A "Cool Stuff" Christmas

God Bless YouTube! You can now visit the many ghosts of "Cool Stuff" Christmases past. Introduce yourself, or get reacquainted for you few original fans, to Santa Mann, Reindeer Boy, Jim's Head, The Shiny Happy Snowman and much much more.
As you watch and think, "Good God, These are so Lame!" Just remember these were originally produced way back in December 1991 when the entertainment bar was set much lower.

Check out the Cool Stuff Christmas Playlist
and be sure to subscribe to the PlasticVille Productions Channel to be in the loop when I post more filler extravaganzas.

The Arthur E. Willey Show

After years of thinking about it, I recently purchased a used 3/4" video deck from EBay (for all of $50 - gotta love EBay!). You might be asking yourself; What the Hell is that and why do I care? Well way back in the early 1990's when I was at UMass and then at my first job with Continental Cablevision, 3/4" was the video tape format of the times for facilities a bit behind the times. I produced lots of crap on 3/4" in the early 90's including the award winning comedy series "Cool Stuff" with the legendary Art Mann. We ended up doing 36 episodes and got a huge cult following of at least 20 people. This deck lets me get those decaying tapes of comedy gold (or possibly zinc) out to all of you.

One of the earliest things I ever made was The Arthur E. Willey Show. I was doing man on the street interviews for some school project and we came across Arthur. After just a few seconds with him I knew I had to do whatever I could to get his message out. The urge to sing his praises was just too strong - and sing his praises I did, along with guest vocalist Jim McKeever. I think I even got credit for this as some sort of independent study.

Now, for your viewing pleasure: The Arthur E. Willey Show

Samantha Survives

Samantha's surgery went down Monday December 18th and was successful. They took an X-Ray before starting surgery to see if was even worth the attempt. There was no sign of metastasis so they went ahead with the surgery to remove the growth. Once they had her open, the vet changed his diagnosis and now no longer thinks it was even cancer. Seems it was just some sort of cyst. She's home, fighting her neck collar, trying to rest and recover despite the ever present and curious Homer.
A Christmas miracle!

Final Patriots Home Game

Today was the last New England Patriots home game of the regular season, and quite possibly it was the last game for us as it seems unlikely we'll continue with our season tickets - but that's another story. Today's story was about how this game was going to be special. Since we had traded for extra tickets to take family to the Pats - Bears game last month, it was just Lori and I for today's finale. The Patriots have not been looking like the solid, playoff-ready, December team they've been in recent years, so I was really looking forward to them stepping up and blowing out the Houston Texans, which they did with a final score of 40 - 7. The surprise of the day was to see Lori blowing out as well - as in puking. Often.

You see, last night she attended a neighborhood "cookie swap" - which I've since learned is code for "playing quarters all night and getting totally cocked." Hell, I would have made some cookies had I known the code. When I brought her home at 2:30am this morning, I figured I'd be placing some calls around 10am for someone to replace her at the game, but she insisted she was good to go. On the way to the game she puked (this is only the second time I've ever seen her get sick) out the window of my truck while speeding down Rt 495 - a sight I've not seen since road trips at UMass. I was remarkably restrained despite just seeing someone puke all over my beloved Envoy, and I offered to turn around and head home. She decided to press on; such a hungover trooper that girl. Once we arrived at the stadium I was spotted by an old high school buddy and while we chatted Lori ran off to the bathroom to puke some more. I've never seen her in such rough shape. By the time she came out of the bathroom she wanted to just stay inside the clubhouse and sleep, but I convinced her to come sit outside and get some fresh air. Slumped in her seat with her head hung low, she looked more like a homeless person than the boisterous and lively football fan she is. She ran back inside for the bathroom a couple times in the first quarter. As the score mounted I knew we'd be leaving early. We left with 8 minutes to go in the first half. And she puked once more on the drive home for good luck.

I considered bringing a camera today since it might be our last game at Gillette, but I figured nothing photo-worthy would really happen. Boy, was I wrong. On the good side, it was the quickest I've ever gotten out of the stadium.

Bad News for Samantha

Yesterday we learned that our cat Samantha has cancer. Next week she'll be having surgery to remove the growth, or they'll discover it has already metastasized all over her and won't bother with surgery. We've had her for six years after rescuing her from a shelter when she was four. I'm pulling for a Christmas miracle that Sammy comes through just fine since cat surgery is sucking my Christmas funds dry. A hopefully live and well Samantha could be Lori's only gift. It already is a bit of a Christmas miracle that I even went along with cat surgery, but when the wife comes home crying from a veterinarian visit it isn't the best time for a "let nature takes its course" speech. At least Samantha has Larry The Lizard to console her.

