How did Judas ever find the time to write a gospel?
Friday, April 21, 2006
Thursday, April 20, 2006
KWerky Productions website is back up!
Ed (the co-founder of KWerky Productions) has spent the past few days working to bring our website up. He did all of that, plus all the things that come with him getting married just 11 days from now :-) Anyhoo, KWerky Productions is officially legit (again) now that we've got two movies under our belt and currently working on a bigger project.
Here's the address if you want to go to it manually: www.kwerkyproductions.com.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
40 days or so later...
The season of Lent is 40 days, counting from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. But that's only figuring in every day during this period except Sundays, so from between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday there is about an extra week that doesn't figure in Lent. On those Sundays, you can technically get away with partaking of whatever it was that you vowed to abstain from during Lent.
Lent is very much a Catholic tradition. It being that I'm not Catholic, I've never done anything for Lent before. Lisa did it once when she was in college. She says the experience was a good one for her. So I decided to give it a whirl.
I gave up on blogging for Lent, starting with March 1st, including not breaking my "fast" on Sundays. I wanted to use this opportunity to focus more on God and what He wants me to do. But I also wanted to step away from active online writing altogether. Having a blog is a lot of fun, but I needed to take a break from that. And what energy I've spent continuously writing here is energy that’s been kept away from other pursuits. I wanted to focus on those things, without the distraction that comes from actively maintaining a blog.
So here it is, a few days after Easter, and I'm finally blogging once more. And I can't help but believe that it was a wonderful experience to sacrifice something I really enjoy doing during these past 40+ days. I feel renewed, and a lot more creative. Almost like a new man. Giving up an activity I enjoy these past few weeks really compelled me to channel whatever passion and ability I have into more constructive endeavors.
One of those is my next film. Which has sorta been percolating in my head for several years now. It won't be a Star Wars fanfilm like Forcery was. I'm going to attempt to do something that, to the best of my knowledge, only one other person has done in filmmaking. Right now it’s the "pre-production phase", where I take a look at all the elements that I want to work into this, and how to use them. This is going to be a full-length motion picture... or an attempt at one anyway. I've set a goal of having this movie ready by the end of next year. There is a title for it, have made a concept "teaser" poster for it, and I've already written the beginning and ending scenes. Now I just have to figure out how to cram all this other neat stuff into it. I'll talk about this some more after a lot more pre-production work gets done.
(Well, there is this one other film, a short one, that I finished last week. But I'll share more about that in a few weeks, after we "world premiere" it on television on May 1st. Right after that we'll make the online versions available :-)
So if anyone had wondered where I was, it was just that I vowed not to blog for Lent, and now I get to say that I was able to do that. But one result of this period is that I'm probably not going to be blogging so actively for awhile to come. Like I said, other things need consideration as well. But I do promise that I'll try to keep this place interesting, thought-provoking, and of course a good healthy dose of humor.
Will write more later. There's been a whole month-and-a-half stuff going on that I can weigh in with commentary on, and I need to catch up :-)
Monday, April 17, 2006
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The Doctor is out: Sci-Fi Channel destroys my yearly PBS prank
Right now UNC-TV, the public broadcasting network here in North Carolina, is having their annual "Festival" fundraising campaign. This is when they do stuff like run marathon showings of EastEnders, bring "Mama Dip" into the studio for live demonstrations on how to fry chicken and bake biscuits, and interrupt Sesame Street every little while so they can break back to the studio where Muppets are begging for money.
Okay, it's soooo easy to make fun of, but I like PBS. It's something well worth funding. There've been a lot of good programs on it like Voices of North Carolina featuring Popcorn Sutton and other locals. But none of that has stopped me from playing a prank on them every year for the past decade or so...
Here's how it goes: I start off by calling the UNC-TV pledge line, and I try to time it so that they've got the camera running in the studio. That way I've a chance of seeing the look on the face of whichever poor volunteer that I end up calling. And when they pick up it runs something like this:
UNC-TV Volunteer: Hi! Thanks for calling UNC-TV during our annual Festival fundraiser. How can I help you today?That's usually where the line goes "click". One time I did catch the young lady who'd answered my call cracking up laughing in the phone bank area.Me: Uhhh yeah hi. I'm calling because I'd like to make a pledge.
UNC-TV Volunteer: That's wonderful! And we thank you so much for taking the time to support our broadcasting sir. We sincerely appreciate your generosity.
Me: Thank you, thank you very much!
UNC-TV Volunteer: And how much would you like to pledge this evening sir?
Me: I want to pledge ten thousand dollars.
UNC-TV Volunteer: (usually looking stunned) Ten thousand?! Sir that's very generous of you!
Me: But there's one condition.
UNC Volunteer: Sir ummm... what?
Me: I'll pledge the ten thousand dollars if PBS brings back Doctor Who.
