released this summer. I learned things I hadn't known working on the show. For example, composer Richard Stone gave Tom the melody for the main title and Tom then wrote lyrics to match. (Winning an Emmy in the process.)

Paul kept the session moving with leading questions and compliments. Tom filled in with his knowledge of the artwork and what went into the making of each episode. I mostly sharked along, looking for spots to shoehorn in one-liners. In any case, I was reminded that animation can be fun and miss working with Tom and Paul. But I shall always be proud to say that I once wrote for the guy with lightning in his hair.

Fighting Back

Rosina just died from leukemia. While her family mourns, you can join the battle against this disease. On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society'sTeam in Training will commence their summer season. For 20 years, people have signed up with Team in Training in order to fund raise and participate in endurance events. This season particpants may choose between the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in Alaska. (There are also cycling and triathalon events at different locales.) The money raised helps smack down blood cancers. The marathon you complete will change you deeply. And, somewhere along the way, the teammates you encounter become friends.

I'll be an assistant run coach for the San Gabriel Valley Marathon Team. If you live anywhere in the LA area, head down to the Culver City Veterans Center, 4117 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230. The event begins at 9:00 AM and there are teams located all across the city. Nothing will bring Rosina back, but let her memory motivate us not to be passive in the face of cancer. We can take the initiative in this fight. We can do it as Team.

Spirit of the Marathon Review

While up in Washington, my family and I caught a showing of the above-titled film. The movie followed runners ranging from rookies to Olympian Deena Kastor to Kenyan Daniel Njenga as they trained to run the 2005 Chicago Marathon. There was some marathon history and comments from top runners, including the distance dudes of my youth: Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers. Spirit conveyed a sense that the distance measures the runner in many ways and that the experience is transformative. My favorite moment involved a first-timer telling her friends she was training for a marathon. They asked, "Do you think you'll win?" A theater full of runners roared with laughter.

I'm Not Lion

Apparently, the hills are alive with the sound of cougars. Mountain lion sightings are being reported around my running trails in the San Gabriel foothills. Perhaps the recent storms are washing panthers into our midst? Thanks to former TNT teammate Jeff for this interesting tidbit.

Frosty Running in Washington State

Still up near Olympia, Washington visiting family. Daytime temperatures linger in the teens and 20s. I thought the Phoenix Marathon was cold but today I ran 14 miles on chilly backcountry roads. Frost everywhere, horses in the fields standing head down, motionless as marble carvings. Mt. Rainer rose to the east like a huge white triangle. Dogs ran along split-rail fences, barking as I passed. A gray and black cat slunk across a two-lane, asphalt road, ducking under a fence and into a wrecked out-building, watching me warily from behind a board as I loped on.

Though light, traffic was occasionally a hazard. Certain roads are shoulder-free and I zig-zagged from side-to-side seeking the widest shoulder and trying to avoid cruising around a blind corner into a F-150 pick-up pulling a horse trailer.

Running negative splits, I stopped run/walks and picked up the pace for the last two miles. Most of this distance was on a straight away between Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars. A Federal Express panal truck drove past me. The driver waved as Mt. Rainer filled the background behind him.

Afterwards, stretching out in the cold, early afternoon, I realized almost two-and-a-half hours had passed and I had hardly seen a single person. Only folk in pick-ups and SUVs, a gas truck, and a county crew that looked lost.

Still and all, a very nice long run.

I'm In A State of Washington

Mount Rainer on a rare sunny day in the Pacific Northwest.

Training for Eugene

Yesterday was my first timed run in almost two months. I looped the Rose Bowl in 24:52. That's a 5K distance (3.1 miles). I was very pleased with the results. This marks the official start of my training for the Eugene Marathon. I will shatter the four-hour mark.

My fine wife and I shared pizza last night and planned our next moves. There's much to be done in order to stage the house for sale. I want to nap instead. Nevertheless, off we go into a new stage of life.

Writing lags. I have another project in addition to my book and short story: an original, live-action sit-com script. Changes in the animation industry include the arrival of live-action executives. They have little trust in animation scripts as a barometer of writing ability, preferring formats they are more comfortable with. I suppose I should be greatful they aren't arriving from the cattle insemenation industry.