NYC

My brother-in-law and his kids are still in town visiting from Oregon, so yesterday we rented a mini van and hit New York City to play tourist for the day. It was Me, Lori, her brother Stu, brother Bruce and his kids Phil, Erica and Alex. Larry The Lizard came along to make the adventure complete. It was fun running around Manhattan hitting the traditional tourist spots like Times Square, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center... we even visited a couple things that I hadn't seen before. We all went to the top of Rockefeller Plaza (Top of The Rock) where there are three levels of observation decks. Even on a foggy day there were some very cool views. Plus the elevators there had glass roofs and illuminated elevator shafts for a unique trip up 67 stories. Then we took the subway to Battery Park to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and visit Ground Zero - a most uncool view, but an important spot to see to say the least. View photos here.

Body Worlds

We had family in from Oregon and Maine for Thanksgiving, and on Friday everyone headed into the Boston Museum of Science and we got to check out the traveling exhibit - Body Worlds 2. It was totally sick and I'm so glad we got to see it. It is an exhibition of real human bodies, stripped of their skin and preserved via "Plastination". Some bodies are in athletic poses, showing off all the muscles and ligaments, while others are split apart into multiple pieces like bizarre human puzzles. One body was even separated into its musculature and its bones. The skeleton was standing right next to the muscles of the same original body - like the guy was taking himself for a walk. The museum was packed and we couldn't get tickets for Body Worlds until 5:30pm. After spending all day at the museum, and taking a quick nap in the planetarium, we still spent two hours checking out the bodies. They were much cooler and more interesting than I had hoped. You could walk all the way around each exhibit and look at it from every possible angle. They also had many individual organs and body slices on display as well. Overall, very cool and highly recommended - you can even donate your own body to be part of an exhibit in the future.

Shortest Vacation Ever

I flew down to Tampa Florida yesterday and I'm already back home tonight, for my shortest vacation ever. It wasn't a vacation at all of course, I just flew down to help my dad and stepmother transport their two cats and dog to Florida for the winter. We were taken by surprise when we had to open the animal's crates at the airport so security could check them out. I was worried I'd be chasing cats all over Logan airport at that point, but the cats were traumatized enough to just cower instead of trying to flee. Once in Tampa, the journey became a bad episode of The Amazing Race as we got lost four different times trying to get from the airport to their house in Clearwater. Despite living there last winter, their memory of the roads isn't as strong as they believe it to be. My folks have become the elderly people they used to make fun of, but they haven't realized it yet. We also got lost when they tried to bring me to the airport this morning for the flight back to Boston - thankfully the whole trip is already fading away from memory. That is the one benefit of the shortest vacation ever - it wasn't even long enough to leave permanent scars.

Borat Rules!

We saw "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" last night and it really lives up to its hype as being flat out hilarious. I'd seen plenty of Borat on Da Ali G show, and caught plenty of clips or read about most of the things in the movie and I was still laughing hard at every moment. I like it very much.

It is amazing to me that this movie is #1 in the country. I think it makes far more fun of the US than it does Kazakhstan; not to mention the fact that it includes one of the most disturbing, offensive, gut-busting scenes ever - the nude wrestling match between Borat and his producer that continues through the lobby and convention room of a hotel. I was also surprised by how much heart the film had, it is really just a love story. Well, at least a story about a guy looking for "sexy time."

Can't believe the drunken redneck frat boys who pick Borat up while hitchhiking are now suing the filmmakers. They claim that if they'd known this was going to be shown in US theaters they wouldn't have acted like such drunken redneck frat boys. I'm not buying that. Long live Borat!

Damn That Peyton!

