So I've thought about this for a little while now. And after having watched Be Kind Rewind for the millionth time, I think I wanna give sweding a shot.
For those unfamiliar with the notion of sweding, either watch Be Kind Rewind, or check out Broken Wall Films' Army of Darkness, sweded. It pretty much boils down to "Refilm a popular movie, from scratch, with zero budget and minimal editing, preferably from memory."
So the question is: if you could have any movie sweded, what would it be?
Friday, June 25, 2010
today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten
Turns out I'm not as crazy as I thought, ha HA! This morning on my way up to work, I thought I passed someone who I wouldn't expect to be in Worcester during the summer. It kinda bugged me that I wasn't 100%, but according to my friend Holly (Bebel's girlfriend, for those not in the know) it was. Which... is weirdish. I mean, I'm not entirely thrilled to be running into this person. I've taken my lumps and then some. Not something I wanna get into though. Moving on to the real point of this post.
So I've started actually writing (as opposed to conceptualizing), and... man it's been FAR too long since I wrote a narrative of any kind. I'm a little too used to writing for screen or stage, so there's a lot more "fill in the blanks" going on. But progress is progress. Ooh, and I've got a bit more of the overall volume figured out too, so that's good.
I'm kind of going in blindish, and hoping it comes out alright. I've never really been much a fan of my own work. I dunno, I've always been kind of embarrassed at myself. Not sure if it's because I'm a perfectionist, or if that's why I'm a perfectionist, but I usually try to find some way to make things better than before if I can.
Anyway, the first story, "The Pilot", is off and running. Under a page so far. And after this, I have at least seven more to go in the current volume that I've got formulated. I think this'll end up being about 15 pages when I'm done with it, we'll see though.
So yeah. Exciting. My brain is fried, but I'm gonna see if I can crank out a bit more.
Up, up, and away!
rickie-d
So I've started actually writing (as opposed to conceptualizing), and... man it's been FAR too long since I wrote a narrative of any kind. I'm a little too used to writing for screen or stage, so there's a lot more "fill in the blanks" going on. But progress is progress. Ooh, and I've got a bit more of the overall volume figured out too, so that's good.
I'm kind of going in blindish, and hoping it comes out alright. I've never really been much a fan of my own work. I dunno, I've always been kind of embarrassed at myself. Not sure if it's because I'm a perfectionist, or if that's why I'm a perfectionist, but I usually try to find some way to make things better than before if I can.
Anyway, the first story, "The Pilot", is off and running. Under a page so far. And after this, I have at least seven more to go in the current volume that I've got formulated. I think this'll end up being about 15 pages when I'm done with it, we'll see though.
So yeah. Exciting. My brain is fried, but I'm gonna see if I can crank out a bit more.
Up, up, and away!
rickie-d
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
this is where we used to live
FINALLY managed to get my bed over to the new apartment. Oh god. For the record, moving a mattress, bed spring, and metal frame by yourself is hard as hell. Compound that with the extremely narrow spiraling stairwell and a tiny Toyota Echo and my workout for the day has been replaced. Hoo. Still need to wash one sheet and get my comforter dry cleaned, but since it's a billion degrees out, I don't think I'll miss them much in the meantime.
Good news, all that's left to do at the old apartment is cleaning and trash/junk removal.
Bad news, the junk includes a huge, shitty wooden desk, an enormous broken-in-half recliner, and a foosball table that my dad might want (which means I'll have to NOT junk it, but rather move it and put it SOMEWHERE. Hoorah.
So now that my apartment is fully stocked with all of my stuff, it's time to finish organizing everything. It's getting there, but some stuff just keeps getting in the way (I own way the fuck too many funny T-shirts, for example. They don't all fit in my closet, and I'm not a huge dresser person. Too hard to find what you're looking for.)
Getting a little further in my writing. I've now hit the point where I can't decide how I want to write it. It's a series (of some sort) about masked vigilantes, in a world without what you'd call superheroes. At least, that's the way it seems until a mysterious flying man suddenly appears.
