Thank Fulls

Time for turkey and turning our thoughts to what we are thankful for.

Top of everyone’s list: that I am not a turkey.

Of course, the naturals: family and friends. And friends who are, quite frankly, family. And family who are, despite shared history, friends.

And a few things I’m thankful for that aren’t necessarily in the “of course” category:

- Engineers. Not only a great source of humor (Big Bang Theory and Dilbert) but also they designed boxes. I’m talking those office file boxes that come to me flat, and I can fold out into sturdy script carriers without the use of tape or glue. A marvel! (I take my office joys where I can!)

- Chocolate. Not all chocolate, mind you. Just the good kind, like the type that goes on donuts or with ice cream or in little foil wrappers. Not the kind that goes on chicken, or in twizzlers, or in coffee. Whose idea was that?

- Peanuts. Not the kind that causes kids to break out (although that kind is quite forgivable for being deadly if you cover them with chocolate) but the round headed boy and the kid with the funny nose kind. Wisdom that never goes out of date – “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt,” and “Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.'”

- He from whom all good things flow. Hey, while on the subject, check out this new video from BADD. You will recognize Cath and I as “Rich Couple.” Hee hee. Oh, the post-its say: “From Jesus.”

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Fraggle Hope

Given my push lately for THE WATCHMEN, which is a cynical pleasure at best, I enjoyed seeing Cory's call for a little optimism.

Check out Cory's blog for a comparison of Fraggles and Star Trek.

I also have to say that my optimism gland got a little artificial push by Vicki foisting a little bit of the truly fun/awful THE PIRATE MOVIE on her "friends" this weekend.

"Give me a happy ending, every time!" And now, sadly, I know the hand movements that go with that.

Please understand, Vicki knows this is a bad movie, but still loves it. I suppose we all need a little bit o' that "yeah, I know, but still..." in our lives.

Buckaroo Banzai, anyone?

Just my thoughts,

Sean

With Spotted Owl Stuffing, Please

Ben Franklin thought that our national bird should be the turkey.

If he got his way, I suppose that next week we would be having the traditional Thanksgiving meal of bald eagle and mashed potatoes.

Just doesn't seem right.

In unrelated news, Jennifer reminded me of this video, which I don't recall if I shared with y'all yet.

Using the music of John Williams to immortalize STAR WARS. Synergy at its best.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Who Watches? I Will.

As you are aware, I like my genre movies to have a little something-something.

Maybe richer than normal themes (3:10 to Yuma).

Or a little character depth (Dr. Who).

Or a bit of societal mirroring (Battlestar Galactica).

Or something to make you think because it turns its own genre on its head (Unforgiven).

If I’m lucky, a bit of it all (Dark Knight).

That’s why I’m looking forward to Watchmen.

That trailer gave me chills. Seems as if not only will the action be done right; but the characters, relationships and themes (body, heart and soul) will survive intact.

The complex richness of the graphic novel still gets into my gut when re-reading, even after a couple of decades.

And the thematic discussions (no easy answers, just to warn you) haven’t lost any relevance.

In fact, the novel is an ethical quiz book for our day – especially on the nature of power, and the use of such power (even in the name of good).

Oh – for existing fans of the novel, check this out for a giggle: what if Charles Schulz drew The Watchmen?

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Let's Cuddle and Talk About Our Feelings

This made me giggle. Multiple times.

Doritos is having a competition for its Superbowl commercial. My friend Michael stars in one entry called Mr. Sensitive.

Enjoy.

-Sean

How Scenery Becomes Real

In our pre-work walk this morning, Cath was telling me about the tech for ALICE IN WONDERLAND (see previous post).

She included a comment about Shon’s (the director) idea for flying in a sheet of duvateen fabric to create the rabbit hole.

“You have a duvateen rabbit hole?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she replied.

I couldn’t resist.

“Does Shon love it? Is it real?”

I’m telling you this because all I got from Cath was a withering look.

