It's A Hell Of A Town

Now that was really something. Friday evening, three or four dozen zombies lurched through Manhattan, in the rain, scaring and entertaining hundreds of passersby. It was a hoot.

I've been living here for close to ten months now, and Friday night was a perfect example of why. The opportunities; among them, to do incredibly wacky stuff. Only in New York...

We moaned, we limped, we laughed, we drank, we made merry. Good times. There will be pictures to follow, boy howdy.

Ciao for now.

High Five!

Okay. Last night rocked, for a multitude of reasons. High on the list was the fact that Trevor and I tried out our costumes. On the streets of Astoria. After midnight. Oh yeah.

There's a zombie get-together tonight starting in Union Square, and I don't need an engraved invitation to show up dead. A little make up, a missing arm (w/ the bone sticking out) and I'm ready to go.





Trevor has the single best Borat imitation I've ever heard. His inflection is perfect, his expression unimpeachable, and now he has a suit and 'stache.

Dudded up, we lurched toward the local emergency room. The paramedics cracked up. The 7-11 employees, not so much. However, those at the all-night grocery store were most entertained. It felt good to do something a bit crazy, completely spur-of-the-moment.

Outstanding.

A Moment of Clarity

I've been working on All Fall Down for some time now; and my productivity for the last few months has been spotty at best. Then last week, I fixed up Issue 5's script and by Tuesday, had gotten two-thirds the way through Issue 6. When I hit another wall.

It's not exactly a plot-wall; the whole series has been mapped out more or less from the beginning. Nevertheless; there that wall was. Then, last night, standing outside, I cleared my head and actually thought to myself "what to do about said problem?"

The answer came to me. It wasn't blatantly obvious or anything of the kind; it was just something that needed thinking about, and the solution presented itself. Today, I think I'll be able to polish off the first draft of Issue #6.

Here's hoping. More to follow, folks. Ciao.

Vhat Music They Make

A new flick hits theaters tonight, 30 Days of Night. There was a time when I would have been first in line to see it. I used to eat up anything having to do with those pointy-toothed melanin-deprived fiends. Now... not so much.

Yes, it's a horror flick. Yes, it's getting middling-to-decent reviews. But honestly? No matter how good it could be, I doubt I'd be impressed. I can't remember the last time a vampire flick came out where the bloodsuckers had more than one thing on their minds.

Dracula. Now there's a vampire story. More than just a hungry animal; the character represented human corruption on a deep level. "Lock up your daughters, folks, or they'll end up soulless monsters with unholy appetites." Despite being sorely tempted, the chaste and true Mina survives to the book's end. Lucy, her close friend (and woman of a somewhat looser virtue), is not only victimized but slaughtered in a grisly fashion: staked and beheaded. Not fun.

Catch Frank Langella's performance on DVD if you can. It's terrific. Hell, check out Fright Night. (Sorry, Frank.) They both illustrate the monster's best skill-- turning a person into someone else. Someone they shouldn't be. Renfield becomes a toadying servant. With persuasion, Mina becomes a willing partner to Dracula, if only for a while. And like an addict, she doesn't want to 'go clean' while she's under his influence; any more than she ever wants to see him again once she quits cold turkey.

Vampires from the last several years may have a few extra tricks up their sleeve, but at the end of they day they do little more than suck. Hopefully that'll change.

Oscar!

This is my nephew, Oscar. He's finally big enough to wear the baseball onesie provided by Tamia, and delivered by me to my brother.

I think he looks great in it. There's a puppy in a baseball hat, throwing the ball. It's on his lap.

Great lookin' kid.

Today Partly Sucked

Well, crap. It rained today. It rained alot. I swam to dinner.

Ordinarily, rain is nothing to gripe about. "Into every life a little rain must fall." Right?

Well, this rain had a bit of a vendetta. In said rain; my paystub for the coming week that still needs filling out? Ruined. Needs replacing. Book I was reading, water-damaged. Both were supposedly safe in my shoulder bag. I got home tonight to find the mail was likewise deluged... Few things are depressing as sopping wet birthday cards.

The bank is being unusually difficult this week, putting deposits on hold that every other week went through without complication. I don't understand. What I do understand is that it's making things harder for the time being.

... Damn it.

Tomorrow's a new day. It better be. I've had about all of this one that I can stand.

Words Should Be Used Properly

Okay! First post as a 27 year old. Woot.

I'm enjoying a show that premiered on my birthday, Pushing Daisies. It's funny, sweet and just a bit morbid. I like it.

My problem is with a word they used. A main character, Chuck, says she was strangled with a plastic sack. On a cruise, her assailant (wearing very nice shoes) puts a plastic sack over her head and cuts off her air supply.

I like Chuck. She's verbose, a voracious reader and stacks her books vertically when she runs out of shelfspace. I do the same thing.

Only problem is, she wasn't strangled with a plastic sack. She was suffocated with a plastic sack. I'll grant you, "strangled with a plastic sack" has a nice ring to it. Three short A's right in a row. "Suffocated with a plastic sack" doesn't flow nearly as well.

Anyway. Since I started this commentary, Chuck has admitted to being hoisted by her own pitard. Followed shortly thereafter, her murderer exclaims "For Pete's sake!' in a flashback. A murderer. The worst thing he can think to say is "For Pete's sake!"

I officially love this show.

Things Are Looking Up

Well, after a setback or two, I'm employed again! Woohoo! The transcription work has effectively dried up for some weeks to come, forcing me to look elsewhere for income. To that end, a good friend pointed me in the direction of CORE Staffing. I have work the rest of this week, I've interviewed with the local PBS channel as well as Random House. I have a two week stint with them beginning next Tuesday.

I don't want to project, or plan, or expect anything that's to come. Either the Rahdom House gig will lead to permanent employment, or it won't. We'll just have to wait and see. In any case. My first birthday in New York is Wednesday. *blows party horn*

Have a good night, folks. More to follow.