I can't decide what I want to do with it, though. There are three options: book, graphic novel, screenplay. If I write it as a book, it'll have to be a series of short-ish stories. The content doesn't really suit the medium, but if I can't decide what I want to do, at least this option translates to the other two reasonably well. If I write it as a graphic novel, which the content seems to suit the best, I'd need to find an artist (as my art skills are nowhere near what I'd like for something like this). If I write it as a screenplay, the trick then is production. This series takes place within a larger universe I've been working on, and for it to be filmed would work best if the rest of the material was being filmed too (for those of you who know me or know the stuff I've written or worked on in the past, the current series takes place in the same universe as Davian City Blues, The College Crew/Candyman, and The Party Train/Thank You, Places. Trust me, they're not as entirely unrelated as it would seem.)
For those who don't know, Davian City Blues is a four-volume series about the son of a former mafioso taking down a corrupt city, The College Crew (conceived by Sean Dyer and Caleb Wrobel) is about a group of sort-of-superpowered college students, Candyman (conceived by Caleb Wrobel) is about an agent that uses candy as a weapon, Thank You, Places (conceived by myself and Nick Bebel) is a series about the crazy-but-true events that happen in the circle we ran with at WPI (The Party Train was a specific chapter of this, produced as a play in WPI's New Voices festival).
The series I'm working on now (current posited names include Crusaders, Wonder, and a number of other equally "eh" titles) is about a specific set of people who try to fix the city they live in by taking down bad guys. The above series all have connecting points to the story.
So the question is, what medium? I'm thinking book for now, then try to get an artist for graphic novel creation, then build it all up and solidify it for film.
Thoughts?
rickie-d
Good news, all that's left to do at the old apartment is cleaning and trash/junk removal.
Bad news, the junk includes a huge, shitty wooden desk, an enormous broken-in-half recliner, and a foosball table that my dad might want (which means I'll have to NOT junk it, but rather move it and put it SOMEWHERE. Hoorah.
So now that my apartment is fully stocked with all of my stuff, it's time to finish organizing everything. It's getting there, but some stuff just keeps getting in the way (I own way the fuck too many funny T-shirts, for example. They don't all fit in my closet, and I'm not a huge dresser person. Too hard to find what you're looking for.)
Getting a little further in my writing. I've now hit the point where I can't decide how I want to write it. It's a series (of some sort) about masked vigilantes, in a world without what you'd call superheroes. At least, that's the way it seems until a mysterious flying man suddenly appears.
I can't decide what I want to do with it, though. There are three options: book, graphic novel, screenplay. If I write it as a book, it'll have to be a series of short-ish stories. The content doesn't really suit the medium, but if I can't decide what I want to do, at least this option translates to the other two reasonably well. If I write it as a graphic novel, which the content seems to suit the best, I'd need to find an artist (as my art skills are nowhere near what I'd like for something like this). If I write it as a screenplay, the trick then is production. This series takes place within a larger universe I've been working on, and for it to be filmed would work best if the rest of the material was being filmed too (for those of you who know me or know the stuff I've written or worked on in the past, the current series takes place in the same universe as Davian City Blues, The College Crew/Candyman, and The Party Train/Thank You, Places. Trust me, they're not as entirely unrelated as it would seem.)
For those who don't know, Davian City Blues is a four-volume series about the son of a former mafioso taking down a corrupt city, The College Crew (conceived by Sean Dyer and Caleb Wrobel) is about a group of sort-of-superpowered college students, Candyman (conceived by Caleb Wrobel) is about an agent that uses candy as a weapon, Thank You, Places (conceived by myself and Nick Bebel) is a series about the crazy-but-true events that happen in the circle we ran with at WPI (The Party Train was a specific chapter of this, produced as a play in WPI's New Voices festival).
The series I'm working on now (current posited names include Crusaders, Wonder, and a number of other equally "eh" titles) is about a specific set of people who try to fix the city they live in by taking down bad guys. The above series all have connecting points to the story.
So the question is, what medium? I'm thinking book for now, then try to get an artist for graphic novel creation, then build it all up and solidify it for film.
Thoughts?
rickie-d
Sunday, June 20, 2010
i'm glad i came here with your pound of flesh
Whew. Day 2 of the 30 Day Challenge and I hit the ground running. Not literally. If I had sneakers that didn't fall apart in high school, perhaps it would be more literal. Eh. But I did a much more thorough workout today than yesterday (which was more discovering what new stuff was in Wii Fit Plus than anything else). Lemme tell ya, it is HARD to get back into this stuff, yikes.
