Sweet Jebus! or What Have I Been Doing?

Wow! The stuff I sold on ebay has gone for a whole heck of a lot more than I anticipated. As long I get all the money without any problems, things are going to be looking up for yours truly. I'll have enough money to get a whole whack of film equipment which will allow myself (and my buddies) to begin to shoot broadcast quality stuff! I'll have better equipment than video pool AND the film group!
In the past little while I've seen "A Sound of Thunder" and "Corpse Bride" in the theatres. Thunder was filled with special effects so bad that they made a Sega CD game look good, but the movie had its heart in the right place... that and gorrilasaurs! Bride paled in comparison to the ultimate classic "Nightmare Before Christmas" but was still decent. Clocking in at 74 minutes, it was insanely short, I guess they were going for brevity as the soul of wit or something. The songs were only ok and there were some plot omissions, but I'd still say it was a solid 3 stars. I mean, at least it was ORIGINAL and not a crappy remake.
This Saturday NWA TNA finally debuts on national television. Spike TV will show the best new thing around. I hear that some surprise guests will be there... cough cough Dudley's cough cough.
It feels good to get rid of so much stuff that was tying me down. While I had some great times with the SNES and Ps1 back in the day, it was time to move on (I haven't touched either one in years). The fact that I got some sweet bread for the two was the icing on the cake! Self sufficient filmmaker here I come!

The Downsizing Begins or That's a Bit 'O Cash!

Today I unloaded some old books at a small used bookstore near Erin's place. I had hoped to get a little more than the dude offered, but I understood his reasoning for the amount. I mean, Robert Jordan books are worthless now, even in hardcover. To be fair, I would have given those to charity had he not taken them. I only ended up dropping some old fantasy books, and a few comics that I didn't feel like owning anymore. Phase 1 of the downsizing of my copious amounts of stuff has been completed! Check out my stuff for sale on ebay here!
I went down to the Advance Pro division shop to check out cameras today and was given a little speech and demo about the new HDV cameras that just hit the market. The one that I would be gunning for is about $3300 but is goddamn amazing. It's broadcast quality and can do both DV and DVCAM formats in addition to 1080 HD. I was given some information about the thing to peruse and will do so. It would be so amazing to be my own self sufficient filmmaker, without needing to go to anyone or any place for equipment. I like being on my own, doing things the hard way. It makes the process that much more hardcore. And hey, I could always rent out the camera to people looking for equipment to make some extra coin on the side! All I need to do is save up a few hundred more and I can do it! By doing it, I mean buy a camera, tripod, case, extra batteries, boom mic... maybe even a few small lights. Sure I'll be unloading all the money that I've saved over the past year or so, but it was all for this purpose anyway! What are your thoughts dudes and dudettes?

Robert Plant or Cold Hands

Erin and I saw Robert Plant tonight at the MTS Centre. It was an alright show, a tad on the mellow side, but the band was tight. The crowd was SUPER hot, cheering everything like crazy. It was quite clear that they wanted to see Zeppelin, but were settling for Plant. Every tune that he did from the old catalogue was met with a standing o. He only did 4 (including the encore). He slowed them WAY down (except for Whole Lotta Love) but still managed to keep the audience into it. I would have to say that most people were merely grooving because of who he was, not because of the music, as it was very mellow. Plant told us that he was continuing the tradition of folk music and went into the details of the origins of the songs (like Gallows Pole being 400 years old!). It was basically a theatre show done in an arena setting. Oh yeah, it was also only an hour and a half long, INCLUDING encore.
My basement is really cold now, so when playing NHL, my hands get all cold and sore. It's what I imagine old people must feel like. I no likey!

The Big List or I Need Money!

Here you go folks, the first list of things that I am selling. All prices have been determined from looking at ebay and various used places around town but are still negotiable. I'm not asking for what I could get on ebay because all you dudes are my friends. Everything I own is in mint condition as I am anal that way. If you want something from a set, I will consider breaking it up for you, as long as you ask nicely :)

SNES System w/ 2 controllers and all cords: 30$
Games for 5$: Super Off Road, NHL '94, Super Mario World, Turtles in Time, F-Zero
Games for 7$: Super Punch Out, Super Double Dragon w/Box, Castlevania 4 w/box, Donkey Kong Country w/Players Guide, Contra 3, Super Ghouls and Ghosts
Games for 8.50$: Nobunaga's Ambition, Pocky and Rocky w/box, Shadowrun, Yoshi's Island, Actraiser, Super Metroid w/players guide
Games for 20$: Earthbound, Zelda: A Link to the Past (NEW!) w/Players Guide, Dracula X

Playstation games:
Mega Man 8: 10$, Xenogears: 15$, Final Fantasy Origins: 20$, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete: $40, Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete: 40$

Xbox games (all for 10$)
The Thing, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 2, Max Payne 2, Splinter Cell 2, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, Project Gotham Racing 2

Books and Comics:
2$: Paperback Star Wars and Dragonlance novels (ask for titles)
5$: Hardcover editions of Robert Jordan (4-9), Gi Joe Battle Files #1
8$: Preacher Graphic Novels (2, 4, 7)
10$: Planet Simpson

Gamecube System w/ 1 wavebird, 3 controllers, GBA Adaptor, S-Video, Memory Card 256, and cords: $105
Games for 10$: Timesplitters 2, Prince of Persia, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil, Viewtiful Joe, Super Monkey Ball
Games for 15$: Skies of Arcadia, F-Zero GX, Alien Hominid
Metroid Prime 2: 20$
Legend of Zelda set: Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time Bonus Disk, Zelda Collector's Disk: $40
Bongo Set: 2 Bongos, Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat: $100

DVD's:
Autographed by Lloyd Kauffman: Tox Box (Toxic Avenger 1-3, Toxic Crusaders cartoon): $20

More stuff to come soon!

