Cavalcade of Reviews

Alert Troy notes additional Freak II DVD reviews here, as well as here and this one here. Overall, quite kind to the Guy with Lightning in his Hair.

New Star Trek

In the midst of writing a short story that seems to mirror the stimulus package - a massive tome crammed with wads of fat - I took my wife to see Star Trek. Overall, I enjoyed it. I thought the director overdirected much of the action stuff. Close-ups, zippy cuts, and a hyperactive camera overwhelmed certain scenes. There's nothing wrong with letting action speak for itself. But time and styles change.

Live long and perspire!

Happy Mother's Day!

To moms everywhere.

Airborne

Busy writing that short story. I must always remember the reader - picky bastards. Too many characters or too much information triggers the Snooze button.

Whenever I feel sorry for myself about running, something happens to snap me out of it. I'll visit my friend K's blog or stumble upon something like this.

h/t: Hot Air

Knee Rehab and Writing

A few more days before I hear back from my paying job. Meanwhile I'm ascending the scale poundwise as I prepare for a torpid month of recovery. Last time off my feet, I blimped out in depression. This time, I'd better unblimp as my repaired knee will thank a lighter me once it's run time again.

Dashed through my research and started the short story anyway. Despite being fed up with prep work, I believe it helped. The interactive outline method, coupled with questioning the characters has lent my writing more heft. I really want to layer this story instead of blasting out a tale heavy on action but light on anything else such as themes, metaphors, symbolism or other boring things.

This time I'm more willing to wait and see what emerges. And maybe have a couple of snacks while I'm at it; bag of pretzels, a power bar, apple, turkey dinner; the usual.

The Things They Say

I put my short story characters through their paces today and asked them:

1. What they thought of the government spending trillions of dollars.

2. If they were filling out a job application, what would be their strong points?

3. Talking to a shrink, what are their weak points?

4. What did they think of Susan Boyle on "Britain Has Talent?"

Illuminating answers; most I expected, a few I didn't. I've got to research two items tomorrow, then let the whole thing rest for the weekend. I'll start a new draft next Monday. 

That is, unless my paying gig decides to proceed. Nice gig. Good gig. 

Close to Countdown

Surgery could be around May 20. My orthopaedist tried talking me out of continued running, failed, then acknowledged it was a standard warning administered to runners. He admitted his goal was avoiding knee replacement surgery. I said 'me too.' We parted on good terms. Working on a short story using an interactive outline. Rather than the school outline of Roman numerals, numbers and letters, the interactive form engages you with questions as to why you're considering this or that plot point. I'm always challenged to examine why I've included something, without having to know all the answers. ("I don't know" is acceptable.) Also, I've added a feature where I'll question characters on something unrelated to the story. For instance, I'm currently writing a horror story set on a small ship. But I'll ask my characters to react to waiting in a long movie line only to discover the film is sold out. How they react tells me who they are. I also have them speak to one other on some political or news topic. This is time-saving since my usual approach was to write a draft, then another, and gradually find the voices. Knowing characters better allows room for growth. And if they cross me...out of the story! I don't like doing that, but sometimes they leave me no choice.

Swell Review for Freak II

Goodly words on the second season.

h/t: Paul Rugg

Post-Marathon Video Captures It All

In honor of Jimmy, Emil, Jay and Melissa, Alfredo and all who competed this weekend, I present, once again, a salute to endurance athletes.

Salute to Tri Wildflowers

Congrats to Jay and Melissa Carlton and Alfredo Cacho for finishing the Wildflower Olympic distance triathalon: swim, bike, run and they did all three. Alfredo will continue training for a half-ironman, while Jay and Melissa will probably eat a lot.

Eugene Recalled, Surgery in Sight

Eugene Marathon - the high water mark of my running career...so far. You couldn't ask for better weather - 40s to start - or terrain - net downhill along a shaded path beside a river.

Meanwhile my arthroscopic surgery has been approved by the HMO. I meet my doc next week to sign various releases promising to allow mediation should he accidentally remove my back. But why not believe the best?