The good part about working out: seeing results. I'm down 1.1 lbs from yesterday. A pace that'll slow down, obviously, but it's still nice to see.
The bad part about working out: seeing results. I've got a long way to go. What's worse, never ever voluntarily look at caloric equivalences. It's a recipe for sadness. Through my routine, I supposedly burned 422 calories. Which Wii Fit Plus was happy to immediately inform me was basically a bowl of onion rings.
I worked off onion rings. Son of a bitch.
Anyway, it's nice to at least get the ball rolling. I'm sure I'll be in agonizing pain in no time. Either way, I'm tired of this gut, it's time to get rid of it.
Happy Father's Day, everybody!
rickie-d
The good part about working out: seeing results. I'm down 1.1 lbs from yesterday. A pace that'll slow down, obviously, but it's still nice to see.
The bad part about working out: seeing results. I've got a long way to go. What's worse, never ever voluntarily look at caloric equivalences. It's a recipe for sadness. Through my routine, I supposedly burned 422 calories. Which Wii Fit Plus was happy to immediately inform me was basically a bowl of onion rings.
I worked off onion rings. Son of a bitch.
Anyway, it's nice to at least get the ball rolling. I'm sure I'll be in agonizing pain in no time. Either way, I'm tired of this gut, it's time to get rid of it.
Happy Father's Day, everybody!
rickie-d
Saturday, June 19, 2010
burn, baby, burn
So Bebel just bought Wii Fit Plus (as well as No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle) last night. Which means it's about that time again (and not a moment too soon). Time to start getting some basic fitness/exercise back into my life.
He's starting up a "30 Day Challenge" to see which of us can lose more percentage weight in 30 days (which, thank you June, is exactly one month). As unhealthy a goal as it is, we're both aiming to lose about 15% of our total weight in 30 days. An unlikely (and probably dangerous) goal, yes, but I've actually done it before, give or take. Two years back I dropped 35 pounds in 40 days (and it felt goooood). Never managed to break below 210 though. Getting my bike in ride-able condition soon too, so that'll help.
So then, that makes today Day 1. I weighed in this morning at 241.4 lbs. For those playing at home, every 2.414lbs I lose is 1%, so my 15% goal means I'm looking to lose 36.21 lbs. I will almost certainly not pull it off, but I'd like to at least get the ball rolling.
Here goes nothin'
rickie-d
He's starting up a "30 Day Challenge" to see which of us can lose more percentage weight in 30 days (which, thank you June, is exactly one month). As unhealthy a goal as it is, we're both aiming to lose about 15% of our total weight in 30 days. An unlikely (and probably dangerous) goal, yes, but I've actually done it before, give or take. Two years back I dropped 35 pounds in 40 days (and it felt goooood). Never managed to break below 210 though. Getting my bike in ride-able condition soon too, so that'll help.
So then, that makes today Day 1. I weighed in this morning at 241.4 lbs. For those playing at home, every 2.414lbs I lose is 1%, so my 15% goal means I'm looking to lose 36.21 lbs. I will almost certainly not pull it off, but I'd like to at least get the ball rolling.
Here goes nothin'
rickie-d
EDIT: Let me clarify, I'm not expecting to drop 36 lbs in 30 days. That's more my "end goal" for, let's say the summer. I'd like to eventually get back down to my high school weight of 185 lbs, but that's still a long ways off.
Monday, June 14, 2010
love and money
So it's been a while since I last posted. Been a busy week, lemme tell ya.
Finally set up my first bank account that didn't have a parent's name attached to it last Friday. Was pretty awesome, I feel all... adultish. Whoa. Meanwhile, I also caught wind of my work study position lasting two weeks longer than I was worried it would, so that's cool. I finally have a little bit of expendable income, which is a MASSIVE change of pace from say, the past two years.
Speaking of money, I've been moving to a new apartment (hence the lack of posts here) and I'm looking to sell a whole bunch of stuff. So if you're in the Worcester area and want some swag, keep an eye on this page over the coming week, and I'll update with what I'm looking to get rid of. If anyone wants a fat-assed 34" HDTV, I'm looking to get rid of it for (hopefully) $300ish.