Well, I had a good run, but it looks like I'll finally be hanging up my annual "I'll give PBS ten thousand dollars if they bring back Doctor Who" gag, because starting this coming month the Sci-Fi Channel really will be bringing the show back to America! So it would make no sense to keep harassing those poor souls at UNC-TV with this prank.
But, I had a lot of fun with it over the years. The very first time I did it after we were married I really gave Lisa a good scare with it when I said "ten thousand dollars". Now it's maybe time to retire it. But it's something that I wanted to make note of here, and sort of "memorialize" it :-)
"Hotter than a pistol!" Autistic player's story still stuns
In case you haven't heard by now, the breakout sports star of the past week or so has been Jason McElwain of Greece Athena High School in Rochester, New York. In spite of his autism, McElwain (or "J-Mac" as he's known on campus) has been the manager of Greece Athena's basketball team for the past few years, doing everything that was expected of him but never actually playing a game. That changed in the final game of the season, when the team's coach put J-Mac in a jersey and then into the game with four minutes left to play. What happened then is the stuff of legend: McElwain shot twice, missed those, but then made six three-point baskets! He then scored a two-pointer, ending the game (after playing less than four minutes) with 20 points. Here's a link to the story that CBS did on McElwain including video of him playing in the game and sinking all those baskets. Afte the game and he was talking to reporters he said a lot of times that he was "hotter than a pistol!" Amazing story for someone who seems to be a super sweet person.(And if I were Greece Athena's coach, the first thing I would have done after the game is flagellate myself in the locker room for all those times that the team barely lost while having McElwain right there willing and able to play.)
Now it looks like J-Mac's story is going to be made into a movie. Bunches of studios are trying to get the rights to the tale. Let's hope that it ends with McElwain getting drafted by the NBA for a multi-million dollar contract :-)
And now Dennis Weaver has left us
Monday, February 27, 2006
Getting the REAL box for The Simpsons Season 6 DVD set
It's not as creepy as that plastic-faced "king" in the Burger King commercials, but it's still somewhat disturbing to have the Season 6 DVD set of The Simpsons packaged inside a Homer Simpson head...
I got this for Christmas (and bought the Season 7 set the next day, which they give you the option to buy it in either a Marge-head in the same style as the Homer one, or a real box). Inside the Season 6... thing... there was this offer:
Simply mail in this offer sheet and two bucks or so for shipping/handling and 20th Century Fox sends a true box that you can put Season 6 in and have it match up with all the other seasons on your shelf. So that's what I did last month and it arrived a few days ago...
It came in a thick cardboard envelope, that was so big it barely fit inside our mailbox. Opening the envelope, and this is what you get:
I wasn't liking the looks of this. I mean, a box that truly fits in with the rest shouldn't come flat and un-inflated like that:
The instructions that show you how to "build" your Season 6 box. You'd better read these instructions and follow 'em, and pray you don't mess up, 'cuz then you'll be all out of chances to have a perfect Season 6 box, unless you buy another hideous Homer head and mail away another offer.
Here it is, the finished product:
And here you see why this box really doesn't "jibe" with the others. The actual DVD holder drops into the box through the top, where on the Season 7 and all other it's a nice "slipcase" from the sides:
If this had been a real quality box, Fox would have made one that replaced EVERYTHING about the packaging, not just the exterior. But I guess that could be considered a "character" thing: when the kids ask someday how come Season 6 isn't packaged like the rest, I can just whip out Homer's severed head and tell them how Fox botched the marketing on this one.
It does look pretty nice though, a lot more appealing than the "head" case. I really dig the artwork on this box too.
Anyway, if anyone was wondering what this thing actually looks like, and was wondering whether its worth mailing away for, there it is. I'd say it's definitely a thing to get if you like consistency in your collection. Plus it's a heckuva lot easier to store on the shelf.
The Bowie knife my Dad made
My Dad has been working on a Bowie knife lately. The other week he finished it. I thought it'd be neat to post some pictures of it, show off some of his handiwork:
I might post more pics of what comes out of his shop sometime, including his Damascus steel and "railroad-spike" knives.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Darren McGavin 1922-2006
Within hours of losing Don Knotts, another great actor left this earthly realm: Darren McGavin. Which has a tinge of irony to it because in 1976 McGavin and Knotts starred together in Disney's No Deposit, No Return:
"It's a major award!"
But what he'll forever be best known for, at least to people of my generation, will be playing Ralphie's dad in 1983's A Christmas Story...
"It's a major award!"
And Kolchak was a pretty darned good character too!
Don Knotts 1924 - 2006
Well, what can be said that hasn't been said already. The man was a comic genius. And even though Knotts was from West Virginia, his character of Deputy Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show will always be one of North Carolina's favorite sons.One of the best roles he had was this really nervous corporal in No Time for Sergeants (in which he appeared with future co-star Andy Griffith). It was like an early prototype character of Barney Fife. He also did quite a few movies for Disney and later on appeared for a few seasons on Three's Company.