Being at last night's Patriots - Colts football game was a very strange experience. Strange to see New England football hero Adam Vinatieri in an Indy uniform and even stranger to see him miss two field goals. Yet it sure was fun cheering after those misses - another thing I never would have predicted I'd do in my lifetime. It was great to see the Patriots' Troy Brown become the Pats all-time leading receiver, but strange to (not) see the phantom taunting penalty called on him. There were lots of strange calls and non-calls last night. I don't know if it made it into the television coverage, but I've never seen Coach Belichick so irate. He was running all over the field to scream at the refs all night it seemed. It was actually the Coach who showed the first sign of a strange night - giving up on his traditional gray sweatshirt and sporting a bright red hoodie instead. The hyped matchup between the NFL's best two quarterbacks never quite materialized as Tom Brady had one of his worst games ever, throwing four interceptions (and garnering me negative 3.33 points in fantasy football!). Despite the loss, it was still a great game to be at. There was a highly charged atmosphere in the stadium and the crowd was loud and lively all night. It was pretty amazing that with how bad our offense played we were still in the game, and down to the last minute I believed in our inevitable comeback. But I've finally got to give some credit to Peyton Manning, he looked fantastic last night. Every time it seemed the Patriots defense had Manning trapped he pulled off an amazing pass. He's certainly proven he can win in Foxboro - we'll just have to wait for the playoffs to see if he can win when it really matters.

The Dynasty Continues

The New England Patriots headed into Minnesota last night for a Monday Night Football matchup against the Vikings. This was supposed to be a tough battle and plenty of people were even picking the surprising Vikings to topple the Pats. But Tom Brady and company picked apart the Viking defense for one of his best games ever, while the Patriots defense just smothered the Vikings, whose only score came on a punt return. The Pats totally dominated this game and looked as good as they ever have. The final score was 31 to 7 and it didn't feel that close. This group of "no-name" receivers is suddenly looking good enough to go all the way to another Super Bowl. I'm already drooling over the next game, Sunday night against Peyton Manning and the Colts - hope we get some early snow at Gillette Stadium this year.

Whalom Park: Rest In Peace

Whalom Park, a small 100 year old amusement park in Lunenburg Ma had its greatest monument, The Flying Comet roller coaster, torn down this week. Though the park has been closed for a few years already, this is finally the closing chapter.

Here's a good story in the Boston Globe on it.

I grew up just a few blocks from Whalom Park in a little section of Leominster called Whalom District and spent many weekends playing skeeball with my dad and going on the roller coaster and Pirates Den over and over as a kid. Each year I looked forward to opening day, that was always Easter weekend and featured hidden egg hunts throughout the park. As I got older, me and my friends had huge collections of string and metal tags that served as the all-day entrance to the park. We would scour the parking lots for discarded tags and ask people leaving the park each day for their bracelets for our collections. If a week went by without me running around Whalom, we must have been out of town. As I got older still it became the site of my first job too. Because it was a service industry you could work the concessions and weekend picnic area at age 13 or 14. That's when I learned never to eat at parks.
The park was the locale of my first adventures being drunk, meeting girls, getting in fights... all the low-end traditions of growing up in central mass. Combined with the nearby Video World arcade and the drive-in --- all the best trappings of a misspent youth were available.
I finally grew out of the place before I was old enough to be a ride operator - one of my dream jobs while a tyke. I also remember seeing the flames in the sky when a big fire hit the outing and storage area in the early 80s. Though I was in high school then and now cynical about what a lame boring park it was, that fire was a very sad thing to see.
From the roller rink, miniature golf, bumper cars, fun house (which seemed to always be blasting Boston or Van Halen), giant slide, turnpike, girls, arcade, beers... man I forgot how much fun I had at Whalom Park.

The Departed

We saw "The Departed" last night - the Martin Scorsese Irish mob movie set in Boston. It had been getting some rave reviews and the city was buzzing when the production was in town months ago. I was really looking forward to it, so I was surprised how hard it was for me to get into at first. Between the Scorsese staples of a mobster voice over, tracking shots and Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter" soundtrack - I felt like I was watching somebody rip off a Scorsese movie. I was also initially distracted by all the "local boys" - Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg; as well as the non-locals doing their best Bahston accents. But the complicated, layered plot and performances quickly pulled me in. This is Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance as far as I'm concerned - he doesn't seem like a kid anymore. The cast is full of great performances from Damon, Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, and of course Jack Nicholson.
This is a remake of "Infernal Affairs", a 2002 Hong Kong flick that pits a mob informant working in the police against a cop undercover in the mob. The stakes are constantly raised and deciding who is really a good guy or bad guy is a whole lot of fun. The script crackles with some great dialogue. A very enjoyable film that I look forward to viewing again.

Lori Accepted for 2007 Boston Marathon

Lori got the big news this weekend - she's been accepted to run for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the Boston Marathon on April 16, 2007. She is very excited about this - as am I (but thankfully I don't have to run!).