Recently learned just how insanely cost-efficient it is to have your own washer and dryer. I bought a 96-loads bottle of detergent for $9.99. That's 10.4 cents a load. Compare that to the Jim Dandy cost of $2.25 a load, and it really adds up. Especially when you've got about 20 loads of laundry you've been not doing because you knew a washing machine was in your near future.
Oh, I also went to a wedding this weekend. It's only the third wedding I've ever been to, and the second for a friend. My { Empty Set } comrade Edmund "EJ" Massa and Anna Vukalovic got hitched out in Stockbridge this past Saturday. Latin mass (which despite being raised Catholic, taking 13 years of Catholic schooling, and subsequently "dropping out" of the whole religion thing, was still kind of woah), big reception in an outdoor tenty thing. Us SCPers were all together in the back corner (because come on, an open bar means we might start humping the cake, for all we know), and got down with our bad selves.
I may have gotten a dozen of us to dance to Cotton-Eye Joe.
It was righteous.
Viva la vida,
rickie-d
Finally set up my first bank account that didn't have a parent's name attached to it last Friday. Was pretty awesome, I feel all... adultish. Whoa. Meanwhile, I also caught wind of my work study position lasting two weeks longer than I was worried it would, so that's cool. I finally have a little bit of expendable income, which is a MASSIVE change of pace from say, the past two years.
Speaking of money, I've been moving to a new apartment (hence the lack of posts here) and I'm looking to sell a whole bunch of stuff. So if you're in the Worcester area and want some swag, keep an eye on this page over the coming week, and I'll update with what I'm looking to get rid of. If anyone wants a fat-assed 34" HDTV, I'm looking to get rid of it for (hopefully) $300ish.
Recently learned just how insanely cost-efficient it is to have your own washer and dryer. I bought a 96-loads bottle of detergent for $9.99. That's 10.4 cents a load. Compare that to the Jim Dandy cost of $2.25 a load, and it really adds up. Especially when you've got about 20 loads of laundry you've been not doing because you knew a washing machine was in your near future.
Oh, I also went to a wedding this weekend. It's only the third wedding I've ever been to, and the second for a friend. My { Empty Set } comrade Edmund "EJ" Massa and Anna Vukalovic got hitched out in Stockbridge this past Saturday. Latin mass (which despite being raised Catholic, taking 13 years of Catholic schooling, and subsequently "dropping out" of the whole religion thing, was still kind of woah), big reception in an outdoor tenty thing. Us SCPers were all together in the back corner (because come on, an open bar means we might start humping the cake, for all we know), and got down with our bad selves.
I may have gotten a dozen of us to dance to Cotton-Eye Joe.
It was righteous.
Viva la vida,
rickie-d
Saturday, June 5, 2010
would it please you to listen to thunder instead?
I love thunderstorms.
Love them.
Which made last night's unusually powerful T-storm with a side of marble-sized hail all the more fucking awesome. Really weird-ass weather for Worcester, and it looks like some kind of storm's closing in again. I'm hoping it's not TOO too bad, since I'm heading to my buddy EJ's bachelor party and good weather for the drive up would be nice.
So I'm kind of in Hotel Mode right now. The new apartment is still new and doesn't feel like "home" just yet, and moving stuff out of the old place makes it feel less like the clime I've become accustomed to. It's kinda weird. It is nice to finally have carpet, though.
Downloading the first nine episodes of Open Lounge onto my iPod for untethered consumption. It's a Broken Wall Films podcast directed by Alex Laferriere and produced by Steve DiTullio, usually featuring a guest (Brandon Vogel, for example). It's sort of a shoot-the-shit podcast, but it gets into some truly bizarre topics of conversation. Been bugging Al and Steve for a little while now, hopefully they'll keep me in the know when new episodes get recorded.
On an only sort of related note, I've been spearheading the new run of the Something Remote web series on Earth's Mightiest Fansites (currently the top story too, which is very cool). I would keep an eye out for the interview landing Wednesday, there might be a really excellent "scoop", muahaha.
Bring on the rain and bring on the thunder,
rickie-d
Love them.
Which made last night's unusually powerful T-storm with a side of marble-sized hail all the more fucking awesome. Really weird-ass weather for Worcester, and it looks like some kind of storm's closing in again. I'm hoping it's not TOO too bad, since I'm heading to my buddy EJ's bachelor party and good weather for the drive up would be nice.