No Dice or Oh Well

I found out today that I didn't get the job that I had the interview for. I'm both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed because a regular, full time, steady position would be great for the pocketbook and for letting me get out of the parent place, but relieved because now I have much more time to devote to making some movies! Not that I'm giving up on the whole job search, cuz I'm not, but I am going to try harder to make more short films. I have quite a few ideas floating around in my head, I just need to get access to the equipment and go to it!
I've been playing a bunch of NHL 2k6 lately and am digging it. The new features this year are totally sweet! I'm digging the ability to accurately do the tic tac toe passing for a powerplay. Oh yeah, Erin and I finished season 4 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" last night. While maybe not as great as previous seasons, the show was very funny, with particular mention going to the one where Larry picks up the hooker to drive in the carpool lane and ends up taking her to a Dodgers game. Too funny!

NHL 2K6 or Job Interview

Picked up NHL 2K6 for the Xbox the other day. At first, I was a little lukewarm to the whole thing, as it does not have the current rosters, but then I found this site which has the most recent team rosters as of yesterday for you to download! With the patch added, I have a whole new appreciation for the game! All of the new rules are there, and a few awesome gameplay tweaks, such as the wrap around and icon passing. You can finally play powerplays like you see on TV, with crisp passing around the box of defenders. It sucks that the ESPN license is gone, but to compensate, you get the Hockey Night in Canada duo of Bob Cole and Harry Neale! Having watched HNC since I was a wee lad, it's cool to play a game with them. Now if only they could have Coach's Corner for the intermission...
Had a job interview yesterday for a full time position managing the stock room of a medical lab. It's not the most intellectually demanding of jobs, but it should pay $12 an hour complete with full benefits. It would also be nice to have a normal 9 to 5 schedule for once... We'll see how it all turns out next week!

Weekend of Fun or Shadowrun

This weekend was a fun little ditty, as I had to work both mornings so could not stay out late. I did have Monday off, so was able to attend a soiree at Ryan and Tina's place. She went all out with the baking, proving to be the hostess with the mostess. There were nachos, egg roles, pitas, and hummus! In addition to that, we ordered some pizza from Domino's, which ended up being fairly tasty. This event coincided with the Bomber game, and it was decided that whenever the Bomber's scored, we would all take a shot. With the pitiful lack of scoring, the rule was amended to included whenever the Bombers fucked up and turned the ball over. This was unfortunate, as the Bombers do that a lot. I have no idea how many shots I did total, but we finished an entire bottle of Baja Luna and another one of Kahlua. After a few glasses of water and some time, I was a-ok, but some of the other attendees were not. Stobes was in the bathroom painting the toilet bowl with the sweet colour of vomit and Ryan was phoning girls from the address book on Stobart's cell phone and leaving horribly embarrassing messages (along the lines of "this is Stobes, I'm desperate, why won't you go out with me?") Once the Karaoke Revolution came out though, the party really started. I have no idea why they never received a noise complaint, because there was some serious rocking going on. Ah well.
Having 3 days off in a row proved to be a welcome relaxation. I've been playing some Advance Wars DS and Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis, a game that I've always liked but never gotten around to playing through. Unfortunately, I have no patience for the amount of time it takes for your character to earn enough money to do anything, so I buckled and used a cheat code. What? Don't look at me that way... I'd like to see YOU play a game for 10 hours just to earn enough money to START the story part. Screw that! I'm going to post a list of things for sale soon!

Waste of Money or Soon Unemployed?

Checked out "The Brothers Grimm" last night and was HUGELY disappointed. Terry Gilliam is usually so interesting, but this was a horrid mess of a film. It had no idea what the hell it was doing and it showed with the constant tone changes and lack of focus. Matt Damon sucked ass (although Heath Ledger was alright) and the rest of the cast wasn't all that spectacular. I'd go so far as to say that I hated it. In all fairness however, I hear that the studio was all up in Gilliam's area during the making of the picture, so I'm sure they influenced the suck 'o meter a little.
Great news! I might soon be unemployed! With the recent cutbacks at the bus depot, there might be no work for me until Christmas! That's so awesome! I'm going to look into getting UI, but I guess I'll have to step up my job searching from a 4 to about an 8. That, and I'll have to start to sell some of my stuff on ebay again. Oh well, I do have lots of stuff. Anyone wanna buy any?

Billy Fucking Idol or Rock 'n Roll!

Just got back from the Billy Idol concert, which rocked hardcore. He played all the hits and the best stuff from the new album While I was hoping to hear something from the oft maligned "Cyberpunk" disk (which I like), it was still a solid 2 hours 10 minutes of great rock 'n roll. He looks to be in damn good shape for a guy pushing 50 and moved around the place with all the energy of a man half his age. He brought people up from the audience, signed autographs while singing, and even took stuff from people to sign (shirts, posters, etc.) He was super accommodating and full of life. Definitely a great show all around! Rock 'N Roll!