Emil "The Machine" Cheng finished the Palos Verdes Marathon yesterday in four hours and fifty-two minutes. This is a very hilly course and he battled cramps along with flu-like symptoms. Even a seasoned runner like Emil gets caught up in the excitement and goes out too fast. There is a penalty for such giddiness. Emil's race report is up on his blog.

Miwok Madness

According to Jimmy Dean Freeman: "...62.4 miles; 9:50 per mile average in the worst race conditions I have ever run..." That included fog, wind and rain, plus the aforementioned 10,000 foot elevation gain. But congratulations to Jimmy. Obstacles overcome made the triumph better.

Miwok A Lot

Running zealot Jimmy Dean Freeman is bounding along the heights of trendy Marin County, battling 10,000 feet of net elevation gain and a bad back at the Miwok 100K.

Twittering the race today, Jimmy informs us that Advil has done the trick, easing back pain as he reaches mile 28 in 4 hours and 27 minutes.

More later.

Equal Time

While mentioning Vietnam, I neglected Cambodia. The Khmer Republic fell on April 12, 1975. U.S. helicopters airlifted out our embassy staff, a few Cambodians, and the press. We didn't bother telling the Cambodian government we were leaving. And while we spirited away the man who'd been prime minister for the last three days, several members of his cabinet refused evacuation, staying to suffer the fate of their people. Prince Sisoweth Sirik Matak, Long Boret, and Lon Non were executed by the Khmer Rouge. What a grave that country became. They still haven't unearthed all the Killing Fields.

Every April, around Buddha's birthday, I send an email to a Khmer friend whom I met in Cambodia. She was five when the communists took over. Her father was taken to the grounds of a factory and shot. She and her mother were forced to work in the rice paddies. Starving, they ate bugs. Nowadays, her teenage daughter doesn't believe things were so bad. ("Bugs! Why would you eat bugs! That's so gross.")

And for all that, the Cambodians were remembered in a film - The Killing Fields, which twisted itself into intricate yoga poses to mitigate Khmer Rouge savagery.

Hollywood's good for a couple of Nazi films every year. But no one's made a movie yet on Darfur, or North Korea or Mao's butchery of 60 million Chinese. I guess some slaughters are more equal than others.

Jason and Tiffany's Wedding

Mostly current Team in Training folk at tonight's nuptials down in Whittier. Most will run 12 or 18 miles tomorrow. Being young helps.

A Little Known Occasion

Yesterday marked the fall of South Vietnam. I know because my Vietnamese barber told me. He fled Saigon in 1975 with no money and no English skills whatsoever.
(Even now, he tends to drop endings such as "hou" for "house," and "paspa" for "passport." You have to pay attention, but the meaning comes through.)

Eventually reaching America, he waited four years for his family to bribe their way onto a boat out of Vietnam. They did, reaching a refugee camp in Malaya. Eventually, my guy got them over here. Thirty-four years have passed since the day he boarded a helicopter under rocket fire. Now he in lives quietly in the San Gabriel Valley, cuts hair in La Canada and pays for two daughters in college.

He knows I've been in Vietnam and Cambodia, but never recalls why. Or my name. His first question is, "You travel somewhere?" I'm certain he thinks I'm always in motion, like a deep ocean shark.

Today I told him I was glad he made it out of Vietnam.

He was too.

Thumbs Up from Toon Zone News

My favorite DVD director Troy passes along the intelligence that Freakazoid Season II DVD has received a glowing notice from the wise, insightful reviewer at Toon Zoon News. Bracing copy, absolutely bracing.

Craig Crumpton Gives Voice to the Vocal

For those following voice actors, try this blog: Voiceroy. Spot familiar names such as Frank Welker and catch up on what's doing in the world behind the mike.