Adeus Rosina

Rosina ended her struggle today. Keep the good thoughts and prayers flowing to the family. Grief is like a long bitter drink from a glass that seems bottomless. But one day the vessel is emptied and the taste fades. And a new and different life is lived.

Meeting Week Update

Outcomes from this week's meetings.

1. Met with the teen reading group and obtained volunteers to read the first three chapers of my young adult novel. I also scored some great gossip about Brandon and Keira at Jennifer's party.

2. The dentist was impressed with the state of my teeth. I asked him if they were clean enough to eat off of. He laughed and said he'd have to remember that. So if your dentist makes that joke tell him you heard it already — but make sure he's done working on you first.

3. Six people signed up at the information meeting for Team in Training. They will be training for the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

4. Director Tyler filmed my memories of Freakazoid! DVD release date is set for this summer. More soon.

5. My accountant agreed with me on all fronts, recommending that I sell the house, get a condo or a townhouse, and try again to earn a living. Right on, man.

Freakataping

Freakazoid! first season DVD taping was yesterday in Burbank. A whopping bin of fun. I'll have more a bit later.

Prayers & Positive Energy for Rosina

Tonight, I returned home from a Team in Training information meeting to learn the wife of a former Warner Brothers chum is nearing the end of her battle with leukemia. She had a bone marrow transplant several months ago that seems to have been the beginning of the end. Her moments are numbered, so please say a prayer and send kind thoughts to her husband as he waits for the curtain to fall.

Meeting Week

Next week I meet with:

1. Teens who will beta test my book's first three chapters.

2. The dentist.

3. People interested in joining Team in Training and running either the San Diego or Anchorage, AK marathons.

4. A nice director who will be filming my interview for the season one DVD release of Freakazoid!

5. My accountant who will probably tell me what I already know: "You're broke. Sell the house. Get a job somewhere."

Animalia, Writing, Running, TNT

A show that helped me pay bills last year airs this Sunday. Animalia started out in 2006 as a funny program for kids 8 to 12 in the spirit of Anamaniacs. Over the years, the vision changed toward a more serious, educational program for a younger demographic. Some of the CGI l've seen looks pretty good. Now the series "belongs to the ages" or PBS, BBC, CBC, etc.

Working on the 3rd draft of Dummy Fever. Six pages a day, come what may. That should take me to Monday, January 14. From there, my darling wife proof reads same, while I arrange with an adult book club, a teen literary group, and volunteers from two high schools to read and comment. Oh, and off to my agent as well. I'm excited. I think this book will go. I really feel the story is picking up momentum.

Ran 5 miles this morning. Heavy rains last night caused a mini-mudslide that dumped muck and roots across one trail. Plus a drowned rat drifted to its resting place in the bike lane surrounding the Rose Bowl. Perhaps someone will give it a Viking funeral, sailing it down a storm drain on flaming cardboard smeared with peanut butter.

First information meeting for the Summer Team in Training season will be next Saturday morning at the Covina Library. However all the coaches will be in Phoenix with the Winter Team for the Rock 'n Roll Marathon. Except me. This will be a splendid time to introduce my own unique theories of running to a captive audience. ("We use a lot of iron when we run. So buy some iron leg weights and an iron knee band. It'll toughen ya up.")

Weary, Weary Me

For the last 48 hours I've been writing a story to submit to a horror anthology. Right now, New Year's Eve, my darling wife is proofing the last draft. Submission deadline closes at midnight. I wrote from noon to 11:00 last night. Eight o'clock to 1:10 today, went to the gym, then wrote from 4:30 to 10:20. MDW assures me I'm getting the rapid proof that will merely nip the worst grammatical offenders.

This story actually started out as something called Behind the Scenes. But over three weeks, it's changed, changed again and finally become Tyto Alba, the tale of a slacker who pays a price for "going with the flow."

All pressure is self-imposed. I must return to my young adult novel and didn't want this almost-finished story lounging around, up to no good.

