Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Steeltown Mike's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
10:21 am	LOOONG-ass time I still check LJ on occasion, but I really don't have much: 1) Time to write regular updates 2) Inclination to write when I have the time 3) Stuff to write about So, when I noticed that it's been about 368 days since my last entry, and even further back before a reader would find anything with "meat", I figured it was time to let my small circle of friends know what's been going on. Spooky and I are still in Pennsylvania, though our time here is growing shorter. She's looking into graduate school, and I think by the time she finds one, I'll be more than ready for a change. Just the prospect of trying to get into the radio biz in a town where I know no one...that might not have any openings, anyway...seems daunting. Like I'd have to get a job working at a Hyundai-like entity again. That would not be cool. I have little desire for set hours. Despite the hours I've worked the last 4 years, I've found it largely preferable to the 6-year sentence I served in corporate America. There have been a couple times this year where the schedule has weighed on me a little heavier than normal, but I was already having episodes like that a mere 2 years into Hyundai. The jobs themselves offer so little stress, I think handling the schedule is really the only challenge. Of course, I get paid accordingly. The Dodge Intrepid seems to constantly be on its last legs. I just had to put about $700 into it for a new air compressor and new belts. No choice on that one, since the old air compressor (which self-destructed sometime recently) was threatening to destroy everything. Car market isn't looking that great, perhaps because I'm limiting my options. I'm only looking Big 3. I don't want the profits going to some foreign entity, regardless of where the car was made. Dodge Avenger is looking like the pick, but I'm having trouble finding one that's in my price range that has the safety features I want (with low miles and the remainder of an 80,000 mile warranty). If I'm gonna go back to paying for a car for 5 years, I'd better love the ride and be confident I won't have to pay for anything besides routine maintenance. I have been searching for motivation to create a website for myself. I've had krcil.com for several years, but have never really done anything with it. I have had webpage-building software for a couple years, too, but never got down to it. I fear that it's because I don't have confidence that my voiceover clips are any good, and no one will want to hire me, but if I can split Voiceover stuff with radio, then I can ditch the inventory service and be home a heck of a lot more. I bought a mixer and a microphone (with stand and shock mount) this year. AND, I finally bought a new computer earlier this year. It's pretty awesome for media. And it's a friggin' PC. I didn't need to shell out twice as much money for essentially the same product (*cough...MAC...cough*). Video and audio editing, even have a phone patched through the mixer so I can record interviews... And I can play "Luxor: Amun Rising"...which I've been doing too much of lately. I think, ultimately, my future in radio is going to be in a talk format. Of course, I need to find a station that wants a young talk show host (they all seem to be middle aged with kids and nice houses) who leans left of center (whereas they lean (or downright charge) to the right) and has a non-confrontational approach. I guess those folks just don't get the ratings. Most everything else is pretty much the same as last time. I hope everyone has been well, and if you know someone who needs a voiceover artist, send 'em my way. Current Mood: indescribable (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 8th, 2008
3:17 pm	How dumb do they think...never mind... Whilst shopping for computers, I came upon this little graphic on a sidebar: Is this an example of deceptive advertising? If not, I still think it's funny. In that "sad funny" kind of way... Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
1:19 pm	Awesome America, we might have a chance to move past a hate/war/fearmongering, illegal wiretapping, gay marriage/adoption banning, anti-choice-ing government. Not to mention a democratic president who sees the misguidedness of most gun control laws. It's a perfect storm. Somewhere, the Framers are smiling. And has-ing a cheezburger. If you don't get it, go here. Current Mood: hopeful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
4:06 pm	Apparently, I'm a Democrat (September Update) Honestly, September was about as uneventful as it gets for me. I mean, I worked a lot. I've had the opportunity to ride the motorcycle to work a few times, saving oodles of gas (and, subsequently, money on gas). I've been calling high school football games since the 29th of August (doing the color analysis) and having a good time with that. It only takes a few hours of preparation each week, and then about 4 hours at the stadium. The only bad part about doing the high school games, is that they end at around 10:00PM Friday night, and I have to be awake by 2:40AM for my 4A-noon radio shift Saturday morning. I figure I'll catch up on sleep November and December, when the inventory job becomes practically non-existent. Speaking of football-related stuff, I engage yearly in an NFL pick-em game on ESPN. I join one straight-up league (I just pick the winner), and one against-the-spread league (Will the New York Giants win by more than 11?, for example). After 4 weeks, I am ranked #71 in the country against the spread. And since it's ESPN, I imagine there are a few million players worldwide (some with multiple accounts). Now that I've jinxed myself, we'll move along. LJ friend redhotannie posted an entry that surprised her. She is a self-professed libertarian (as I used to be), so was shocked when she came up democrat. Of course, I'm sure the test itself has some inherent flaws, so it's probably hard to land on libertarian. And probably stuff like Totalitarian, and Anarchist, unless you're really trying. I recently left the Libertarian Party after I realized I disagree with some of the things they're really for. I joined them initially because I'm a proponent of small government, relative non-interference in world military conflicts, precious little gun control, and especially complete separation of church and state. But when I got an e-mail from the LP after Barack Obama selected Joe Biden as his running mate stating why Biden was a bad choice, I determined I actually agreed with Biden's decisions about half the time in the bulleted list the LP e-mail provided. I then wondered what party I truly was. I couldn't be Republican, because I support Roe v. Wade, gay rights and other Civil Rights movements, and am opposed to deficit spending. I couldn't be a Democrat because I support the death penalty, am generally opposed to people who try to take guns away from law-abiding citizens, and am not fond of big government. And apparently, I am not a Libertarian because I oppose English being the "official" language of the US, I supported returning tax dollars to stimulate the economy, as well as increasing the minimum wage (LP didn't like any of those three Biden stances). I took the test, to see if I fall under some more obscure party line. Nope. You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (28% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test Maybe I'm not really any party. Which would be good, really. It means I'm more of an independent thinker and won't vote for or against something simply because a certain head-of-state is for or against it. All that said, after watching the train-wreck that was the Vice-Presidential debate last night, Sarah Palin still scares the hell out of me. Before, it was the Bible banging and the underlying desire to legislate from the Good Book. Now, it's her lack of preparation (and in her defense, 5 weeks ago she wasn't preparing to be the VP nominee of a major political party). And while I think John McCain will still be alive in November 2012 (won't die in his first term if he's elected), the influence he could receive from his right hand woman would be barely anything but detrimental. On the other hand Biden came across as fake and rehearsed. His long-standing ties to Washington could be both good and bad. Of course, when you compare Biden to Dick Cheney, I think I'll take fake and rehearsed over cold and calculating. Ah, November 4th...I can't wait for that day to be finally over. Voting shouldn't be like ripping off a band-aid, but that's the way its been for me since 2000. Current Mood: Democratic (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, September 12th, 2008
3:07 pm	Stoked Yeah, that's right. It's not a monthly update. It's just one I felt like sharing. I just learned that the video game that myself (and at least one other LJ friend was involved with years ago), is releasing a sequel, and they've already produced a teaser trailer, using primarily my voice and the voice of the lead character from the first game. Used rather effectively, too, I should say. It goes on a for a bit, but I still think it's a good buildup considering they're probably not recording until January or so. Current Mood: giddy (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