TNT News

This weekend, several Team in Training pals tackle the Wildflower Triathlon. Jay and Melissa, plus current San Gabriel Valley marathon coach Karla will race the Olympic course (1.5 kilometer swim, 40k bike, and 10k run.) Current assistant marathon coach Alfredo manfully goes after the half-ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run.) Good luck to all.

On Friday evening, TNTers Tiffany and Jason will be wed. Great folk. I'm buying them a toaster.

And in other news, the South Koreans have cloned dogs that glow in the dark. And they're all named "Ruppy." And it's not a game show.

Yet.

Knights Who Say "Knee"

Ha, well, there! I've begun the process to have my arthroscopic knee surgery. Because I have an HMO with a large deductible, it's possible I won't be co-paid into poverty. My doctor's paperwork chicks are checking on that. I'm believing it will all end in a marathon sometime in 2010. Onward into medical land!

Paul Dini Day

At today's Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, former Warner co-worker Paul Dini will be appearing on a panel discussing his various projects, such as what it's like to work with a wee tiny man like George Lucas. Good for Paul.

A Running Machine

That's Emil, ladies and gentlemen. He just finished the hilly La Jolla half-marathon (13.1 miles) in 1 hour and 56 minutes. A Team in Training alum, I used to bump into Emil at various races, the last being 2008 San Diego Marathon. He has seriously upped his game this year, competing every month in distance events. I run vicariously through Emil and wish him well for the both of us.

Via Emil: Palos Verdes is next week. This week's endurance event was La Jolla. Please stop bombarding me with corrections. -:)

Web of Drugs

My cousin Jim McCann sent me this on the perils of substance abuse.

Story Prompt: The Subcon Dump

Here's a tool I've used in the past to help generate story ideas. I fill a sheet of paper with whatever thoughts arise, using different colored pencils, starting at various spots on the page and not censoring anything. This prompts my subconscious to cough up helpful story facets. There is, however, a tendency to fill the page with "redrum," but therapy and an ankle bracelet help keep that in check.

Freakazoid on Tumbir

The Freaks of Others. Takineko has rounded up an assortment of Freakazoid fan art for your Saturday viewing pleasure. (Note: But her link expired some years ago. However, though not fan art, here's a great wealth of Freakazoid up on Tumbir.

Scooby Doo Script

Work? Perhaps. And a half-hour script at that. I've got to peruse some material, come up with ideas, and meet the story editor next week. Paid work. What a novelty!

And while nothing is certain until after the check has cleared, this has a positive feel.

I'd like to chat longer, but, you see, I must work.

Important Online Tips

Please view before signing onto Facebook.


h/t: Moe Lane: I am an evil giraffe

Orthopedic News

Had a nice talk this morning with my HMO-supplied orthopedist. While only giving me a fifty-percent chance of ever running marathons again, he gave me a 100-percent chance of knee deterioration if I do nothing.

So it looks like I'll be opting for arthroscopic surgery on the knee. They'll "bleed" the knee above the "pothole,"  filling it with what-will-become fibrocartliage. While not as strong as organic cartilage, there's a chance it could close said pothole nicely, allowing me to race into my dotage. (Not far.)

There's physical therapy and months of EZ walking and light running. But by then, I should know if the pothole can withstand marathon pounding. 

Ahh, well, there. No more moping about. A direction. A risk. Life. Procrastination. Just a little. I'll call 'em Monday and set it up. 

Big Voice, Big Heart

Joe Leahy's blogging these days. Check out the thoughts of the voice of Freakazoid.

Final Boston Marathon Thoughts

Big props to Kara Goucher and Ryan Hall for finishing third in their respective divisions. Goucher led 800 meters from the finish, but couldn't hold against world class competition. Hall faded when the front runners surged, but fought his way back, picking off runners to close behind the second man in what was a very deep field. This is the best finish for Americans since 1985, when the top three female and second-and-third male slots were won by the U.S.

Goucher wept in disappointment, but this was only her second marathon. She should be proud. Nothing but upside for USA distance running. 