Two things made the last few seasons of The Andy Griffith Show somewhat less stellar than the earlier ones: going from black-and-white to color, and losing Don Knotts after the fifth season. When the producers made the transition to color, it seriously affected the quality of the comedy. It was like they thought that since the show was getting "upgraded" that it should also become more sophisticated and "up-to-date". In the process they forgot that it was Mayberry's timeless charm that made so many people tune in. Of all the episodes that were made, I don't think any of the color ones are in my top ten list of favorites. And all of my favorites have Barney in them.
Because as Barney Fife, Don Knotts was the heart and soul of The Andy Griffith Show. He was the source of so much of the comedy and after he left, the producers tried to "farm out" the place he had to other characters, and it just didn't have the same charisma that Knotts brought to the show. Probably the best episodes that stick out in my mind that feature Barney are "The Loaded Goat" (maybe one of the funniest TV episodes ever), "Barney's Sidecar", and the one about Aunt Bea's pickles, that had Barney stopping every out-of-town car (including one from Nova Scotia) and giving them a free jar of Bea's "kerosene cucumbers". Classic, classic stuff.
Well, I don't know what else to say, but I'll close this post out with a little song from The Andy Griffith Show (sung to the tune of "My Darling Clementine)...
Had a jail and couldn't lock it
Had one bullet for his pistol
Had to keep it in his pocket"
America, the ports, and Napoleonic France
Remember those six American ports that Dubai is set to take over?
Well, it ain't six ports at all.
It's twenty-two ports.
This makes a lot more sense if you start thinking of America as being post-revolutionary France, with Napoleon Bonaparte running things. Being so overstretched in our "empire" we are now selling off some of our holdings to fund it all, like when France sold the U.S. the Louisiana territory. Sorta makes Iraq our own version of Borodino when you think about it.
Actually, I think Napoleon was a somewhat more honorable man than those in charge over here are. At least he never sold France itself out piecemeal to whatever foreign interests could pay the price. Napoleon certainly wouldn't commit national self-flagellation by signing over control of Bordeaux and Marseilles to a British company.
Y'know, the real reason he came to power in the first place is because all the higher-ranked officers started losing it all from the neck-up on la guillotine. Makes you wonder if this country isn't ripe for some drastic leadership change, and see what talent might have the chance to rise to the occasion.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
About the story that USED to be here
After some reconsideration, I decided to pull the article about the Mohammed cartoon. No, nobody threatened me or anything like that (which would have only made me keep it up even more). It's because I'm in the process of "switching over" my more political/op-ed stuff to a separate blog, and keep The Knight Shift for my more "happy/upbeat" material. That's not to say that there won't be "heavy" stuff in this space though. But I do want to keep my various interests in proper perspective, instead of "mushing them" all together. Maybe when I have the new blog up and running, I'll repost the cartoon and my associated commentary there. In the meantime, I'll do my best to keep the more caustic stuff from infecting this space.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
So y'all went looking for Taylor Hicks and found me :-)
According to the stats, about 85% of this blog's new visitors lately are coming in from search engines after they've entered "Taylor Hicks", "Under the Radar", "Hell of a Day", "MP3" and other terms related to Hicks. This blog has suddenly become a magnet for fans of Taylor Hicks to come and find stuff and maybe congregate around. Can't help but feel might proud at that, hope that I can do my share of spreading the good word out about our man Taylor Hicks!
So what y'all think I should do: maybe create a big graphic banner with Taylor all over it for the top of the screen while AI is running? Gimme some ideas, I won't mind turning this place into a Taylor Shrine :-)
The boys rocked tonight's Idol
We watched the girls last night on American Idol and tonight's show and between the two, we felt most entertained by the guys tonight. Last night it was Paris Bennett and Mandisa that I was still thinking about this morning. Tonight... ooh-boy. So many good performances. Being a Carolina boy I might be biased when I say that Chris Daughtry and Bucky Covington did well. Gedeon McKinney and Jose "Sway" Penala definitely have moves in their acts. Elliot Yamin was said to have one of the best voices heard in this or any competition. But I gotta give it up most of all for Taylor Hicks, coming in at the very end (for the next two hours you can vote 1-866-IDOLS-12 for him), taking "Levon" by Elton John and totally making it his own with that unique personality and flair of his. Simon shocked everyone (especially Hicks's dad) when he said that he was wrong about his original assessment of Hicks at the audition. 'Twas two hours well spent, we thought. Hope Hicks and some of the others make the cute come tomorrow night's show.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
NOW he threatens to veto something: Bush wants foreign control of American ports
Why in the name of Valhalla is our President Bush hot to sign away control of several American ports to a foreign company run by the United Arab Emirates? He's even threatening a veto if legislators try to block the transaction... which would be the very first time that he's used the veto since he took office in 2001.
He didn't veto McCain-Feingold, and he does nothing about our borders being flooded with illegals and who-knows-what-else... but he's willing to go on record as saying that he'll finally use veto to open up an American vulnerability to a foreign power.
It makes no sense, but you can read all about it here.