3:56 pm	How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Jun/Jul/Aug update) Ok, it wasn't really a "vacation" (though it did include one), but after being reasonably disinclined to write the past few nights, I guess I should let my few-but-loyal LJ friends that I'm still alive and active. There's been inventories and radio shifts galore, and when I haven't been doing those things, there's been plenty else (which will be divulged below). One quick follow up to the last post, though, where I mentioned the gardening tool that could also be an "ass-kicker", well, I did see them at one of those inventories mentioned above and I bought a pair. Very well-balanced. Not impractical weapons, actually. As gardening tools, however, I know why they were four dollars each. I mentioned that there's a cultivator on one side of the head and a mattock edge on the other side of the head. Well, when you're trying to cut rocks with the mattock end, the metal where the mattock meets the head bends downward, so you lose your angle. You have to bend it back before you go back to it. Ah, well. Despite my financial situation (which is gradually improving), I think I could take the $8 chance. I'm going to try to keep the events of the summer past in order, though I can make no promises. ==================== The first event of note is that I appeared in a commercial that is currently running during local commercial breaks on Pittsburgh cable. I've had friends see it on Comedy Central and History. The producers say it's supposed to be on Spike, too. I don't know what else. It probably won't show on the network stations, because it is a commercial for a "gentleman's club" called "Blush." spookydoom13 and I auditioned for this commercial after seeing a casting call on Craigslist. We went downtown and auditioned as a husband/wife, or otherwise cohabitating couple. Neither of us were cast in those roles, but they asked if I would be the "buddy" of the husband in the club (I think Spooky was too hot to play the wifey). Well, we shot the club portion of the commercial over four hours on Sunday June 29th (from about 8AM until Noon). And, this was the result: I'm about 20 seconds in Good times. ==================== In July, Spooky and I went to visit her folks in Illinois, mainly to celebrate her grandfather's 90th birthday. That was a good weekend. I slept in for four consecutive days (10AM or later). My body and mind are so not used to that. I had dreams the second night we were there that I was late for one job or another. I think that was my subconscious' way of trying to wake me up. Apparently, it missed the memo that I was on vacation. While in the Land of Lincoln, I did something that I don't think anyone else I personally know (outside of Spooky and her family) have ever done: I drove a 1915 Model T Ford. Photographic Evidence It was kind of a weird experience to know that I was operating a piece of machinery built by people who are now all deceased. And the way you drive a Model T is unlike anything I have ever tried to drive, including the Volkswagen Bus for the really bad student film I did in college: The only stick transmission I've ever operated. Three pedals, and I only remember that the middle one is used to send the car into reverse. Oh, and we can't forget the crank-start. A unique experience, to be sure. I almost said "No" when they asked me if I wanted to drive it, because I was afraid I would break it or wreck it or pee on the seat or something. Not something I wanted to do to an almost 100-year old piece of machinery that wasn't owned by me. I'm glad I just knuckled up and said, "Live life for the anecdotes." ======= On a quick, sadder note, the man who I believe I first heard use that phrase, Gene Balsley, the father of one of my best friends (billyphuz) passed away not too long after the Illinois trip. He lived to the ripe old age of 80, but had been in failing health in recent years. The funeral may have been the "best" I've ever been to, all things considered. There was no actual viewing. They simply had a room set up in a funeral home with some photo albums, as well as framed pictures, newspaper clippings, writings, and letters (including a letter from President Lyndon B. Johnson) on display for those who stopped by to pay their respects. I was honored to have known Mr. Balsley, and am even more honored to be his son's friend for the past 20 years. ======= This brings us to August. The first two weeks (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) saw me go to Westmoreland County Community College to take part in a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course to learn how to ride and be safe on a motorcycle. Two of the six evenings were devoted to a classroom type setting and a "written test" (I missed one out of fifty...you could miss something like 5 and pass), and three of the other four evenings were out on the "range" (which was really just a parking lot with some extra painted lines) learning to actually do stuff on the bike. And on the last night of being on the range, there were a couple of extra lessons, and then we all tested for our license. I did pass, and I felt pretty good about what I'd done, but I felt like the class didn't ACTUALLY get me ready to ride a motorcycle. I mean, we never really went any faster than 20mph on the lot. Most places have minimum speed limits of 25. So, after I got my license (and even while I was in the process of doing so), I took Spooky's bike out along our road by our house and went back and forth, setting world records for numbers of stalls while trying to get started. So, of course, I started to goose the throttle a bit. And I'm there, practically screaming inside my helmet: "AAAAAAH! I'M GOING SO FAST! I'M GOING --" (look down at spedometer) "-- 30 MILES PER HOUR! AAAH!" With those things in mind, I'm thinking I'm never going to be able to do highway (read: 55-65MPH) and not have a heart attack. Well, just a little over two weeks later, I've successfully gone 72 miles round trip (3 times) to the radio station. The route includes plenty of stoplights, a couple of construction zones, a fair amount of traffic, some back roads, and...a highway. I have managed to get the cycle up to 80MPH in stretches. Now 30 seems kind of boring (which is good). Soon, I hope 65 won't seem so bad so that I won't freak out if I have to bring the machine to a sudden halt (resulting in skids, lowsides and high-sides). My next step is the interstate and/or turnpike. I'm almost ready to take on a passenger on the backroads and non-interstate-style highways. ===================== I mentioned something in the last post about getting a soundcard for my computer and stuff. I think I have to get a new computer. This thing is FU. BARRRRRED. Things just randomly crash. I'll click the "X" on a chat window and sometimes the system will just shut off (like -click-) and reboot. No "proper shutdown" or blue screen or anything. It's fuxed. My brother owes me money soon. Unfortunately, that's all going toward a concrete driveway that we should be getting put in by the next time I write one of these updates. Fortunately, my car will be paid off in October. Unfortunately, I'm still paying for our VERY awesome fridge. Fortunately, THAT should only take until December. Have fun, y'all. Don't be strangers (like some people). Current Mood: good (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
1:59 pm	Pet Projects (belated May update) I didn't miss it by too much. Anyway, I'm finally not broke. Well, not yet; I'm still waiting on my car to break down completely...only a few more months 'til it's paid off, though. So, now that finances appear to be stable for the next month or two, I'm waiting for the next great God-Almighty thing to go wrong. It seems that while I juggle all the things I do, I'm constantly dropping one of them. I'll be on the shit-list with the manager of the radio station for a while, when everything else is running smoothly. Then that will pass and suddenly I'm not getting any work from the inventory company. Or both things will be doing well and then all of a sudden there's an increase in tension on the homefront. Or I have to shell out an unbudgeted amount of dough for something unforeseen. Maybe this is a weakness of the 'Y' chromosome, but I strive to set the metaphorical control knobs on each facet of my life (work, home, play, etc) to where I think they should be, but they don't stay. I feel that if I could stabilize everything that I currently have going, I might be able to focus better on what I need to do to get further along. My mother would call this inability to keep the cruise control active on everything: "Life". I fear she's correct. ====================== Over the past month, spookydoom13's play went up, and of course she was awesome. That led her to start writing a sequel and a backstory to the material she just got done with. Some of those writings have created stirrings with me on several different levels. One of those levels is to find pet projects that will revive the creative bug in me. Once upon a time, I was a fairly prolific writer. Not that my stuff was ever very good or original: One story (which turned into a trilogy-plus...meaning I never finished the fourth installment) was pretty much derivative of Star Wars, only it took place mostly in Earth's orbit. Another was a blatant rip-off of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which, eventually did find a bit of originality in screenplay form...but the influences are clear nonetheless... And I had some other stuff which I'm sure was inspired by movies or TV shows I had seen recently. Well...I'd kinda like to get back to that. Particularly the sequel to the screenplay I mentioned above. In that, I seem to have found characters who aren't completely black and white, even though I clearly define my protagonists and