Hell's Half Acre

the boy who cried urgent

do you work in an office?  There is a certian email etiquette that is like unwritten code.  It seems there are people who don't get hipped to that code. They do the following things, over and over:

Attach the urgent flag to everything they send, even if it is to announce that there are bagels in the conference room. I like bagels too but there is no need to make it !!!!!!!!!!.

Refuse to use a distribution list that includes all the pertinent people. Instead, choose each person individually from the outlook address book making the To: line longer than the actual email. Guess what guy!? You don't need to do that. There is a tool you can use. It's called a distribution list. See that one called "NY OFFICE." No need to choose all 65 people individually anymore. Wow! Technology! How do they do it?

BCC a boss as a way to make yourself look better at someone else's expense. Number one, that shit is underhanded. Number two, everyone on the email will find out eventually, especially if your petty ploy gets them into trouble. Number three, no one likes a tattle tale. Number four, you got a problem with someone or their work? Grow a ball and be up front about it instead of being a sneaky little bitch.

Hmm. This could just be Krixfort's unwritten email code but I think that people in other office's would agree that the three points above are truly annoying.

this weekend's homework

Ah here it is, Friday AGAIN!  and so quick! THEY really should consider instituting the three day work week. It's much easier on your constitution.

So this weekend's homework will be good. It consists of:

razing the the remains of Mt. Clothington. two more loads - ugh. the worst chore in the world.

Watching three Netflixes.

1. Eros - A trilogy of short films by three directors (Soderburgh, Wong Kar-Wai, Michealangelo Antonioni)
2. 2005 Academy Award Short Film Collection
3. 2006 Academy Award Short Film Collection

Watching the low/no-budget films, El Mariachi, The Brothers McMullen, and Clerks, while studying camera technique, production design (or lack of), sound, and lighting. And if my eyeballs don't become dessicated little pits by the end of all this watching, I will watch Once Upon  A Time in Mexico to see what a feature film in HD looks like. 

There are also plans for New Year's Eve hijinks but I don't know. I don't really like starting my year off with a hang so we'll see.

PS I don't hate my pain arena any longer.

is this wrong?

is it wrong to take zoloft just for fun?

I took some because I was bored. I feel like I'm in high school.

oh well. it keeps away the cravings for smokes.

I am trying to take a the practice MAT test that GG sent over. . .it's not going so well. After number two my brain blanked out on the analogies.

an aging nation faces diminishing returns on investment

U.S. Ruling Backs Benefit Cut at 65 in Retiree Plans

By ROBERT PEAR
Published: December 27, 2007
WASHINGTON — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare.

The policy, set forth in a new regulation, allows employers to establish two classes of retirees, with more comprehensive benefits for those under 65 and more limited benefits — or none at all — for those older.
read more. . .

no stirring mice today either

well, I have decided that this week is officially my favorite week in the year to work.

*kicks back in chair*

*puts feet on desk, hands behind head*

I'm just CHILL-AXIN'

alright then, if I'm just chill-axin' then why did I run to the doctor last night with chest pains?  Boy, let me tell you, when you tell the dudes you have the chest pains, they don't fuck around. I didn't even have time to fill out my paperwork. I think I remember the pen dropping to the ground in slow motion as they pulled me into a room and threw the BP cuff on. BP was high enough that extra machinery was brought out.

The Verdict: Hypertension. Not heart attack.

Mini B had a similar incident prior to xmas. I think this incident has been freaking me out a bit. I've had chest pains off and on for about 2 years. I'd had physicals. No one noticed anything. I figured it was stress. After Mini B's incident though, I've been in a state of semi panic.

The state of semi panic has induced these decisions:

Decision number one: quit the ciggies.  I've been growing increasingly UN-fond of the ciggies. I have been able to do without them for days at a time. Hopefully the act of me saying NO to myself won't trigger an all out rebellion. We all know I don't like authority figures, even when they are me.

Decision number two: join ZHEGFGF ZATCHDJHERS.  What was that? You couldn't understand what I said? I said, JOIN Whexzzft Wajjjergs.  Huh? What the fuck? Do I have to yell? I said join fucking weight fucking watchers.  According to weight watchers little fucking chart I should consider dropping 75 to 100 pounds. I will be happy with 60.  Anywho, I seem to not be able to make this weight loss thing work on my own and I seem to respond well when I need to be accountable to something or someone so I am signing up today. hooray for heart healthy goodness. pfft.  I am mainly hoping that I will be able to have a date once before I die that didn't spring up unexpectedly from a blacked out moment at the bar. Because lets face it, what counts ain't so much about what's on the inside, when you're meeting people. Most people look at the packaging first. I't's kind of like having the college degree on your resume, even if you already have sufficient work experience. You need that credential to get you through the door otherwise, you will spend an inordinate amount of time trying to prove your qualifications.

