Saturday, August 25, 2007

Also...

I've been jacking with the templates since some yahoo on Google's end opted to make alterations to the design I've used for the last three years without notification. As such, my profile was splashed all over the top of the screen instead of on the right hand side where I preferred it. Pardon my mess while I go through additional templates to find one that doesn't annoy me.

A Brief Recap...

Alright, in no particular order here are the following things that have happened to Yours Truly since the first week in July:

1) I quit my job since the fools running it hadn't paid me since April. Some might call be an optimist for hanging in there that long sans pay check and they wouldn't be wrong. You just keep hoping and hoping that the people running things will get their act together, but the worst things were the further up their own behinds their heads went. As such, I went out the door and haven't looked back. Yes, the Texas Workforce Commission has been notified and all appropriate steps have been taken.

2) I worked to set up my own business but as it was a media company and July is the worst possible time to do so it fell apart. The pieces will be picked up this month but we'll see how things shake out in the meantime.

3) I had major sinus surgery at the first of August. You know your sinuses are messed up when the doctor looks at the CT Scan and says, "WHOA!" Most times when doctors perform this type of surgery they're going in to fix one or two things. Here was my list: Correct deviated septim that looked like it was designed by Zorro since it had a double-S curve (instead of being straight it was wavy and folded back on itself), remove fragments of this which had grown into my actual sinus cavity, remove dime-sized cyst that had formed in said sinus cavity, remove/drain polyps that had formed in the sinus cavity, expand air way so that I could breathe. Yeah, that wasn't what I'd call a fun day.

4) My Fair Lady and I bought a house and put our town home on the market. Anyone interested in a two story town home should feel free to contact me.

5) I have locked down my first paid freelance writing job with the promise of more to follow. In addition, I might have an interview next week for a full-time position all so I can bring in money to Casa de Skim which I haven't been able to do since near the end of Spring.

6) I'm on page 62 of a book I'm writing and nearing page 30 on a screenplay I hope to be able to pitch in a few weeks.

Oh, and my backlog on film blogs has grown exponentially since I finally burned through The Prisoner and My Fair Lady and I are working through the entire set of The West Wing. So yeah, these past seven weeks have been more than a little full and stressful. When you hit a certain point in your life you have to ask yourself what do you genuinely want to do with your life. For me, it's writing full-time and getting paid to do so and this first gig might lead to that and a little more. Hopefully it's enough to pay off debt, afford the mortgage, and help support the both of us since My Fair Lady has been doing all the supporting for the last several months.

In short, there are a great many blog posts and stories about to hit here over the next few weeks. So keep your eyes peeled, Semi-Constant Reader.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Nuts

As I've said in the past, I don't think that Penny Arcade is a funny comic. Well, lo and behold they actually made me laugh this afternoon courtesy of this gem. In short, it's funny if you're a) a gamer; b) a guy who loves action movies.

The reference is to the upcoming John Woo Presents Stranglehold which is the video game sequel to legendary action film Hard Boiled. Both star Chow Yun Fat as Hong Kong uber-detective Tequila along with ninteen thousand other guys whose sole purpose is to be canon fodder. I watched the movie again the other day and it's the definition of a highlight film. By that I mean you can't help but flip from one action scene to the next because all the in between stuff is simple filler.

It doesn't get any better than knowing the last 45 minutes of the film is one long sustained gun battle between every cop in Hong Kong (or Earth if you think about it) and tons of heavily armed criminals hiding in a hospital that comes fully stocked with patients.

Did I mention that practically everyone you see not names Tequila gets blown away in some form of glorious slow motion? It's great and the game looks spectacular. Also, wives and girlfriends should expect to be the one frowning in the comic because every guy on the planet is going for that achievment for better or worse. Why?

Because if we get to finally play as Inspector Tequila, then we're going to blast the holy hell out of every single body part we can point at. It's a guy thing.