antagonists. They have motivations and idiosyncrasies that prevent them from simply being carbon copies of each other, only with different names. ========= Spooky has also decided she really really really wants to ride motorcycles. I can't blame her with the cost of gas irreparably out of control. She now owns a bike. Neither of us are yet licensed, but we have the bike. Ask her for details. We wanted to take a free course together, but I can't get the number of consecutive days off work, and getting in as alternates is, well, not happening because there are so many other people with the same idea. So, the number of no-shows has been minimal so far. Very frustrating, especially for her. ========= I've had an urge also to get back to training in Modern Arnis, which is the Filipino stickfighting martial art I studied in Chicago for the better part of six years. In fact, I was at an inventory at a dollar general and I saw this garden tool that had a telescoping handle, and had one of those (forgive my ignorance of all things gardening) claw-like tools on one side, and a mattock edge on the other. Kind of like this, but with a mattock instead of a trowel and the handle telescoped. The connection between the two paragraphs: I picked up a pair of these things and started twirling them a little bit and thought: "Damn. These would be ass-kickers. I could, like, be planting shit and kicking my neighbors' asses simultaneously! And at four dollars each, that's nearly 10 dollars cheaper than a pair of rattan sticks that I normally practice with." Reality caught up with me about ten minutes later and I did not make the purchase. Still, I just wish I was a little more..."complete" in my knowledge so that I would feel comfortable giving lessons to the neighborhood kids at a few dollars a pop on Saturday afternoons or something. ======== I applied to a Pittsburgh radio station that recently had a major overhaul. They were looking for DJs for all shifts. I sent off my resume and demo. Unfortunately, despite even leaving a message about a week later on the General Manager's voicemail...not so much as a return e-mail. Of course, I'm not even sure what a good demo consists of anymore, so it's very possible I could have sounded like a complete hack, hence no contact. I at least got calls when I would send off my tape...even if the call was to say I wasn't what they were looking for at this time. So, apparently, I don't know what to include in today's .mp3 files. I'm not sure how well this bodes for when I finally have the capital to buy a mic, pre-amp, mixer, and soundcard for my computer in my impending endeavor to do freelance voiceover work from home. Well, my birthday's coming up, if that gives any of you, my good friends, any ideas. ;) =========== Penguins going to lose the Stanley Cup Final tonight. I called it on my blog before the series started, much to the chagrin of many local hockey fans. (Now that I've said that, I'll look like a total 'ron and the Pens will win 5-2 in Detroit tonight) Still, I didn't expect a bid in the Final for my hockey team. Still, it would have been cool to be living in the Pittsburgh area for both the Penguins winning a 3rd Stanley Cup championship as well as watching the Steelers win their 5th Superbowl. If you can believe it, there are still people out there, and more than a few, who think the Seahawks got hosed in that one...learn the game, folks. Those are some people I'd like to take that pair of gardening tools to. Srsly. Coming up this month, same ol', same ol', only maybe I'll be able to get ahead on a couple of payments here and there and work my way back to getting completely out of debt for a few months. Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
8:51 pm	Why I Dislike Monologue Auditions (April Update) Damnit, I'm going to START this entry on this topic that I keep teasing acopperpenny about, though not intentionally. Heck, it's not that long an explanation. It's probably going to be a big let down after seemingly "months" of buildup. Taking a monologue to an audition, for the actor, can be a way to "cheat". Especially in a community theatre production. While most monologues have a lifespan, you can usually memorize a couple monologues and work at the same ones for three, five, seven years. You've got this monologue down to a science. If it were a recipe, it would be the most emotion-eliciting performance ever seen. This does not prove that you can prepare and complete a character in a play in six weeks, although it may seem so to the director. As a director, I can't possibly know if the people before me are borrowing monologues from shows they did recently, ones they found two days ago, or, if they've been keeping them in their heads and fine tuning them. I prefer the cold read, because it shows me the actor's ability to be spontaneous. If I tell someone who's trying out for me to do their monologue (which was just performed in a mostly angry tone) to do a portion of the monologue again, but in a sultry way, or in a goofy way, and they do it, I don't know if that's talent, or if it's just that s/he's done it so many times that s/he's practiced it in every conceivable way. With a cold read, I can tell someone to just try reading something in a ridiculous way and see how they take direction, and see how creative they can get, even if the emotion isn't necessarily warranted by the script. Plus, with cold reads, I get a good impression of how people look on stage together. Do any of them do anything physical? Do they reach out and touch an arm while they are looking at the script? Do they use the space at all of their own volition? Or do they just stand there and let their vocal interpretation try to sell them alone. Perhaps the monologues are more useful for professional shows where I've heard tell that you rehearse for a whopping six months before you open. Still, I'd rather determine how folks respond to my direction (after showing me their own off-the-cuff creativity), than to see someone come in and deliver their piece in a way that they determined was the way to go. That's my take. Feel free to dissent, or at least what advantages of the monologue auditions I'm missing. ================== I can't believe it's the 30th of April. Really. I actually didn't get as much work as I'd hoped to from the inventory service, or from the radio station, oddly enough, and it put me in a bit of a pinch which I seem to have survived. But the latter half almost pulled me even. Said inventory service has also approached me once again about taking on a more supervisory role. I think this time I might go for it on a limited, and very-scheduled-in-advance basis, so I can inform my other places of employment that I'll be unavailable. It's only a buck-an-hour more for "running a store", but maybe it'll look good on a resume when the time comes to move on and take a 2nd job in another locale. In other news, spookydoom13 and I are undertaking a joint adventure (not "venture") that I can't really disclose here. She really wants to do this thing, and I think it would be fun (and useful), too. But you might want to ask her for details. There are some folks who aren't supposed to find out about this yet. Perhaps by this time next month we'll be able to go into more details. We got a quote to pave our driveway. A couple of other neighbors are getting theirs done by the same company, so we're getting a slight "neighborhood discount" from the contractor, as it were. It's not significant, but in the Bush Economy, a little can go a long way sometimes. She and I have to sit down and decide that. It will have to wait until after this weekend, though. My Beautiful Girl is going to pretty much be the lead role in "Death of a Don" at the local theatre here in Greensburg. It opens for one weekend only, starting two nights from now. I'm positive she's going to be the best thing in it (and she darn well better be after all the hours we've spent running lines!) Hee hee. I've been able to call a couple of high school baseball games for this internet-based company in the area. It just proves that it's a lot harder than it looks. Or maybe it's because I've never actually watched a live sporting event (at home on the TV, say), put it on mute, and practiced calling the game like a play-by-play guy. As a result, I'm much less harsh on those guys now that a lot of sports fans like to trash. And speaking of sports, the Penguins are one win away from the NHL's final four. Psyched for the first time since 2001 when the Penguins beat my old college roommate, Dave's, Buffalo Sabres in the overtime of the 7th game of their conference semi-final round. And since we're on sports, I'd mentioned I was going to the Pirates home opener this past month, which I did. But I actually had to do a high school game that afternoon, which kinda sucked. So, I went to the stadium, met up with the group that was going, stayed to watch the hated Chicago Cubs open a 7-0 lead on the Pirates by the 3rd inning, and ended up leaving in the 4th inning, so I could get to the high school game on time. I left just as the Pirates scored their first two runs. They scored two more by the time I got to the lower concourse. As I was running across the Roberto Clemente bridge, they had pulled it to within 7-5. I come to find out later than the game ended up going 12 innings, only to see Chicago win 10-8. I guess that was ok, because I was spared an awful sunburn that I knew I would have gotten had I stayed out much longer. Still, running across several bridges, having to cross the parkway on foot just to get to my car...in 15 minutes...proved a challenge...and proved I was out of shape. Here's the route: Of course, after all that, I got to the high school game about 3 batters late. Ah, well. Current Mood: blah (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