And nothing but congratulations to Kiley Akers and Kate Freeman for finishing their first 50-mile race. (I thanked them at the retired blog, now I'm thanking them where people will see.) Kiley coaches the fall and spring San Gabriel Valley, Team in Training marathon squads. Kate was my coach for two TNT marathons. Nice to see them set big, scary goals and reel them in.  

Richard Stone Remembered

Paul Rugg blogs about Freakazoid scoring sessions and the magic of Richard Stone aka "Stonini."

The scoring room was on the Warner lot and had been used in such famous films as "Casablanca." They were going to tear it down at one point, but Clint Eastwood really liked scoring his films there. So the studio renovated it, putting in nifty, futuristic technical stuff and a big comfy couch.

For a time in Freakazoid Season Two, we were scoring nomads, traveling to sound stages at Paramount and Fox. But there's was nothing like the huge stage at Warners back in the day.

Director Recalls Filming Freak Season Two DVD

DVD director Troy shares his Freakazoid Season Two memories.

And remember: "Troy" spelled backwards is "Yort."

Freakazoid Season II DVD

Now available at fine DVD emporiums.

Next Deadline

Thursday afternoon, April 30. I turn a completed short story in to my agent. That means I need to line up readers now, get them pages by this Saturday, back to me by Tuesday, corrections done by Wednesday, polish Thursday morning. I think we're looking at 20-odd pages.

It can and will be done!

Boston Marathon

Version number 113 on a chilly, windy day. Dramatic finish, spent runner, good-showing by the U.S. The video is around ten minutes and captures the top three men and women finishers.

Ditching a Blog and Knee Surgery

I've shut down the running blog and will update here in one place as I've done for the last four years. Starting another blog is a perfect example of pain-avoidance. I have barrels of unfinished projects, yet I begin something new because it's always easier than completing something old.

Be warned. The mind is powerful, the mind is weak, the mind will wake you, when it's time to leak. I'm not sure what that means, but it contains elements of truth here and there.

In any case, I'm calling my orthopedic doc today to inquire about arthroscopic knee surgery. As I understand the recovery process, there's about six weeks immobile, twelve weeks limited use, then twelve weeks mildly busy use before I could think about training again.

Right now, blogging about running has a certain Lives of Others feel, but it'll do until I get going again.

Poem-A-Day

Speaking of writing deadlines (which I do often), over in the sidebar my sister is slogging away on a 30-day poetry challenge. That's one poem each day based on a simple prompt.

Keep cranking, MP!

Animaniacs Salute

Keeper links to an Animaniacs salute on the piano roll, performing for a familiar audience. Apparently, these player pianos are powered by a bellows of some sort. See what you think.

Unfinished Book Projects

Couldn't quite get out of my inertia today. But there's still a few hours left. Since 2005, I've outlined three books: two adult horror stories and one, sci-fi young adult novel. The outlines are detailed and I'm wondering if there's a way I could "Rod Serling" all three. (Show creator and writer of many Twilight Zones, Serling was said to use multiple typewriters, with different stories in each carriage. He would migrate from one to the next, cranking out tales by the gross - most of them pretty good. But, alas, I don't even have one typewriter, let alone several.)

One at a time, I think.

Project Completed

Sit-com out to my agent today. What a great feeling to get off the canvas and finish something I was about to chuck. In any case, I'll relax today, then start tomorrow on the next item.

Paul Rugg Farewell Party Photos

Paul's wife uncovered photos from his 1997 Warner Bros. farewell party. He left at the right time. I stayed another two and a half years. By the time my farewell party rolled around there was no one left. (Even Greg got a better job.) We held the event in Jean's office. There were two security guards and a man there to fix the air conditioning. But the cake was good and Jean let me keep a pen.

TJ's War in the Central Highlands

I just learned a dear friend died back in Cleveland. TJ's heart, trashed by several massive attacks, finally gave out. His funereal was tonight.

TJ served in Vietnam with the 4th Infantry Division. In 1967 and '68, he fought North Vietnamese in the Central Highlands, moving through jungle so thick that daylight barely dented the gloom. I'd interviewed TJ for a book I was writing on the war. Here's an excerpt from his story. God bless and keep him.