And so, as I await changes on my final story for 2007, I say to one and all:

And Yet Another . . .

. . . Merry Christmas!

Predicting Sub 4 Hours at Eugene Marathon

Ice all over the hills yesterday as I ran a pleasant seven miles. Puddles from the recent rain were glazed over and frost covered the foliage. Spring Team in Training slogged along, doing a 20 mile run. I wished them well in passing.

Ha! There! It's done! I've officially signed up for the Eugene Marathon I'm building up base mileage and will begin training in late January. Having overtrained my way to injury last year, I figure to avoid that pitfall and, this May, break four hours.

Wrapping up last-minute Christmas chores. Now I need to send out cards. I've been so buried writing that short story that time has drifted past like a real good metaphor. Last night I hung the lights. I think I overdid it.

Blogged Down

Not many new entries as Christmas arrives on merry feet. This Monday I had breakfast with my agent, the lovely and financially-astute JKR. I learned that animation buyers now want writing samples that consist of original, live-action, sit-com scripts. It makes no sense.
Sit-com writers excel at funny dialogue. Their scripts are little more than a series of character names followed by set-ups and punch-lines. That's what the medium calls for. Animation writers must sling their jokes while rendering a blueprint that artists can board. In any case, I must now create a free, half-hour calling card for a medium in which I have bales of produced material.

As James Donald said at the end of Bridge on the River Kwai:

"Madness!"

His Brain's Overloading

Freakazoid! was the most fun I've had writing animation. A DVD of the first season will be released soon. Not that I'll see a cent, but it sure was a blast.

A Break

The first five chapters of Dummy Fever percolates in a second-draft stew. Next week I'll tidy it up and start my beta test process. So far I have a book club agreeing to give me feed back. As the story features a 13-year-old protagonist, I'm trying to line up a pair of high-school, freshman English classes. Given my general level of immmaturity, I find it quite easy writing as a teenager.

In the meantime, I'm blasting through a short story called Behind the Scenes. A rewrite of something I started two years ago, Scenes has Hollywood meet Washington, D.C. in a genetic engineering experiment gone wrong. There's nothing like crafting a light-hearted romp about massive fraud, incompetence and bio-engineered monsters to take my mind off holiday stress.

Coach

Me? It looks that way. I've agreed to be an assistant running coach for the San Gabriel Valley Team in Training. I'll find out more about my job this Friday at a meeting for mentors, captains, coaches, and commodores. (I threw in the "commodores." To my knowledge, TNT does not have a naval arm.) Hopefully, I can transmit my enjoyment of the sport to new runners.

I'll tell 'em about the injuries later.

Pearl Harbor: The Real McCoy

"A day of infamy," said President Franklin Roosevelt about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. (On a documentary, a surviving sailor recalled his feelings less poetically: "Holy smokes! Those are Japs! This is the real McCoy!") Reams have been written about what FDR knew and when he knew it. As the United States had broken the Japanese diplomatic code, there was speculation that the president deliberately withheld knowledge of impending attack from the military so as to use the bombing as an excuse to enter World War II.

But we were already fighting German U-boats in the Atlantic. Not to mention that a Japanese mini-sub was sunk inside Pearl Harbor by one of our ships hours before the aerial assault. Mostly we battled a mindset that said, despite two years of war all around us, we'd be just fine.

December 7th changed all that.

Be the Ball, Danny.

Joined TNT folk for their track workout tonight. Coach Katie suggested 200 meter repeats where I just concentrate on form. Odd feeling, running on a track and not keeping time. But that's the sort of workout I'll do for awhile. This year I turned running into a job and resented it. Maybe when it's fun again, I'll check my watch.

So I got that going for me.

Ken Burns Burned in Video

If you like parodies of Ken Burns, this mockumentary is a honey.

Fun?

Had lunch with Coach Katie yesterday. We talked of many things, including running. Katie felt I'd lost all sense of joy when it came to this sport of ours. Very true. Most of 2007 was spent training, being injured, and training again. So tomorrow I set out on a five-mile run without my watch. I'll run, finish whenever, and just chill. Mid-January I'll train again.