So I'm kind of in Hotel Mode right now. The new apartment is still new and doesn't feel like "home" just yet, and moving stuff out of the old place makes it feel less like the clime I've become accustomed to. It's kinda weird. It is nice to finally have carpet, though.
Downloading the first nine episodes of Open Lounge onto my iPod for untethered consumption. It's a Broken Wall Films podcast directed by Alex Laferriere and produced by Steve DiTullio, usually featuring a guest (Brandon Vogel, for example). It's sort of a shoot-the-shit podcast, but it gets into some truly bizarre topics of conversation. Been bugging Al and Steve for a little while now, hopefully they'll keep me in the know when new episodes get recorded.
On an only sort of related note, I've been spearheading the new run of the Something Remote web series on Earth's Mightiest Fansites (currently the top story too, which is very cool). I would keep an eye out for the interview landing Wednesday, there might be a really excellent "scoop", muahaha.
Bring on the rain and bring on the thunder,
rickie-d
Friday, June 4, 2010
what's that coming over the hill? is it a monster? is it a monster?
So in my spare time, I've bounced a bit between hobbies. Been trying to try new things, but I seem to keep bouncing back to old (not necessarily bad) habits.
I've been playing Chrono Cross lately, and boy am I glad I did. I first picked it up (and quickly put it down again) two years ago, frustrated by how complicated they made the battle system. I've since figured it out... mostly... and it's made the experience a lot better. I will say it's very cool that [the main character comes from a timeline where, by being alive, Chrono Trigger didn't happen the way it was supposed to. What's freakier is that the alternate world you travel to is the one where those events did happen. Very intriguing.] Getting near the end of Disc 1, so we'll see what happens.
I've also been getting back into writing, in various capacities. My pseudo-superhero series Crusaders is getting a little air in its wings, and a full volume is starting to come together. Fixing up my short film script Shots for (hopefully) eventual mass consumption.
But what's been most interesting in my writing came from a game series introduced to me by my friend Joshua called the Chzo Mythos. For those unaware, it's a series of four point-and-click adventure games (well, three; the third game is a text-parsing adventure game) written by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame. I can't really describe what it's about without spoiling some seriously impressive storytelling, but it is definitely an experience well worth having. Google "chzo mythos" and go nuts.
But anyway, in particular I've started taking a closer look at the first game in the series, 5 Days a Stranger. It features a "gentleman thief", who calls himself Trilby, breaking into a country manor whose owner had recently passed away in order to steal any valuables before they were removed. However, after he becomes trapped in the house, things start to get out of hand as other prisoners of the house slowly begin disappearing...
In random stints of free time, I've sat down and tried writing a film script based on 5 Days a Stranger. I have a long-ass ways to go, but it's coming along. If I happen to finish it before the end of the year, I might toss it to Broken Wall Films and see if they'd be up for filming a feature-length thriller.
Of course, I'd need to get the go-ahead from Yahtzee. But hey, it's an exercise in adaptation if nothing else.
See you in another life, brotha!
rickie-d
I've been playing Chrono Cross lately, and boy am I glad I did. I first picked it up (and quickly put it down again) two years ago, frustrated by how complicated they made the battle system. I've since figured it out... mostly... and it's made the experience a lot better. I will say it's very cool that [the main character comes from a timeline where, by being alive, Chrono Trigger didn't happen the way it was supposed to. What's freakier is that the alternate world you travel to is the one where those events did happen. Very intriguing.] Getting near the end of Disc 1, so we'll see what happens.
I've also been getting back into writing, in various capacities. My pseudo-superhero series Crusaders is getting a little air in its wings, and a full volume is starting to come together. Fixing up my short film script Shots for (hopefully) eventual mass consumption.
But what's been most interesting in my writing came from a game series introduced to me by my friend Joshua called the Chzo Mythos. For those unaware, it's a series of four point-and-click adventure games (well, three; the third game is a text-parsing adventure game) written by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame. I can't really describe what it's about without spoiling some seriously impressive storytelling, but it is definitely an experience well worth having. Google "chzo mythos" and go nuts.