12:50 pm	Play Ball (March update) So, it's the 31st day of March as I write this from the confines of WMBS Radio. I won't be able to post this until after I get home, as my social networking sites have been blocked here, and I don't feel like bringing proxy servers into this. Not that important. So, March was another jam-packed month. IRL and LJ friends redhotannie and kemroll paid a visit toward the beginning of the month. It was nice to see them once again after a time. We actually didn't get out and "do" much, but the pair said that was absolutely fine; they just needed time to relax. So, spookydoom13 and I introduced them to Eat'n'Park (a Pittsburgh-area restauarant), showed them Pittsburgh's skyline by way of exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel, and played Guitar Hero, and, yes, Dance Dance Revolution: Supernova. A little later in the month, another friend of ours from the Chicagoland area visited, but s/he's one who prefers to remain anonymous. Unfortunately, our guest and Spooky got sick with the flu. I was lucky enough to miss the flu despite all of the illness around me. I just contracted a 2nd cold. Congested sinuses are truly the bane of a radio personality, as I mentioned in my last entry. Still, I like having a place where we have room to accommodate guests and are able to entertain. So, anyone else want to come visit scenic Pennsylvania? We'll do our best not to get you sick. My beloved and I travelled to the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins (the Mellon Arena) to catch a Bon Jovi concert that my mom had bought us tickets for in observance of Valentine's Day. (pics here) Bon Jovi has long been a guilty pleasure of mine, but the more albums they release, the less I like their stuff. This will probably be the last time I see them live. I mean, I did enjoy the concert; they know how to play the crowd (unlike opening act "Daughtry"...but they're new). I guess I've never really been a concert-goer. Including the three BJ concerts I've been to, I can probably count the total number I've been to on my two hands. Lollapalooza '94 with good friend billyphuz, X-fest '99 shortly before moving to Chi-town, Jimmy Buffett in Wisconsin in '02, the Pixies in '04, Disturbed (with NonPoint and Stone Sour) in late '05, and I'll even include Phinny's Secrets' (Mr. Phuz's college band) first concert. That's about it. The rest of the month in brief: finally paid my taxes (ouch), had to have my windshield replaced (double ouch), and I'm trying hard not to buy gas until I have to. I mean, I'm even coasting downhills and stuff, trying to work my car's MPG back up toward 24. I used to 27. But I guess being over 123,000 miles without having sparkplugs replaced or anything like that might hinder such a thing. When I get it inspected this summer, I'll see if they can look at those along with the normal inspection. Provided the car lasts. I mean, it's running fine now. I'm just afraid that it's gonna die on me before I'm able to pay it off and get some savings aside for a down payment on a new one. So, the baseball season started tonight. Looks like my Pirates will be over .500 at least once this season, just like last season. They got some gifts from the Atlanta Braves, though, that kept the door open. Still, I'll take it. (update...Braves just scored 5 times in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 9 and force a 10th inning ----- second update, Pirates win 12-11 in 12 innings. Yee-haw). Spooky and I almost have the entire house "curtained". Some of them still need some work and the sewing machine needs a tune-up or something. Still, it looks more and more like "home". Looking ahead to April, I'm lobbying to make sure I get as much work with the inventory service as humanly possible, I've got a couple of remote broadcasts for the station (they're good for an extra few bucks), and I'm going to the Pirates home opener on April 7 against the hated Chicago Cubs. If the Bucs win another game all year, I'm hoping that's the one. (The only reason I titled this update "Play Ball" was because of baseball season starting) We'll also be getting close to Spooky's performance in the play, "Death of a Don". It's the first weekend of May. There is, of course, a chance that I'll get the April update entry in late. acopperpenny, I'm still intending to state my case for why I dislike monologues in auditions. Current Mood: energetic (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, February 29th, 2008
1:27 pm	Gassed (February Update) I'm getting this in under the wire this time. I can't believe February is just about over already. It feels like I just wrote the last update. It has been that hectic. I think it has weakened the ol' immune system. I've been fighting a head cold/borderline-upper respiratory infection for the past couple of weeks and I can tell I'm on the outer edge of it, but my voice still hasn't returned to form. Nothing like being a radio personality who sounds stuffed up. Broadcasting on an AM frequency is only a slight cover. Somebody called a few nights ago, actually, to ask who the "new guy" was. So, spookydoom13's parents visited us for about 8 or 9 days to check out the new digs, and, otherwise, help us make it look more "homey". And it was productive. They brought with them all of the stuff that she had to leave behind at her house in South Elgin (now that we finally have the room). We got some shelving that her dad and I assembled in the basement and got the disorganized stack of boxes there off the floor. We installed a ceiling fan in the master bedroom. Actually...I should clarify and say that, largely, her dad did that... I came home from a radio shift...or maybe an inventory...I don't know, and I asked him, "You wanna go upstairs and install that ceiling fan?" "No." "No?" "I already did it." What a smart ass, right? *g* Spooky and her mom worked on buying fabric for drapes/curtains/valances for the windows. Her mom had brought a cool-looking sewing machine (do those words even belong together?) for that very purpose. We now have drapes/curtains/valances hanging over the kitchen window, in the family room, the dining room, the foyer, and Spooky's office. So, about halfway done or so on that front. We're trying to figure out a color combination for the living room area, which is the only room on the first floor that still sports bed sheets over the windows. I have a couple before/after pictures I'll post now. Living Room --- Foyer (first pic was taken from loft) --- Dining Room (didn't have a before pic from this one) Kitchen --- Office --- Spooky, her dad, and I even found a day to go out to a local ski resort here. We managed to arrange an evening where my parents visited, and the six of us enjoyed a dinner of tossed salad, lasagna, and a peach/blackberry cobbler. There wasn't a scrap of food left on anyone's plate when it was done, so that was a success. Of course, it should be noted that it was largely Spooky's mom who did the food preparation. Shortly after her folks left, that's when I started to come down with a cold. Most of my month has been filled with early mornings, late nights, and very little sleep in between. Lots of "inventory in the morning, radio shift in the evening" days. All in an effort to stay afloat financially. Unless I have some kind of incident with another tire (refer to addendum at the end of the belated January update), or my car finally has something major go wrong with the powertrain (I'm well past the warranty expiration), there does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel, at least insofar as getting rid of the Christmas credit card debt. Of course, the next item on the agenda is getting my tax money ready, as I once again owe the fed, and, in Pennsylvania, you owe local taxes, as well. If I get a stimulus check, I suspect I'll be like many people who are going to use it to get themselves closer to even, rather than go splurge on a new... whatever. Coming up this weekend, LJ (and IRL) friends redhotannie and kemroll are supposed to be visiting. I think they'll be the first non-parental people who have visited the new homestead since the December 2 move-in (except for one anony-moose person). I have arranged to take off from Saturday at noon until Monday at 4PM, so there should be ample time to get some Z's as well as entertain and not be obsessed with balancing being social and being rested. This coming Wednesday (March 5), Spooky and I will be heading downtown to catch a concert by one of my favorite bands (though they've become more of a guilty pleasure since my virtual immersion in instrumental film scores), Bon Jovi. This will be the 3rd time I've seen them. Once at Coca-Cola StarLake Amphitheater (or whatever it's called now) in the summer of 1995, once at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Illinois, and now at the Mellon Arena. At both of the previous concerts, I noticed some guys who were obviously dragged there by their girlfriends, and they were kind of commiserating, but by the end of the first set, they were totally into it. And it wasn't all alcohol-related, either. Bon Jovi put on a good show (and after 25 years experience, they should). Since this time it's at an indoor venue, I have to remember to bring earplugs with me. I made the mistake of attending an indoor Pixies concert somewhere near downtown Chicago in late '04 or early '05 without those plugs and couldn't hear right for a week. Spooky and I recently learned that there is actually a Japanese Steakhouse right in town. We've been going to a place on Pittsburgh's South Side called Nakama, which is pretty darn good, but the traffic is usually bad at least one way or the other, it takes almost an hour to get there, and parking's no picnic. This place is about 5 minutes from our digs. We will almost certainly be trying it soon. And with that, I think I'll consider taking a nap, but ultimately decide against it. acopperpenny, I will try to remember to make a seperate post about why I think monologues are pretty useless as a gauge of acting skills. Current Mood: exhausted (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