Next stop: May 4, 2008 - the Eugene Marathon! (That's Eugene, Oregon, a city that is to running what South Bend, Indiana is to college football.)

Blast From My Improv Past

In the early 80s I performed improvisational comedy with a group called the L.A. Connection. Our cast worked Friday nights. Afterwards, we'd buy a lot of beer, head over to someone's apartment and wait for SCTV to air at 12:30 AM. When it came to parody, they lived in the zone. Here's an old favorite starring Martin Short.

Happy T-Day!

A brisk run, writing, some phone calls to friends and family then off to the in-laws for chow and the Southern Cal game.

At some point this weekend, my darling wife and I will sit down to watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Starring Steve Martin and John Candy, this film is our Thanksgiving favorite. Released in 1987, "Planes" celebrates its 20th birthday. Next year, it can buy liquor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Robots and Seniors

Oz didn't give nothing to the Tin Man, certainly not old peoples' medicine.

Strike Talks and Writing

WGA and Producer's Guild talks resume next Monday. Talent agents did a little back-channel negotiating and got things moving. We shall see.

Going from poi to Pai Gow poker, running partner Ernesto prepares for the Las Vegas Marathon now a mere two weeks away. This will be his first 26-miler since Honolulu last year.

Writing like a frenzied fellow on the second draft of my book, Dummy Fever.

An animated series I worked on this summer has begun airing. I haven't seen an episode yet, so I won't link. But the story editor told me most of the show's humor has been culled out to make way for a lengthy didactic message on proper behaviour for kids.

Just writing that caused me to slip into rem.

Writers Fight for Cyber Gold

Cutting writers in on internet revenue is a key component of the strike. The producers maintain they aren't making any money off the Web. Thanks to Little Miss Attila for this link showing what studio heads really think.

Another Blorthday

Number two, to be exact, since I started Write Enough. Somewhere I discovered a ranking system measuring blog traffic. I am the 59,000th most popular blog in the world.

From a practical standpoint, knowing my writing could be read by anywhere from 6 to 17 people a day does improve my prose.

Or at least compresses it.

Happy B-Day, USMC!

A happy belated 232nd birthday to the United States Marine Corps. Yesterday, in units all over the world, the oldest and youngest Marines cut a birthday cake (or whatever they could scrounge) in honor of the Corps. Also "well done" to all our veterans past and present.

Craig's List Strike Nuggets

A guy this morning offered to picket in exchange for an introduction to an agent. (I think the post has since been taken down.)

Then there's this fellow.

(The above post has been taken down. But it said: "I Am A Scab!" The author then described himself as an "amazing writer"ready to work now and that the strikers were all "has-beens." I think it was put up by Les Moonves.)

Big Darn Writer's Strike

Nikke Finke's sources say that if this dispute isn't settled by December, there could be six more months of strike-filled fun. Find out the latest at Deadline Hollywood Daily.

A friend of mine is an editor at Universal. His union local (I.A.T.S.E. or the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts [It goes on.]) has a no-strike clause in their contract. That means they can't walk out in sympathy. Nevertheless, he honks his horn and patiently endures the strikers' "slow walk" in front of his car as he leaves work.

Oddly enough, I also belong to I.A.T.S.E. and would hazard a guess that animation writing falls under the heading of "allied crafts." Long ago, they represented animation artists when artists and directors worked out the action on storyboards. There were a few "gag writers" such as Michael Maltese who came up with story ideas, but for a 6-minute theatrical short, you didn't need a script.

By the time I started full-time at Warner Bros. (1992), there were 65 half-hours to produce and the clock was ticking. Writers wrote scripts that were story boarded, inked, painted and animated. But we remained in I.A.T.S.E. In the mid-90s there was a push by the Writer's Guild to represent us. But our I.A.T.S.E. local must first release us from their jurisdiction. At a meeting I attended, a local official stated the national union wasn't interested in letting us join WGA. Furthermore, the local would side with the studios if that were necessary to block our transfer.