Decision number three: sign up for a Higgins replacement. I've been toying with this one for about six months. I think the timing is right to resume getting my ass kicked. More boxing please.    

how did this slip by me?

http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2007/11/28/best-viral-videos-of-2007-no-1/

the horror. the horror.

nothing was stirring not even a mouse

shhhhhhhh. Beige is very quiet. There are no beiges here barely. I am wondering why I am here.  It is almost time to go on another coffee run.

So I went to the MOMA on Christmas Eve. What a nice way to spend that day. I took two beigers and an extra guest. I didn't spend as much time contemplating things as I would have had I been by myself. Also, trying to explain minimalism to someone who does not have any art education in their background is kind of tough. It's also tough to explain Dada. So, I didn't bother. You can take away whatever you want from the experience is my opinion.

Maybe if I leave beige early today, I will make my way back up there to look at the Seurat drawings.

on another note, this week's book learning about film production has to do with lighting.  I am reading about lighting and looking at lighting and thinking about lighting. I watched the movie Witness last night and noticed that the lighting is very painterly.  AS it turns out, Peter Weir and his cinematographer John Seale went to a Vermeer exhibit and agreed that that is how they wanted the film to look.

Anywho, I've been trying to take a lot of reference from paintings and photographs when imagining sets and designs.  We are trying to come up with design elements for the protaganist's apartment. It is like a lair, and I keep thinking of the paintings of Caravaggio and Francis Bacon. How about this for a mash-up?

alrighty then. Back to beige. 

writer's blockhead and sleeplessness

I thought maybe if I went to bed I could relax and let the ideas wander in. I figured I'd leave the door ajar and if they stopped by they could just knock and say "Hey. We're here. Let's go for it. "

I'm not sure where the ideas went. So now I'm up again. The house is quiet. I am sitting in my pajamas, headphones on, hunched over optimus, communing with this tool through the blog. Maybe we can move past the blog in a little while.

I am working on a treatment for 718-Special, which is a story that has evolved from two previous ideas. The marriage of these ideas is a good one, giving strength and depth to two stories which could not stand on their own. Master G and I have even outlined this story so a treatment shouldn't be that hard but for some reason, it is evading my grasp tonight.

The short film Four Star Friend has passed its final rewrite tonight. It is in the can as they say, which is vaguely satisfying but now there is the production design to think about. Three locations are solid, one is locked, the other two we will need to negotiate which, the more I think about it, will ultimately require us to purchase production insurance and all that.  I think there are many ways to use creative problem solving to get around things that our budget won't allow.  That being said, we have every intention of submitting this thing to festivals and I don't want it to look like some high school kid shot this shit on their father's handicam so when it comes down to it, we will do what we need to do.

Most of the time I am positive about our ability to get this thing done, even in the face of impossibilities. If anything, over the course of my life, I have proven one thing to myself that I am fairly tenacious and persistent and at times relentless in pursuit of things I want.  When I was a kid I was easily discouraged. This resulted in a shit ton of missed opportunities (hello Stanford.) That shit is in the past. It is time to move forward and have faith in my abilities and the abilities of the other members of 81st St. Productions (soon to be a real live company I am thinking.)

Even so, everything is a crap shoot you know? I will consider this endeavor a success if we are able to produce something of quality that other people want to look at. Something that evokes a little bit of thought or emotion. Something that I am proud to say I was a part of and that I put 200% of my efforts into. If I end up in debtors prison doing this, then so be it. What the fuck else is there in life? I mean really, what do I leave behind in this life? Not a plethora of children so there has to be something.

I suppose this is one of those post that continuously contradicts itself but well. . .welcome to the inside of my head that is filled with writers blocks. Blockhead.

i heart beige

and beige hearts me because I kick ass.

Last night I was rewarded with a nice gift certificate to this place.  I will be able to make a day off it, chill-axin' and spa-ing it up.

what a difference from the cubes. recognition and reward for work well done instead of humiliation and terror.

thank zod I made the leap.

Why god? why?

I want to like this movie as much as my friends do. The Coen Bros have put together some of my most favorite movies ever. Yet, for some reason, I have tried to watch this and I never, EVER, make it through the whole thing without falling asleep. Why is that?