10:39 pm	Five Years Later, and Five Years Overdue Dear Rebecca, Five years have passed since you ended our engagement. And while there was a span of time where we continued to communicate through telephone and internet, we never did see each other again. There had been a chance once when you dropped off some of my belongings at my office. You had told the receptionist not to tell me until you had been gone a few minutes. But she called me right away. I don't know why I wanted to try to intercept you. I don't know what good that would have done. Probably none. As it was, the retreating plum purple Plymouth Neon was all I saw as it made a quick left out of the lot. In a phone conversation later, you told me that you had seen me in the parking lot of my new apartment complex, but I had not seen you. I remember thinking, "Why didn't she...I don't know...let me know she was there?" Again, I don't know what good would have come of it. Then, just after your 25th birthday, all communications ceased for good. I remember being hurt by this, because I recalled our final in-person conversation in which you had made the overture to remain friends. My response was a cold, "It will take some time." I suppose at that time, I thought enough time had passed. I didn't feel resentment or anger, or any of those "darker" traits that I exhibited once upon an earlier time. Half a decade removed, I know you proffered that olive branch to perhaps dull the pain; that you knew in your heart of hearts that we were indeed sharing our last moments as lovers and as friends; and that it had to be this way. Five years gone. About twice as long as our entire relationship. You had always been an important part of my life. But today I acknowledge that you were more important than I ever realized, and in a different way that my short-sightedness and self-absorption allowed me to see. I have no regrets, and I hope that you are unburdened by the past. I have found a woman who is perfect for me, and I realize that had you and I not traveled the road together as long as we did, I may very well have missed her. It is my sincere wish that you feel that way about the man in your life, as well. May you and your family have long life and good health. And should I become a ghost, I promise to be a benign spirit, and I will do my best to visit. You will probably never read this, and if you do, I will probably never know it. Nevertheless: Thank you, Rebecca. Thank you for being able to see things more objectively. Thank you for being able to determine that our future together, in almost all likelihood, would not have been a happy one for long. Thank you for having the courage to realize that the pain to come was necessary to ultimately set us both free. With Gratitude, Michael Current Mood: grateful
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
10:35 pm	Shaping up (Belated January Update) Once again, dear friends, it's been a busy period. Only a lame movie quote quiz from me to keep you busy, but now it's time to do that monthly thang. Happy 2008, everyone (says Mike, nearly 40 days late). We're pretty much halfway to Easter already. Last month, I left off with things I was planning to do in the upcoming weeks (now past). 1) Mere hours before I was going to audition for "The Glass Menagerie" at a local community theatre, I realized that I'm already stretched in too many directions. So, the monologue that I had prepared got tossed into the mental recycle bin until such time that I find a period where I'm not so...segmented. Someday, I'll also go on a mini-rant on why I think monologue auditions are the least representative of an actor's ability or talent level...especially when that's all that the director will have an actor do at an audition. 2) The Wisconsin ski trip was a gooood tiiiime. It was coooold. To the tune of -15 degreeees on the morning, winds making it -35. brrrr... But I only fell once all weekend. Considering how awful I was 3 years ago when I started and haven't been skiing ALL that much since, it's good to know that I've got a couple of double blacks (at least at that place) under the belt. W00t. 3) I still haven't updated my computer with either additional RAM or a cool DVD creator program. I've found the best candidates for both and have located them on eBay, but the problem is capital. More on that in a moment. 4) I have my eyes on a shotgun microphone and some other equipment I'll need for a studio. Also some ideas for creating a poor-man's acoustically-sound booth are coming into my head. I'm just not sure how I'm going to re-arrange the basement to accommodate these things. Meantime, some of the folks I've worked with so far with my "lesser" equipment should be preparing a couple of testimonials for when I finally get my ass in gear and update my website with the voice-over emphasis. ============= So, that's where those particular items are as of now. The house...sorry, still don't have pictures... is shaping up nicely. spookydoom13's parents are visiting for about a week or so, starting this coming Friday night, so hopefully we get some things unpacked, some other things moved around and some curtains made/hung. My own mother came out to visit on Superbowl Sunday to help with some organization. We all went out to Walmart and Target and found some budget baskets and things that match the furniture and the decor. We rearranged some furniture in almost every room to either open up space, or otherwise make things not look so...standard. We're still aching for lighting. Apparently, neither of us have lived in a place that has required so many lamps. Again, we have ideas for these things, but we have to actually find these things - for reasonable prices - before they become reality. The next monthly update SHOULD have some pics of the house attached. Some of you who read these entries and were actually there for the move-in will be impressed with how things look a mere 2-3 months later. ====== I haven't been at the house terribly much since my last entry to enjoy it. My inventory job has returned with a vengeance. Between the inventory, the radio station, and the ski trip, my time at home, not spent in bed, has not been very abundant. There's been enough, but often times the things I do there seem rushed. Sometimes that bleeds over into the time I spend with Spooky. We'll watch a movie or go out to dinner or something, and we'll have to cut it short because I have to be in bed by, say, 10PM to get ready to get up by 4AM (occasionally earlier). Still, the work comes at a good time as I'm still recovering from Christmas and certain home start-up costs that have come due. In addition, the gas bill was almost twice as high as I expected it to be, and there are a couple of other bills I'm responsible for that I'm not yet used to. If I weren't carrying a credit card balance (still paying no interest as of now), I don't think it would be as problematic. The radio station bonus that I mentioned before was indeed a good one. No doubt I would have had to have dipped into the savings account to stay above water otherwise. I anticipate that another month or two will see my budget with a bit of a surplus so that I don't feel that outgo is greater than the income. As the weather warms up, other things should take care of themselves. My car won't be paid off until November...and right now, with it about to turn 120,000 miles old, I'm hoping that I'm treating that machine right so that nothing major breaks on it for the foreseeable future. ========== - I have completed Lego Star Wars II, though I don't think I unlocked everything. Most of the game was done before New Years, but I picked at it every once in a while that the display tells me I'm 100% done. - I have filed most of my paperwork away in a spin-nifty new filing cabinet. It's not much to look at, but it's better than having my old paperwork crammed in envelopes which are then crammed into ill-fitting plastic containers. My "office" space downstairs looks almost manageable now. - The Steelers weren't going to win the Superbowl this year. I knew that before the playoffs started. So, I resorted to my 2nd favorite team: Anyone playing New England. My joy was 2nd only to watching Pittsburgh win Superbowl XL when the hated Patriots lost their bid for a perfect 19-0 season...not just in the last game of the season...in the last *35 seconds* of the season! You cannot beat that with a stick. And I've got some stick-fighting training (refer to icon), so I think I'm a moderate authority on what can and can't be struck by wooden melee weapons. I find it hard to root for New York city-named teams (even though the Giants and Jets play in Joisey) because they have 7 teams in the 4 major sports (and the 'Burgh only has two...three if you count the Pirates). All the same, it's been a while since New York held a title (2000 Yankees), and this particular group of players hasn't been elevated