Some union. But they had pretty good health coverage that my wife and I dearly miss. Health coverage is based on the amount of hours you work on union jobs in a six month period. Alas, I haven't worked many. Over the last few years I've burned through my COBRA and now pay a hefty fee for mediocre coverage.

In any case, I don't know what happened between WGA and I.A.T.S.E., but, as I mentioned earlier, it's nice to be remembered.

Strike News

Nikki Finke from the front lines.

Today We Have . . .

Rogue Endurance Club

Toward the end of a marathon, you'll often see runners shuffling along, hunched over like the letter "c." Their core muscles (abdominal, lower back, butt, hips and pelvis) lack strength. Unable to stay upright, they grow tired and slower with every step. My former coach, Jimmy Freeman, runner and all-around shy fellow, will be conducting core strength and stabilization classes. This six-week series starts Tue. Nov. 13 on the Westside and soon after that in Pasadena. Click here for more info.

A spectator at yesterday's Olympic Trials, Jimmy has posted a few comments and photos.

Ryan Shay Dead

During the Men's Marathon Olympic trials yesterday in New York, 28-year-old runner Ryan Shay collapsed and died shortly after the start of the race. Recently married, Shay's death was a hard pill for elite marathoners to swallow. He was friends with race winner Ryan Hall, who set a new Olympic qualifiying record. Hall covered the 26.2 mile distance in 2 hours, nine minutes and two seconds.

Hall, along with second and third-place finishers Dathan Ritzenheim and Brain Sell, will represent the U.S. in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Congrats to our marathon team, but it's indeed bittersweet.

Strike

Details of the Writer's Guild strike will be announced today. Nikki Finke has a good round-up of the issues dividing writers and studios. DVDs, blogs, MySpace pages and other forms of new media occupy center stage.

Of lessor note, the Guild wants to represent writers currently working in the fields of reality TV as well as animation — me. That would be cool, since most TV animation doesn't pay residuals. But it sounds like one of those things you include in a deal in order to throw out so you can show you're being reasonable.

Nevertheless, it's nice to be remembered.

Good luck, writers!

Happy Halloween!

A fine holiday, despite the fact that we haven't had a child ring our doorbell in 11 years. (Our local hills are steep.) But that doesn't stop my wife and I from buying treats and eating them all up. In fact, at this point, we would resent trick-or-treaters. Greedy little goblins!

Nova Marathon News

That Nova marathon special airs in Los Angeles at 8:00 PM. (Channel 3 on Charter Cable.)

Afoot at the Finish Line

Here's me hoofing it home at the frozen Phoenix Marathon back in January.

Over the last several miles, the course passes through a neighborhood that deftly blends desert scrub with industrial wasteland. You can rest your weary eyes on a huge power plant, highway bridges, and sharp plants. Very few people cheer in these parts. However, fewer distractions allow more time to focus on physical and metal discomfort.

Fortunately, Ironman Kate Martini ran me in the last 6.2 miles. She didn't tolerate loafing and knocked five minutes off my finish time by pulling me along in her wake.

Note the cap turned youthfully backwards. I did that around mile 25 and can't remember why. (It's not as if I were racing so fast my hat was about to flutter off.) In any case, no one should be held responsible for their actions in the last stages of a marathon.

Within reason, of course.

Pinky and The Brain and F5s

Ten years ago, I wrote a Pinky and the Brain episode called Brain Storm. Our intrepid mice decide to conquer the world via tornado power. To this end, Brain builds a clunky robotic device called a Verkimer Suit. Inside the suit, Pinky and the Brain allow a cyclone funnel to pass over them, hijacking the storm from within.

Last night, I caught Storm Chasers on the Discovery Channel. In addition to pursuing puffy clouds all over Tornado Alley, these chasers added an IMAX cameraman in his own vehicle known as a T.I.V., or Tornado Intercept Vehicle. Weighing 14,000 pounds, this mini-tank is designed to be overrun by a twister so the cameraman may obtain 70mm footage of tornado innards.

Watch a video here.

I should've copyrighted the Verkimer Suit.