Now the fundraising campaign kicks off. You can visit Lori's personal web page and help in her efforts to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund.
http://dfmarathon.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=186498&u=186498-146062217&e=783331703

Goodbye Crazy Apple Lady

Sue Gardner who played Sarah Jennings (better known as Crazy Apple Lady) in my award winning short film "We've Got Johnny" has passed away. Del and I found Sue actually speaking in the apple orchard we were going to shoot the movie in. She was going on and on about apple growing to a group of people who were there picking apples and Del and I looked at each other and knew we'd found our girl.

Sue was truly a one-of-a-kind and she will be remembered fondly through out all of PlasticVille. I'm starting to feel like the movie's I'm involved with are cursed. Sue died of ovarian cancer Sunday Sept 17. You can read her obituary here.

Goodbye Daniel Smith

Anna Nicole Smith's 20 year old son Daniel died suddenly Sunday in the Bahamas while visiting his mom in the hospital. I can't imagine what she's going through; on Sept 7 she gives birth to a baby girl then on Sept 10 her son dies sitting in her room. Looks like the investigation into this will drag out for awhile.

I met Daniel and his mom on the set of "Illegal Aliens" almost exactly a year ago. He was a pretty quiet kid and kept close to Anna's entourage but we did speak enough to make it obvious he was a decent and smart guy. He was on the set anytime his mom was, looking out for her, making sure things were funny and light. He even hung out with Larry The Lizard at the wrap party.

I always expected "Illegal Aliens" to get lots of attention. Exec Producer John James and Director David Giancola have been all over the news and were even on "Larry King Live" last night along with Joanie "Chyna" Laurer, but not for this reason. "Illegal Aliens" will now be dedicated to Daniel Smith and here's hoping that Anna and all Daniel's family and friends can laugh again soon.

Boston by Foot

Today Lori led a weight-loss talk and walk through Boston that I tagged along for and it was surprisingly fun. It was very cool to actually stop and pay attention to all the things I ignore while trying to drive in Boston. Normally, the only thing I'm focused on is open parking spaces. We did a two-hour walking tour of the Back Bay and South End, learning about the history of each neighborhood and some of the many cool pieces of architecture. This is first time since I was a kid that I did any sort of tourist thing in Boston. There were so many little architectural details and stories I didn't know, it felt like we were visiting some other country. Boston By Foot put the tour together and I highly recommend doing one. They have a special Halloween tour we might do this year too.

Lori Featured in Local Paper

Mrs. AF Grant herself is featured in today's Littleton Independent. Check it out
http://www.townonline.com/littleton/

Turning the tables on living overweight
By Betsy Levinson/ Staff Writer
Thursday, August 31, 2006

Lori Grant was a typical Boston-area single girl. She worked in an IT department of a high tech company in Burlington, and loved meeting up with friends after work and on weekends for a few beers and some buffalo wings before going on to a steak house.
"I was in my mid-20s, and I just overate like everyone else," said Grant. "Pizza, Chinese, Mexican, huge portions, I ate it all because it tasted good."
But Grant spends more time in her Littleton living room now, writing a book and working on a new business brochure for her many clients.
Grant lost over 100 lbs. a few years ago and has turned success into a business that offers one-on-one coaching for those wanting to lose weight. It doesn’t matter to Grant what the cause of the weight problem is, she can advise anyone on how to live in a healthier way because she has made the long, tough journey herself.
She lost nearly 70 lbs. at one point, and met her husband, although she immediately ballooned up again, gaining more than what she had lost.
"I was just the opposite of most brides," said Grant. "I gained weight before the wedding."
In a year and a half after the wedding, she put on 100 lbs. She loved cooking for her new husband, and the two enjoyed getting together with friends, never giving a thought to her weight.
"It was our hobby," she said. "We ate. I was actually feeling horrible, but I was very good at ignoring it."
Grant said she yo-yoed up and down for a few years until the day she applied for a visa so she and her husband could take an adventure vacation in Africa.
"I looked at my picture and it was an epiphany," she said. "I cried for three hours."
The next day she joined a gym, and signed up at Weight Watchers, and over the next year and a half, lost over 100 lbs. and regained her health.
When she reached her goal, the couple took a trip to Katmandu to climb and hike in the mountains.
She is now trim, and super-conscious of whatever she eats, scrupulously reading the nutritional information either online or on food labels. She eats a "ton of vegetables," and keeps an eye on portion sizes.
"I had to relearn how to cook healthfully," she said.
She became a Weight Watchers group leader, but still longed to counsel people on a more private basis. So with a friend from Weight Watchers, Grant opened The Coach Approach, and even though they are dissolving the company next month to pursue individual coaching, the two still agree on the basics of weight loss: watch what you eat, and exercise.
Grant said she doesn’t care what program a client follows as long as the underlying issues for overeating are addressed.
"The key is to do what works for you," she said.
She is thinking of calling the new coaching business "Always Your Weigh." In addition to one-on-one coaching, Grant will offer free workshops at various work sites geared toward "getting people to make changes."
"I go to where they are," she said, describing her weekly visits to a client’s work or home for a weigh-in and a discussion of the problem areas.
"It’s completely confidential," she said. "Clients get what they need." She will, for an extra fee, go to the supermarket, even make a home visit to restock the fridge and shelves with healthy foods. She is developing a tele-coaching service to provide phone sessions.
"I have changed my whole life," said Grant. "I love adventure travel now. I walk every day. I am planning to run the Boston Marathon next year. Everything is different now."
For more information, call 978-549-4279 or visit www.mycoachapproach.com.