on the podium before. It's all good. Even if Eli Manning only averaged an abysmal 6.3 yards-per-pass during the regular season. - Anybody have a really long 9/64ths-inch drill bit? I need one to install a ceiling fan in the master bedroom. It will be awesome, but I can't drill the pilot holes, and damned if the screws are going in without the pilot holes. ... Eh, I suppose it's one of the problems that will be rectified when Spooky's parents visit. I hope you all are well, and I hope that I have another update for you (WITH PICTURES OF THE FLIPPIN' SWEET HOUSE) in the next 3 weeks or so. ====== Adendum... I can't post these from work anymore because of a thing called iBoss. Yeah, I know about proxy servers and all that, but it's just not worth it. So, I just e-mailed it to myself until I got home. On the way home, I barely avoided an accident (mostly my fault driving too fast for conditions), but the cost of not broadsiding a semi's payload was exploding a tire against a curb as I tried to swerve into a parking lot. No rim damage or anything. The tire rupturing must have provided some sort of cushioning for that. So...another expense I don't need. On the plus side, I totally didn't panic when I saw the potential danger. I didn't curse anyone out. I just calmly went about putting the spare on. But Mom's right. This debt thing I'm trying to get out of...it's not going to end... :( Current Mood: ambivalent (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
6:42 pm	Movie Meme thingy (with answers) Stoled this from billyphuz. Been meaning to do one of my own. 1. pick 16 of your favorite movies. 2. then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie. 3. post them in your journal. 4. have those on your friends list try to guess what the movie is. 5. strike out the quote once it has been correctly identified and place the guesser’s username directly after the quote. 6. NO GOOGLING! (As a side note, I'm going to set this entry to "screen all comments" so that everyone has a chance to play...but if you do this, you don't have to do that. I'll be back in a week or so to let everyone know the answers and who got 'em. Some are easy, some not, some obscure.) ( Click to see the answers...and who got 'em... ) Current Mood: silly (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 27th, 2007
1:34 pm	Settling in (December update) I can tell already that I have some kind of writer's block, and not just because the sequel to my screenplay has been idle on page 42 for about 3 years. The title of this blog entry is weak, too. Regardless, as a Pittsburgher might say, I owe yinz guys an update n'at. Leading off, a scan of a newspaper clipping that I'm surprised didn't lead to the dismissal or suspension of the editor who let this one get by: The location of the hyphen makes it even worse. For those who don't quite get it, locals out here in Western PA, particularly those of low education or extremely thick Pittsburgh accents, refer to their very own town as "Pissburgh" or "Picksburgh". Very lazy tongues when it comes to articulation around here. So, some more-educated newspaper guy, while filling in the on-the-air segment, was being a smart ass and intended to change the spelling later but forgot. The result was about five minutes of giggling from yours truly. But I have to give credit to my boss for pointing it out to me, because I never would have looked there on my own. And while we're on the subject of finding things amusing, sometimes a seemingly-innocuous police report makes its way across the fax machine at the station. If you didn't see what I found funny, refer to Operator #4. ===================== So, how was everyone's Christmas? Unfortunately, my beloved spookydoom13 is visiting family this week, so I have the entire new house to myself. So far, I've managed to not burn it down or anything traumatic like that. I still haven't gotten around to taking any pictures, but there are so many boxes scattered throughout the house that pictures right now wouldn't really do the place justice. It was all we could do just to get enough boxes out of the garage so that we could both put our cars in it (It is the reason we got a house with a 2-car garage, after all.) We still have some more stuff to get out of that garage, but it's good for now. I totally need to start putting stuff in a box (or two) to run to Goodwill. There are clothes that I wouldn't even think of wearing today that are in very good shape. There are also some VHS movies that either Rachel or I have the DVD versions of. VHS tapes don't really go for that much on eBay, so we might as well just give them to a charitable organization. Back to Christmas, the major gift that Spooky and I received was a dinette table and four chairs. The table has a butterfly leaf, meaning that the leaf is self-storing. It's almost like a Transformer. Of course, that makes it a very heavy table. Still, very cool. And while my beloved is visiting her folks, she got me "Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy". It's rad. It has consumed most evenings that I haven't been working. And I think that was the idea...to keep me out of trouble...cuz everybody knows what kind of a prowler I can be when not kept in check. I got some nice stuff, as usual, including an incredible bonus from the radio station that was about 10% of what I've earned there this year. That should help considerably with the debt. ============= Looking ahead, here are some of the things I'm planning on doing in the coming month, extending into the new year. 1) I'm actually going to audition for a play in Greensburg in a little over a week. It's a pretty well-known work: "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams. This may be a foolish endeavor (especially if I were to get cast in one of the two roles available to me) because January will be exceptionally busy with inventory getting back, radio being what it is, and... 2) The annual ski trip to Wisconsin with Spooky and her family. That's coming up soon. 3) I've got to upgrade my computer a bit and get ready to start this voice-over service I've been stewing over for about a year now. Whatever it takes to be able to make some money while working from home. Last night, I chatted with a Gateway service tech online (whose English was pretty good) and determined that my machine here is only capable of being expanded to 1GB of RAM. That might be enough for voice-related stuff, but I'm still skeptical. 4) Eventually, I'd like to get DVD creation software (that doesn't suck) so that I can convert all my VHS stuff (especially plays I was in) converted, with fully-rendered menus and things like that. That will probably require a new machine. As usual, I have an idea, but no plan. Yet, there is usually one key event that pushes me in the right direction anyway. Stay tuned. We'll see if that event happens... That's about it for now. Told ya before...writer's block. I hope everyone had an enjoyable (or better) Christmas and that 2008 for you is better than 2007 (even if '07 was a good year for you). Current Mood: busy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007
8:37 pm	Moving along (belated November update) Things have been crazy nutso since the last update (hence why I'm late with this one). Since you were kind enough to read through the ENTIRETY of the last post (I know y'all did...), here's a quick follow-up to all the storylines that were ongoing in the last update: 1) It took 80 bucks for a new headlight, and 20 bucks under the table to a body mechanic to get my car looking much better. The initial estimate was somewhere around 3-grand. Sure, the hood still has a couple of creases in it, and touch up paint isn't quite the same as a whole do-over. But when the car has almost 113,000 miles on it, I'm not going to be too picky. And I haven't hit another deer since... *knock wood* 2) I beat "Culpa Innata". The voices I did were pretty good. If I had to make a critique, it's that I paused a bit too long when the script called for a pause. Some of the pauses were unnaturally long. Still, something to build on and put in a portfolio. 3) I beat "Final Fantasy X", too. It's silly, but I got all choked up at the ending. Seriously. I spent over a month getting to know these characters... 4) We have moved into our new house. We still have another few days to get everything cleaned up before our lease officially ends, but all the big stuff is moved. Virtual-life-long friend billyphuz was present along with several others to make it so that the time from the first loaded piece at the old place to the last piece offloaded at the new place happened in less than 7 hours. And we have a lot of stuff... I'll try to get some pictures for the next update. It's just been a hectic month. It's almost a good thing that the radio station is the only job I've really had in the past 30 days. If the inventory service weren't dead, I don't know when I'd have had time to get all of the above done. Not that completing video games is of utmost importance (to most people's lives). The new house already feels like home. It took some warming up for the townhouse. This was instantaneous. After my radio shift last night, I went to the townhouse to get another carload of boxes. I didn't get home until after 1 AM. Still, after unloading everything, I sat down in our "formal living room", which I call the "Satan room" because of our red couch and the red-lighted x-mas tree that makes everything an iridescent crimson color at night (and, no, I didn't mean "Santa room") and just sat there for about 15 minutes before going to bed. I'm quickly going broke, but I think I'm getting a fairly good "bonus" from the radio station in the next couple of weeks that should set everything back even. We'll see. And, finally, a very Happy Holiday season to you and yours. Current Mood: happy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