Someone out there must find this as giggle-worthy as I did…

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Wonderland

Random things about “Alice In Wonderland” and me:

-As a kid, I never quite understood why Alice would eat something just because it said “Eat Me” on it. Although, a part of me would understand if it said, “I double-dog dare you to eat me” on it…

-I found the Rabbit a bit irritating, running around talking about being late. He wouldn’t be so late if he took the time to figure out the most direct path from here to there, right?

-I always thought that going through a looking glass was more sensible than climbing down a rabbit hole.

-I’d like to see Batman’s villain, The Mad Hatter, move to Sid and Marty Krofft’s Lidsville. I think he would be happy there, and maybe not so crime oriented all the time.

-The Chesire Cat is creepy. Creepy cool, that is.

Releve Studios is putting up a production of the musical ALICE IN WONDERLAND this Saturday – short (an hour), sweet (kids dressed as playing cards – doesn’t get much cuter than that) and sure to be a trip.

Check it out if you are in town.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Relevé Studios proudly presents

Disney's Alice In Wonderland Jr

A Musical Theatre Workshop Showcase Performance

Two Shows Only!

Saturday, November 15th at 2:00pm and 7:00pm

Scherr Forum Theatre

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.

Thousand Oaks, CA 91362

Do You Like Books? I Think They're Super

In what is among the screwiest of clauses any client has made me sign, the legal department of a certain company says that they will sue me if I mention or cause to be mentioned that I work for them or for their project.

On what I am sure is a completely unrelated topic, my friend John Schafer has posted a video about a project that he is working on.

To be clear, I am not claiming that I am or am not involved in John’s project; but I can say that I am featured in the video, and you are free to draw your own conclusions.

I’m pretty excited about John’s project. John and the team he has assembled – Sean Roche, Tom and Rob – are professionals at the top of their craft.

They each in their areas are constantly pushing for better storytelling, stronger art and a general “what’s the very best that we can do with this?” attitude.

I’ve seen enough projects in this arena that are content with whatever will sell, or talking down to their audience, to know how special it is to have a team like this working together.

I wish John the greatest of continued blessings for his project.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Today and Every Day

Keith Bowden, United States Air Force

Kitty Bucholtz, United States Marine Corps

Ryan Elliot, United States Air Force

Kevin Gaffney, United States Air Force

Luke Gaffney, United States Marine Corps, Active

Richard Gaffney, United States Navy

Wayne Gaffney, United States Army

Jack Gilbert, United States Air Force

Andrew Metroka, United States Navy

Isaac Metroka, United States Air Force (active)

Nicholas Metroka, United States Navy (active)

John Schaeffer, United States Air Force


Lady and gentlemen: Thank you.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

ps Feel free to add those that didn't come to mind.

The Candidate in the Clouds

If you haven't voted yet, I suggest you take one last look at the season's political ads.

I think, once you see both the pro-ads and the attack ads, you will agree with me and vote for the black community organizer who wants to bring all sides together -- even Jabba the Hut.

Although I do question his choice of running mate -- sure, who wouldn't want to have a beer with Chewie -- but is he ready to lead?

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

Apropos to my Halloween discussion on what we fear, I found this in the middle of Don Miller's blog:

"Last year I vowed I wouldn’t make decisions out of fear. And because of that I’ve had one of the greatest years of my life. I went to Uganda and got to meet with the man who helped write their constitution. I wrapped up an evangelism project I believe will introduce more than a million people to the gospel. I rode my bike across America. All of this stuff took some degree of risk. But when calculating those risks, I realized the only reason not to try was fear. What if I was wrong, what if I couldn’t make it, what if the project didn’t work? But none of my heroes are controlled by fear. The commandment most often repeated in scripture, in fact, is “do not fear.” Fear is often something unrighteous trying to keep you from doing something good."

Donald's blog entry isn't about Halloween, but rather politics, so if you're sick of politics, well, you've been warned.

Just my thoughts,

Sean