Homer Wins!

We learned today that Homer is a winner in the Boston Globe Pet Photo Contest! Woohoo! Now that I'm an award winning photographer I can quit my job and travel the country with Homer; taking photos, selling books and prints, meeting fans... it's gonna be sweet!

Oh, what? This just means Homer's photo is going to be in the Sunday Globe tomorrow as part of a glossy book cover insert? Well, that's cool... but... damn; guess I still have to go to work Monday. At least Homer doesn't.

Homer's had quite a weekend already. Lori was letting him outside into the backyard yesterday afternoon and he bolted right out the door after something. All of sudden Lori spots two deer in the yard too. A fawn and a doe with Homer chasing them, suddenly the doe stops and turns on Homer, chasing him away in his own yard. The only portion I caught was when the doe gave up on Homer and turned to run off into the woods with her fawn. I look out in the yard and see the deer running to the left, while Homer is stilling fleeing for his life to the right. All the while he didn't even let out a bark. Such a brave boy.

Why Learn Anything?

One of the very few things I remember learning in the third grade was that there are 9 planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. It was just a stone cold fact, no doubt about it. We even made dioramas, models and pictures to prove it. I figured someday more planets might be discovered, but I never thought we would lose one. This week The Federation of Evil Scientists (or some such group in charge of deciding reality) declared that Pluto is no longer a planet. I'm just dumb founded. Is this some money making plot by the science text book publishers? What else did my teachers deceive me about? Maybe 2 + 2 doesn't equal 4 after all!

What in the world can console me after losing a planet! D'oh, of course. Another season of The Simpsons is around the corner. And this year's premiere features Metallica! Check it out Sunday, September 10, 2006 on Fox.

And the other big news in Metalli-land; Metallica's whole catalog is finally available on iTunes! Here is official announcement.

Lori Survives Falmouth Road Race

We were in Falmouth Ma on Cape Cod today so Lori could run the 34th Annual Falmouth Road Race. This was Lori's first race of any kind and her goal was pretty much not to be laughed off the course. She more than succeeded, finishing the 7 miles in 80 minutes and felt fine during and after the run. Though she joked about coming in last ever since she agreed to fill in on Team Cutting Edge for someone who had to drop out after registering, she actually came in 7,421st - far from last in the field of over 10,100 runners.

Lori was so in the zone, that she didn't even look our way as she passed me and my mom cheering her on just shy of the finish line. She was even overheard stating that is was easier than she feared and she could have done it faster. So on to her next goal of the Boston Marathon in April 2007.

KISS Fans Demonstrate at R&R Hall of Fame

Many people have been sending me links to various articles covering the protest by KISS fans at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. A couple hundred fans demonstrated in front of the Hall this past weekend, demanding KISS be inducted - they've been eligible since the late 1990's. Far as I'm concerned they shouldn't be inducted into anything except the Marketing Hall of Fame since they continue to tour with new band members pretending to be Ace and Peter. Today KISS is just the world's most over priced tribute band.

Wow, and Gene Simmon's reality TV show "Gene Simmon's Family Jewels" premieres tonight on A&E. This is the show Gene's been pleading for since he first heard The Osbournes got picked up by MTV.

Coincidence?

"Illegal Aliens" Download

Entertainment Tonight premiered the teaser for "Illegal Aliens" last night. They didn't show it in its entirety, but now you can see the whole thing anytime you want! Edgewood Studios has posted the clip for the whole world to enjoy. Check it out.