But anyway, in particular I've started taking a closer look at the first game in the series, 5 Days a Stranger. It features a "gentleman thief", who calls himself Trilby, breaking into a country manor whose owner had recently passed away in order to steal any valuables before they were removed. However, after he becomes trapped in the house, things start to get out of hand as other prisoners of the house slowly begin disappearing...
In random stints of free time, I've sat down and tried writing a film script based on 5 Days a Stranger. I have a long-ass ways to go, but it's coming along. If I happen to finish it before the end of the year, I might toss it to Broken Wall Films and see if they'd be up for filming a feature-length thriller.
Of course, I'd need to get the go-ahead from Yahtzee. But hey, it's an exercise in adaptation if nothing else.
See you in another life, brotha!
rickie-d
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
'cause everything is rent
So, I'm squaring away the utilities from my old apartment, getting stuff disconnected/transferred as need be. Reason #325 I'm pumped for the new pad: all utilities minus cable/internet are included in the rent. That will make life much, much easier.
Setting up some payment plan stuff for the remaining overdue stuff. Internet and electricity won't be too bad (should have them both done in June). The old gas bill however... yikes. That's gonna take some creative legwork. And by the way, what the hell kind of payment plan policy is "pay half of it now, then we'll set up a payment plan"? Presumably the overdue stuff is from far enough back that half of it is more than your average bill. If I can't pay the bill, how do they expect me to pay more than the bill? We'll see how that goes. Gotta make sure I have enough money for July's rent, but there's still a graduation party with the folks coming up, maybe I'll get crazy lucky. Fingers crossed. ...also, looking for a good job for August, but that's for another time.
Dollar dollar bills, y'all
rickie-d
Setting up some payment plan stuff for the remaining overdue stuff. Internet and electricity won't be too bad (should have them both done in June). The old gas bill however... yikes. That's gonna take some creative legwork. And by the way, what the hell kind of payment plan policy is "pay half of it now, then we'll set up a payment plan"? Presumably the overdue stuff is from far enough back that half of it is more than your average bill. If I can't pay the bill, how do they expect me to pay more than the bill? We'll see how that goes. Gotta make sure I have enough money for July's rent, but there's still a graduation party with the folks coming up, maybe I'll get crazy lucky. Fingers crossed. ...also, looking for a good job for August, but that's for another time.
Dollar dollar bills, y'all
rickie-d
it's a brand new day, and the sun is high
Hello, summer! Well, the grand adventure that was WPI is finally over. A five-year, $200,000 journey that ended in... a degree in Humanities and Arts, concentrated in Drama and Theatre. Not that it's nothing, it was a lot of hard-ass work, but I can't help but dread the coming months in the world of employment fishing.
Fear aside, I'm psyched that it's finally summertime. Me and my buddy Nick just went through our new apartment for the second time, as it was getting cleared out for us. It is... SWEET. A monstrous step up from the dump I'd been living in for the last three years. Besides the fact that the rent is already pretty reasonable just for a nice-looking apartment, it not only has basic utilities included (heat, gas, electricity, water), but it's got SUPER AWESOME bonuses too (washer/dryer, dishwasher, AIR CONDITIONING). I can't wait. Seriously, it's gonna be awesome.
I was kinda hoping to make this first post a bit bigger, but it's almost one in the morning, and I need to get up to get SOME work done before rehearsal (I'm in a play called Dark Play, or Stories for Boys as part of the Sunburns Theatre Company, but that's for another time).
Hasta la bamba!
rickie-d
Fear aside, I'm psyched that it's finally summertime. Me and my buddy Nick just went through our new apartment for the second time, as it was getting cleared out for us. It is... SWEET. A monstrous step up from the dump I'd been living in for the last three years. Besides the fact that the rent is already pretty reasonable just for a nice-looking apartment, it not only has basic utilities included (heat, gas, electricity, water), but it's got SUPER AWESOME bonuses too (washer/dryer, dishwasher, AIR CONDITIONING). I can't wait. Seriously, it's gonna be awesome.
I was kinda hoping to make this first post a bit bigger, but it's almost one in the morning, and I need to get up to get SOME work done before rehearsal (I'm in a play called Dark Play, or Stories for Boys as part of the Sunburns Theatre Company, but that's for another time).
Hasta la bamba!
rickie-d
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