2:51 pm	More to come in a bit, but... I had to share this. Desperate and Sad? Or Desperate and Creepy? And believe me, I KNOW creepy. (heh heh heh) Of course, if I ever found out that it worked, I'd be like, "I wonder why I never thought of that to get college-age girls..." :-Þ Current Mood: creepy (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 27th, 2007
9:05 pm	Culpa Innata (October Update) Note: The following entry is long as hell, but it may possibly be one of my more entertaining reads. Break out the Oreos and milk. Culpa Innata. It is the title of a video game that I worked on as a voiceover artist about 5 years ago. I got paid up front with an assurance that once the game was released, I would receive a copy of the cuts I recorded for my portfolio. A very strange thing. A couple years ago, I was perusing some old e-mails that I had saved, and I found the mass mailing that had gone out to the other Chicago-based VO actors. I was amazed at the time how many people on that list I didn't know back then, but had come to know since. Included on that list is LJ buddy kemroll. My beloved spookydoom13, I learned later, had auditioned for that project with her boyfriend at the time (she did not get cast, but, as it turns out, he did). Even her at-the-time sister-in-law worked on the project. The whole past/present/future intersecting at this project just makes me shake my head and smile. I'd been keeping track of the project since then, finding the official website, joining the message boards and learning about the release date, which kept getting pushed back. Culpa Innata was officially released on October 23rd. And, miraculously, my name (and those of my "future" acquaintances) were in the credits. You can right click the image and select "view image" to make it bigger. And now for the kicker (especially for those of you who think that the girlfriend connection wasn't odd enough). As I said, I was aware of the game's release on the 23rd in advance (I just promised my contact that I wouldn't tell anyone). I also didn't get the impression that I was going to be able to get a free copy from the company. So, this past Wednesday (the 24th), I'm eating lunch at the radio station. One of the salesman, from his office (adjacent to the conference room where I'm eating) calls to me: "Hey, Mike. Do you like adventure games?" And I reply, "What do you mean? Like dungeons and dragons, wizards and warriors? That kind of thing?" A brief pause. "Well...sort of." At this point, I'm out of my chair moving into the office to see what he's talking about. He continues, "Have you ever heard of a game called... 'Cul....pa... Inn....ata?'" My jaw hits the floor. The damn game is being given away through one of the companies from which my radio station receives some of its prizes. My past intersected with my present in a way I would have never conceived. Consider: the radio station I work for has a listening audience whose average age is 69. Downloadable computer games are not usually the kinds of things they prefer to win. In no uncertain terms, I told him to award the prize to me (and told him why I was so gung-ho to get it). So, I received it for free, after all. As a downloadable 1.5GB .exe file, no less. And that's how I was able to get the screenshot above. I've only played the game for about a half hour, but it's pretty slick. It's a bit slow going as I'm getting used to the interface, but once this thing gets rolling, I have a feeling, at least challenge-wise, it will be very satisfying. Culpa Innata translates to "In-born Fault", more or less, but I've been telling people it probably means "Original Sin". In my case, it strangely translates as: "Serendipity". ========================= Other stuff from the past month: Do any of you know the feeling of hitting a deer with your car/truck? That shot of adrenaline? That "Oh, shit, did I kill it?" and "I hope my car's not damaged too badly?" The realization that no matter how minor the fender is bent, it may very well cost you more to fix than the vehicle is worth in the first place? Ok. Do any of you know the feeling of hitting two deer with your car/truck? Within 24 hours of each other? One on each side of your car? After never having had a real accident involving large, quadrupedal, dumb, horny, animals in all your previous years of driving? "Well, shit, son," as billyphuz might say. I did indeed experience that 2nd scenario a week ago. The first impact happened at about 3:40AM EST as I was heading to my 4A-11A radio shift. I'm in the right lane when I see this small deer, straddling the white-dashed line, its butt in the right lane, its head in the left. I swerve. And it looks like I'm going to miss it. Until it turned around and headed back toward the right shoulder. To turn anymore to the right would have been to meet a telephone pole. I decided that the deer was more malleable, so I turned into it. After about a quarter mile, I decided to check out the damage. Headlight casing is busted, but the light still works. The turn signal didn't. A good dent in the hood, and the front fender was bent under slightly, revealing some of the plastic wraparound that goes in front of the car. Fabulous. Fortunately, I didn't do much about it that day after work. Just picked up some clear duct tape and a new turn signal bulb from the auto parts store and rednecked the hell out of it. It doesn't look terrible. Maybe I'll put a picture up eventually. I'm glad I didn't do much else with it. At about 10:20 that night (less than 19 hours later, for those keeping track), Spooky and I are coming back from a Haunted House when I hit another deer. This one, on the right shoulder, and I didn't see it in time to get all the way around. After the impact, I pulled over and looked. Headlight looked good. Hood wasn't any more damaged. I thought maybe that was a case of sounding worse than it was. Until Spooky opened the passenger side door. Or tried anyway. The right fender was pushed in and up, effectively binding the door so that it could only open a couple of inches before being stopped by the fender. On Monday, I took it in for an estimate. I told the guy to give me the maximum estimate possible, so I'd know what I was dealing with at the worst. Estimate was just short of $2,900. That's almost as much as my beloved 2003 Dodge Intrepid ES and all 110,000 miles is worth. As of this entry, I still haven't reported it to my insurance. I'm hoping I can find cheaper ways to get it fixed. Already, I've found a headlight assembly for $80. The guy at the shop said one would be about $230. Stuff like that. And also, I'm not sure if the insurance adjuster would take note of my mileage. I believe I report 14K per year. It's more like 25K, and I just never got around to changing it. Not sure what penalties would be in store for me if he did take note. Anyway, between the computer game release and my rotten luck with live venison, it's been quite the interesting week. ===== More stuff. About a week and a half ago, I was in a couple scenes of an independent film called "Jasmine" that an old friend of mine is shooting. It's actually an martial-arts action film. I get to play a villain. One who pushes women into walls and is otherwise a whiny puss-boy. But they are putting in a scene where I get to showcase some of my Modern Arnis training. I alluded to this in my last entry. I simultaneously can and can't wait to see how the scenes look. ==== Also in the last entry, I noted that a radio station looking for a sports-talk type personality didn't even call me for an interview. It turns out that the station and its format went belly-up. My right-place, right-time tendency seems to work in reverse, too. (except for the damn deer...I haven't figured out why that might be fortuitous). ==== Spooky and I are closing on the house on November 28. If anyone is going to be in the Western Pennsylvania area during the following two weekends and would like to earn some pizza and beer, we're accepting applications to help us move. ==== I am addicted to Final Fantasy X for Playstation 2. It absorbs almost all of my free time. That is all. === As a result, I haven't done diddly to build my website. I've updated my sports blog all of once. I think the Pirates depressed me so that I can't get into it right now. I did managed to put some more of those 78 records into the computer, but not a whole lot. === Thanks for being a trooper and reading this whole post. If you can go the extra mile and comment, that would be rad. Current Mood: all over the place (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, October 5th, 2007
10:45 am	Progression of House (updated Oct 5) The Land (June 23) The Foundation (August 15) The Wall (August 24) The Basement (September 1) And Suddenly Two Stories (September 15) Oooh! A Roof! (September 22) How About A Front View For A Change? (September 22) Got most of the brickwork done. (October 5) Shingles and a basement window. (October 5) Current Mood: smiley (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, September 24th, 2007