Marathon on PBS

Next week Nova airs a show about ten novice runners, trained for nine months to complete the 2007 Boston Marathon. For most marathoners, Boston is a destination, something earned, reached only through a qualifying race. (For my age group, that's a 3 hour 45 minute marathon. Am I anywhere near that? BWAHAHAHAHAH.) In any case, a most odd — and hilly — selection for untried runners.

I'll be watching with a sympathetic heart next Tuesday, Oct. 30. Training for a marathon, let alone running one, is a test on many levels. Go rookies!

"Clear and Smoky"

The above paradox appears courtesy of Weather Underground. Yesterday was particularly unclear and smoky. The Santa Clarita fires made our local mountains appear to be harboring a volcano. Ash fell on cars and the sun gleemed a brilliant red.

Today, fire conditions were such that the local high school cross country team moved into my health club en masse, grabbing all the ellipticals and tredmills. I guess outdoor practice was cancelled. I wonder what happened to their gym?

Lessons Learned

As my IT heals and I'm running again, what nuggets did I glean from this last marathon training cycle?

1. Don't Skip Stretching.
As miles piled up in spring, I fell out of the habit of fully stretching after runs. A torn calf muscle resulted.

2. Accept What You Have
When I resumed running after eight weeks, my mind recalled a faster pace than my post-injury body could provide. This led to unrealistic long runs, that eventually burned me out.

3. Pick A Plan, Any Training Plan
There's all kinds of ways to tackle marathons and I tried every one. With 12 weeks to prepare for Chicago, I juggled the FIRST plan with old Team in Training routines. Choose one and commit.

4. Lift Weights
After tearing my calf muscle, I stopped lifting weights and never resumed. I felt the lack of strength on my long runs. Coupled with bad pacing and summer heat, this led to several miserable outings. Weight training really pays off beyond mile 20. (And strengthens the IT band.)

5. Don't Practice Quitting
Often I adopt an all-or-nothing attitude. Thus, if I miss a goal, I quit rather than modify my run. A few times I knew I couldn't maintain a certain pace. So I cut the run short, thus acquiring the habit of quitting. This ties in with No. 2 and No. 6 below.

6. Build Your Mental Muscles
Visualizations, mantras, counting steps and other mental tricks help you triumph over negativity and the "can'ts." But they should be integrated throughout the training cycle.

Now on to the next marathon and brand new errors.

Jimmy Dean Freeman Qualifies for Western States

Jimmy Dean Freeman, coach, distance runner, racounteur, holds up an inspirational sign addressed to himself. I'd do stranger things if I just ran 50.9 miles in 8 hours 9 minutes and 39 seconds. (That's a marathon, followed by another marathon.) Those results qualify Jimmy to run twice that far over tough, inaccesible terrain in the 2008 Western States 100.

Last month, his attempted qualification for Western States resulted in failure. Running the Angeles Crest 100, he was forced to drop out because of injury. Disappointed, Jimmy Dean persevered and yesterday, up in San Francisco, achieved his goal. As Confucius once said:

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

He also said that anyone who bought him a shot and a beer was wise, but that's another saying.

Giving Back

During autumn, when pigskins fill the air, it's important to remember that not every professional football player is in the game for himself.

So long, Paulette Oates

Had lunch today with Tom Ruegger. As we bemoaned the current state of TV animation, he mentioned Paulette Oates had died. Paulette was the "supply sarge" at Warner TV Animation back in its prime. If you needed post-its or your office moved to another floor, call Paulette. She was one of the first employees brought in as the division staffed up for Tiny Toons. Paulette managed office operations in Sherman Oaks from the late 80s through the booming 90s into the spiral-down OOs. I'd often run into her outside the front door where we'd have a smoke and discuss our mutual love for Las Vegas and games of chance.

In recent years, Paulette successfully battled lung cancer. But as the TV animation division atrophied, she was laid off this summer, dying shortly thereafter from a heart attack. And while the division won a pile of Emmys then zero, Paulette continued on through the years, doing a host of vital unsung chores very well.

Rest peacefully, Paulette. What with bingo in churches, there's a good chance you'll find blackjack in Heaven. All the best. Don't split 10s.