* * * *

Life was a series of brutal routines.
Starting at 5:00 AM every day, TJ and the soldiers of Bravo Company hoisted eighty-pound packs and humped through the jungle for fifteen hours. These broiling, exhausting treks wound through virgin forest. Often Bravo passed beneath dank, triple-canopy jungle, trees squashed so thickly together that a flashless photo would be underexposed.
Had he ever been student council president? A star gymnast? In love with a girl at Ohio State? TJ sloughed off his old life slogging through a fantastic landscape. The Vietnamese Central Highlands were as alien to North Royalton, Ohio as alien could be. Fantastic bugs fell from trees as TJ moved through clouds of coin-sized mosquitoes, awash in malaria. Elephant grass towered over him with razor-sharp blades that sliced open skin, leaving wounds that quickly infected in the tropical air. Once TJ saw a cobra rise out of the elephant grass. As it flared its hood, he hurried off.
Occasionally, he stumbled onto scenes of quiet beauty. TJ was up near the point man one afternoon when Bravo Company entered a clearing. Tall rock formations surrounded a glittering waterfall, plunging past orchids and vines into a small pool. It looked so peaceful. Disneyesque. A moment later, TJ was joined by 19 and 20-year olds, staggering out of the forest, gasping for breath from heat and exhaustion. Wonder had been leeched out of them. They wanted only to rest.
At night, Bravo Company set up a perimeter, cut down trees and made a landing zone for helicopters to evacuate wounded. Ambushes and listening posts crept out into the lightless forest to detect any enemy heading toward the position. Once TJ and two men crouched in terror, stalked by a tiger that circled their listening post, breathing out a thick, raspy “haaaaaaahhh.” They were forbidden to fire rifles because it would reveal their position. (TJ was prepared to riddle the beast and take his chances later with authority.)
Most nights he slept four hours. Sometimes less.
Bravo Company walked in rags, uniforms rotting for wont of resupply. Over time, TJ, who’d once thought of running for congress, lost faith in a government that had seemed to have forgotten him.
And slowly, the war shifted gears.
At first, there was sniper fire, rounds making a high-pitched zeeeeeee as they passed overhead. Then several North Vietnamese would ambush Bravo Company, then dozens. TJ saw men killed and wounded, learning not all wounds were visible. TJ’s platoon medic had once survived a massacre. After his unit had been overrun, the man played dead while the NVA executed his wounded friends. The experience bent the medic in strange ways. A huge man, he would scour the jungle, picking up turtles on the march and stuffing them in his rucksack. At night, TJ and the others watched as the medic sat alone with a bayonet, stabbing turtles.
Once the enemy probed Bravo Company. A wounded North Vietnamese soldier cried out all night. In the morning TJ and several men brought in the NVA. The enemy soldier was wounded in the head, brain exposed. Prisoners were rare, highly valued for intelligence. The Bravo Company commander ordered the turtle-killing medic to treat the prisoner.
“I ain’t helping that gook.”
“I’m giving you a direct order.”
With a shrug, the big man crossed to his medical bag, took out a bottle of iodine, and poured it directly into the prisoner’s brain. The NVA leaped into the air, flopped in disturbing ways like a mad swordfish, then collapsed dead. The medic stared at the Captain.
“Sir, I did what I could.”

Light Dusting

Polishing up the sit-com for a Thursday send-in. My agent may have a coronary. I'll certainly have to remind her it's something we've discussed over the years.

After that, two short stories to send out, then the oft-written, never polished, five chapters from a young adult novel that stopped suddenly during our move last year and has supported cobwebs ever since.

Out with it all! Fie! Begone! Scat, annoying unfinished things! "I spit in your general direction."

Happy Easter!

Strange Iceland Video

Whaz'sup in Iceland? Just another day of giant puppets and helicopters.