10:34 pm	Overload (September Update) It's not a completely bad thing, for a change. I'm hurting for sleep this week, but I've been fairly productive and having a good time, largely. So, the winds of change blew, though not terribly hard. I still work for WMBS, I still work for the inventory service, but now, for the moment, I'm working for the internet-based sports company I referred to in my August update. I am a color commentator for MSASports.net This week, I'm not doing a game, mainly because my dumb ass froze during a network-wide pregame segment. I don't wish to repeat any of it. It is still embarrassing for me to think about, and I know I embarrassed the whole network. For a moment, I had become a combination of every color commentator I've ever mocked in my life, only worse. So, I do not appear on the slate for this week's games. I haven't actually heard from the boss, and it's possible that I'm not doing color because I was the most recent hire (thus at the bottom of the totem pole), but the guy who got hired with me is doing a game this week. (Note: I don't mean to say we were hired as a team. He's been doing color elsewhere) So, whether it's just a thin slate of games or because I'm in the doghouse because I went totally blank shortly after my play-by-play guy threw it to me at one point...I can deal with being "given a week off". I was told shortly after I initially applied that football was full-up for the year. So, the fact that I've done two games this season, means I'm still further ahead. Enough about that. I did not get a call from the Pittsburgh station about the "sports reporter" gig. I was kind of bummed about that. I think that might have been a larger leap career-wise. Of course, I could have largely been running coffee for someone... From my laundry list last time, I only accomplished two of the things. I did transscribe what there was of the sequel of "Nimbus", and I had to complete my NFL preview. It doesn't look so good, prediction-wise, so I opt not to post a direct link to it here. The 78s sit untouched. My sports blog is just occasionally added onto. My soon-to-be web site has not evolved one iota. But, I've gotten to do some martial arts workouts with a couple of guys I know in preparation for an independent film. It's admittedly really poorly written, but I think the spirit of indie filming is catching me again. Not quite as strongly as it did in 2000 and 2001, but it's fun. And I get to be a villain. Rock. I'm quite tired, so I'm going to end this reasonably short entry now. Zzzzzz... Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
9:31 pm	Wheels in Motion...I Hope (August Update) I guess I need to write posts like my last one more frequently. If I put the things I need to work on out in the open for public consumption, I seem to be a bit more driven to complete certain tasks. Since my last post, I have finished two of the four projects that I listed last month. I completed the transcription of "Nimbus" to the new software program. I didn't do all that many edits on the way, but the "completed and current" draft now exists on my more stable hard drive in a format that is more easily converted. Maybe one of these days, I'll start transcribing the sequel, too (what there is of it). I also completed the latest audio book project. I've finished recording, editing, burning, and listening. It sounds pretty good. For one of his stories, that is. I have not done anything with the collection of old 78"s I have, nor have I even touched revising my personal website so that it doesn't appear (as my good friend billyphuz consicely put it) so HTML 1.1 However, I did come up with an idea to maybe speed up the record-to-CD conversions, and an idea to start my personal website with and perhaps build it around. Also, the winds of change are a-blowin'. It seems that I'm crying wolf here. I've been making occasional references to this feeling since I posted about it in more depth back in February. But now, there are enough things in motion that something is bound to give. spookydoom13 and I are having a house built not far from where we currently reside. The foundation is mostly down. There is some semblance of the basement (read: cinderblock) wall that's up. I don't have my digital camera handy, but I'll post some of the photos I have a bit later. In any event, this change requires that I make more $$...or at least contribute more of what I earn. I have applied to work for another AM station in Latrobe, as well as an internet based sports network for southwestern PA hoping to get into more sports play-by-play and/or color commentary. This may possibly be the most difficult gig to land. Everyone, especially out here, wants to do this. Worse, the ones who do it are the ones who either do something else for the station, and/or are a generation (or more) older than me. For example, the oldies station in Washington, PA (WJPA), does semi-pro baseball (the Washington Wild Things), the Pony League World Series, high school football, baseball, softball, and wresting, and college football coverage for the Washington & Jefferson Presidents. The same 3 guys do this. One guy does the Wild Things play-by-play. He's not bad, but one guy talking about the game the entire time can get boring to listen to. The main sales guy and the main production guy do all of the rest of it. They have one news guy as a backup. That's a heavy load of sports spread among 3 guys. Does this seem greedy to you? Perhaps I would be the same way if I were on the inside rather than the outside. I can't say for certain. I can see the guys with tenure reserving "big games", "rivalry games" and playoff games for themselves for sure, but surely they'd want an OCCASIONAL Friday off, especially if there was a reasonable chance for a stinker. Fortunately, it looks like I'll be able to resume my sideline commentary for WMBS this football season. The general manager, who does the play-by-play, seems ok with the idea of letting me call a quarter here and there throughout the year. In addition, I'm going to be doing play-by-play and color alternately with another guy for a game in early October. Of course, the more of these I can do, the better the demo reel I'll be able to put together. I also applied for a "sports reporter" position at a station in Pittsburgh. It is the first position I've seen for a Pittsburgh station that I actually am qualified for, virtually point-by-point down the requirements list. The only thing that isn't quite congruent is that my experience isn't completely in sports reporting. I think that's something I can easily navigate in an interview should they call me this week. Cross your fingers for me. I don't dislike working for WMBS, by any stretch. I know that I get to do more than I would at a station owned by CBS Radio, Clear Channel, or any of the corporately-owned stations. However, it is a case of me feeling like things are slowing down. I'm well-entrenched in my Saturday morning shift with my routines. There's a minor change coming next week, and one that I'm a little excited about, but it's not "new". The AM station in Latrobe seems interested in having me fill in on an as-needed basis. That's pretty much what I do now for the station in Washington, but I don't want to stretch myself too thin. Speaking of which, my "other" job, the inventory service... well, I had my review and got a 40-cents per hour raise. Needless to say, this does not help make up for the money I will need to be making within the next few months. My Way Hot Girlfriend has noticed a job that won't require much driving which would offset all the gas I burn driving to inventories all over the region, and the work would be a little more regular. The only difficulty would be determining if the shifts at that job would be flexible. I've inquired about more than a couple jobs where the work is there for the taking, but their schedule will not agree with me working at the radio station. Perhaps my only true hope is to get a working website up and running and start doing audio conversions and voiceovers as a kind of self-run business. That way, I can set my own hours. Of course, I'm not much of a salesman or a schmoozer, so obtaining the business will be the toughest part of this. Also, one of the guys who currently works with me at WMBS may very well be turning in his two week notice next week. This could mean plenty of hours coming my way shortly if none of the other possibilities materialize. Finally, the 2nd Annual WMBS NFL Preview Roundtable will be coming up either this Thursday or next Thursday (the 30th of August or the 6th of September). I'll let you know how you can listen. So, before my next update, I hope to accomplish any of the following: 1) My NFL Preview for the upcoming season (I have to get this done this week, or mostly done, anyway) 2) Get a working version of my website up with demos of my radio, sports, voiceover, and other skills. 3) Make a dent in that pile of 78's. I don't think I could finish that project in less than 3 months even if I wanted. It's THAT time consuming. 4) Update my sports blog a little more frequently. 5) Transcribe what there is of the sequel to "Nimbus" (the title was initially "Avatar", but now there's a popular anime series called "Avatar: The Last Airbender". "Axis" and "Storm" are other possbilities I've considered). A little bit less on the menu, but no less important to accomplish some of this stuff. As a bit of a post-script, I'm going to see if I can help a friend of mine with an independent film he's shooting. He's the same guy who co-wrote a martial arts comedy/drama screenplay with me 7 years ago. We tried to make that one, but had to suspend the project because our actors weren't showing up. Tough to do that kind of thing when you have no budget. And the role he mentioned is a villain. Can't really resist taking a look-see. Bwahahahaha! Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)