When the rain comes

Writer guy

Here’s a quick State of the Union

1) Do I have an agent – don’t know yet. The official answer is maybe.
2) What’s going down with Velocity? About 150 pages is what’s going down. Should be closing in on the halfway point.
3) Other projects. Unfortunately I have more ideas than I have time. The next project won’t be Mike Brody. A friend of mine and I were kicking around some ideas for a thriller and stumbled upon a pretty trick backdrop. It’s going to be in third person, omniscient perspective. It’s going to be a one-of kinda thing. No recurring characters. One shot, hit or miss.

It’s perfect weather outside today, so I’m off with the wife for a day hike.

Scooby Doo 2

Writer guy

Because of a bet about the box office gross of Jersey Girl I have to wait to see that movie until Monday night. Essentially a friend bet me that Jersey Girl will do under a certain amount and I didn’t want to win just by my 13 bucks so the wife and I went to see Scooby Doo instead.

I’m going to confess my Scooby Doo fanboy nature. This goes back to my childhood. Scooby was just better than Garfield and He-Man. True Spiderman was best of all, but that’s another movie sequel and review.

Once again the zany kids set off to solve a mystery. This time the villain threatens to crumble Mystery Inc, because they are the targets of a smear operation led by a mysterious figure. They face goblins and ghosts and creepy things, oh my! Even more spooky they must face the legions of evil tyrants they unmasked years ago back in the cartoon days. Which by the way, how old are they supposed to be anyway? In the TV show Shaggy was 14, Fred 17, Daphne 16, Velma 15. Ain’t no one in this movie even close to those ages.

There’s some good laughs, a couple of fart jokes, but in the end of the day plot is 90 percent action based. Without fail every 240 seconds there’s another action sequence to wake people up. Shaggy, Scooby and Velma are spot on. Side point, I’m getting used to Scooby looking like a computer generated acid trip.

Watch for the inside joke for adults during the whip cream sequence with Scooby and Shaggy. Hint, it’s got nothing to do with cherries.

Three good things about the movie

1) It kept the hordes of children in the audience laughing.

2) The guy who plays Shaggy is Shaggy. He’s almost too Shaggy.

3) In many levels the sequel surpasses the original. The action this time is better, Scooby seems more natural looking.

Three bad things? Well, if you like the notion of this thing we call Scooby Doo, I don’t think there are three bad things. If you don’t dig on Scooby, you probably won’t like this picture. It’s that simple.

Some of the laughs are cheap shots, but they work in context. All in all an enjoyable flick. Fun for the whole family. It’s not a bullseye masterpiece, but it will probably do the trick for a rainy afternoon.

Working for the Man

Writer guy

Sleep has been a big issue lately, and I’ve been trying to figure out why exactly. My official theory is that it has something to do with waiting for the agent to respond.

When I queried actively, it was easy to get some kind of result. For instance, let’s say on a Monday I queried agent A. Usually an answer came back anywhere from 31 minutes ( the fastest ) to 48 hours. There were a few agents that took more than a week.

I’ll never forget the 31 minute turnaround time for one rejection. Or my first rejection which took about 48 hours. But at least it was quick and it was only based on the query letter. It’s hard to take that kind of no personally, because it’s only a pitch they are saying no to.

Only now an agent has enough of the novel to make a decision about representing it or not. A no at this point is a little different.

So I’m stuck in limbo for the next couple of weeks, not sleeping so hot.

Chopper sick!

Writer guy

Fifteen years ago George Carlin did a comedy special for HBO What am I doing in New Jersey? I had no idea that someday the same question would be staring me in the face. New Jersey has a bad reputation in the press as this tough talking, backstabbing, mother-raping kinda state. And that’s the treatment you get from your family. People who you don’t know? Fuggeaboutit.

Does NJ deserve such a black sheep reputation? I’ve had about eleven years off and on to ponder this sensitive matter. What follows in scenario to illustrate the difference between NJ and Kansas, another state I used to live in.

The scenario is a lone man walking to the convenience store along a busy road. A car full of lost tourists pull alongside the lone man.

In Kansas
Tourist: Hi, we’re lost. How can we find our way back to the I-435?
lone man: Hi! Isn’t this great weather we’re having? I-435 ? No problem all you have to turn right at Metlars lane, go about 1.8 miles and then bear right. You can’t miss it.
Tourist: Oh thanks so much. You have a nice day now.
lone man: Golly gee, you too! Enjoy your vacation. Drive careful for the little ones.

Now the same scene in NJ
Tourist: How do we get to the Turnpike?
The lone man continues walking.
Tourist: Excuse me, where’s the Turnpike?
Slowly the lone man turns his head, still avoiding eye contact. He does not stop, instead forcing the car to continue forward at 3 mph.
lone man: What do I look like a welcome committee?
Tourist: Sorry to trouble you officer.
lone man: So don’t.