Taxing Thoughts

Due to my knee flaring up, I'll miss a fine tax protest today. MDW will represent the family. Taxes are particularly unfair in Hollywood. You may hardly work for years - ahem! - then sell something for a big score. The government taxes you at the highest rate, as if you'd been sweeping in the long green the whole time.

Considering that you're taxed pretty much on every transaction plus state, local and federal taxes, in addition to tax on interest, property, phone/Internet and capital gains taxes, I can only assert we're gagging in taxes. Having worked for the federal government, I can assure you its not being spent wisely. Just spent.

Less, I think, is more. Someone once proposed a simple, understandable, flat tax. And while there's a thicket of special interests determined to keep the tax code byzantine and dense, enough angry Americans, making enough noise, could once again reclaim their hard-earned money.

Greedy? I think not.

Good Friday

And a good friday it was.

Sci-Fi Bait

I'm completing a tale about a whale-watching tour that gets far more than it bargained for. I'll finish a draft this week, let it set through next Wed., then second draft, polish and send it to my agent. We'd talked about submitting this short story awhile ago to a director who does Sci-Fi channel creature d'jour movies. If Sci-Fi can do "Kracken: Terror of the Deep," they can do mine.

The animation job from Monday turned out be a game show development gig - minus any money for my time. So I politely passed. After all, I'm already working for free on something I like. Tough to beat.

Armored Vehicles I Have Known

As a kid we lived behind an American Legion Post that had a for-real tank out front. From my G.I. Combat comic book collection, I was able to identify it as a M3A1 Stuart Light Tank. The neighborhood kids loved that hunk of metal. It lent a sense of realism to our war games and provided a handy meeting place since everyone knew where it was.

Having just returned from Chicago last month, I gave my sister Mary Pat a report on the old homestead and the many changes that had occurred. She put her memories in verse:

The Tank

My good brother just told me the tank was gone
They carted it off when they tore down the American Legion
The land now holds luxury condos
That don’t know the richness of the ground they sit atop

Every summer the Legion parking lot would fill with the Ox Roast Carnival
Portable rides and games of chance would go up in a matter of days
Stay up for a matter of weeks
Across the alley from our house and in the center of the fair was that big lawn ornament

I got my first job picking up money at the game where you
Throw dimes at glassware until it goes into the glass and you kept it
People would spend 5 whole dollars
To win a glass that cost thirty cents at the Ben Franklin store

Years later I figured out why my parents refused to
Let me take the early morning job polishing the horses
On the carousel
Just me and the 7 fingered boss early every day didn’t sit well with my folks

In winter the parking lot would have all the snow plowed
Back to the alley so there was a tall mountain range of snow
Outside our back gate
We marched a path across the ridge line to the biggest pile on the corner

We would sled off into the street and start full contact snow ball fights
Some little general would form us into a fighting unit
We trained and drilled
Of course this always involved the tank

If it was our tank we would have to scramble under it to escape enemy fire
If it was an enemy tank that day we had to sabotage it
Lodge grenades in the treads
Scramble out from beneath it at top speed and seek cover behind the snow bunker

One cold winter day I came home for dinner frozen solid and full of stories
Wearing my brand new royal blue ski pants with stirrups that were the rage
There were two little holes in the knee
I cringed at the ruin to my fashion fortune and pulled up the pant leg

Bully brother sat on my left and was quite put out that I was fussing my leg
I was too heartbroken to be cowed by him and I kept up my search
My leg was a bloody mess
Bully blanched and I felt a whole lot better with that small victory

As my leg warmed up the cut started to hurt and the questions came raining
It had to be when we were crawling on our bellies under the tank
Mom said it’ll scar
It did and I stroke that place as I write this poem and wonder what they did with

The Tank

Post-Crash Action

A 30-day moratorium on big rigs driving the Angeles Crest Highway. One of my favorite coffee shops sits adjacent to the gutted bookstore, flush in the bulls eye. Let's hope the problem's fixed before a Peterbilt cab crashes into the middle of my BLT.