"Illegal Aliens" Teaser Set To Air

Found out today that the "Illegal Aliens" teaser has been picked up for air on Entertainment Tonight!
Tonight's broadcast will air only part of the teaser - a little preview for tomorrow night's (Thursday August 3rd) full showing! So be sure to try and tune in both nights.

Since ET is syndicated, you will have to check your local listings for network and airtime info. Later this week the teaser will be available at Edgewood Studios.

Lady In The Water

Lori and I saw "Lady In The Water" today and we both liked it very much. There have been many films this summer I wanted to see but this is the first I actually made it to since I've always enjoyed M. Night Shyamalan's films. Even "The Village" which really pissed me off with its "trick" ending.

"Lady" is an ancient fairy tale dumped into a current day apartment building. Paul Giamatti, doing another fantastic job, is the building superintendent trying to figure out the pieces to make the fairy tale come true and return the Narf he finds in his pool back home.

Along the way he, the other residents and the audience try to figure out who serves what role in the story. There are some enjoyable scenes and insight into the writing process courtesy of the resident film critic who spells out all the obvious roles. This isn't a straight horror film, as some of the ads make it seem, and it certainly isn't a kiddie intended fairy tale either - blurring that line is part of what made Disney drop this project when it was just a script. They were also very concerned with having a film critic character who might offend film critics.

While everyone around the globe seemed to agree the "The Sixth Sense" was amazing, Night's follow ups have split audiences and critics alike. I'm sure "Lady In The Water" will do the same. I really enjoy the slow, quiet brooding of his stories. "Unbreakable" is one of my favorite movies ever, but I've heard many complain that they thought it was completely boring. Lady won me over from the very opening when the myth of the water nymphs and man is first told. I really enjoyed it, there are some laughs, some scares and some chills. In short, it was fun and that is my only goal in seeing a movie.

Poor Homer

Our beloved dog Homer looks like someone punched him in the face. He's got a big shiner under his right eye. It just showed up today, can't tell if it's some sort of bite, allergic reaction or if he picked a fight with a coyote or fisher cat (saw one of those for first time in my life in my own back yard this week, freaky looking).

Was rereading Stephen King's "On Writing" this week in preparation for an online fiction writing class. The book is sort of a personal class in writing direct from Stevie. Anyway, it got me and Lori talking about our favorite Stephen King short stories and we both said the one where a guy is attacked in his apartment by a group of little green army men.

Low and behold, tonight on TNT as part of Nightmares and Dreamscapes miniseries - "Battleground", that very story brought to life. It was very cool and the only hour in television that I know of completely void of dialogue. But really, what is there to say when your at war with a bunch of green plastic army guys?

Oh, and things are getting exciting in "Illegal Aliens" land. The modern film masterpiece is still scheduled to be unleashed this fall and a teaser may soon be hitting the air waves. I've started a page recapping all my previous posts regarding "Illegal Aliens" production, I'll be adding more news as it is available.

NFL Harasses Fan

It's been awhile without any posting action. I got hit with a nasty computer virus earlier this month and couldn't do anything for a few days. Had to eventually bring my PC into the shop for professional help and even they commented how embedded and difficult to remove it was. Then I got busy with a few screenplays I'm working on... and blah blah blah, I didn't end up doing a damn on the web for awhile.

Time to fill you all in on the latest chapter of The National Football League picking fights with it's fans. Amongst the pile of mail waiting for me upon returning from Peru in May was a FedEx envelope from the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton. I don't do any business with that firm so figured it was just some junk mail come-on and it stayed at the bottom of the pile for some time. When I finally did open it, the contents gave me a great laugh. They were complaining about my "unauthorized use of NFL trademarks" across my website. It went on to say they wanted a confirmation that I would remove all advertising or all NFL trademarks by May 17, 2006. That was only a day away from when I was reading this letter, so needless to say, I didn't confirm a damn thing. The funniest thing was that they included "Exhibits A & B" - printouts of my website, just in case I wasn't familiar with myself I guess.

Then today I got another letter; stating that they first wrote to me in February (these guys aren't very skilled with a calendar) and that they didn't receive a response by May 17th as they had requested. Check out the bit of law they want to hang me for "...prohibits any person from using, without authorization, a registered trademark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any good or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive."

So I ask you citizens of the world - have you been confused or deceived by visiting afgrant.com? Have the photos and tales of my experiences at New England Patriot football games and Super Bowls caused you to click on some google ad or banner in some twisted state of delirium? If so, I apologize.

I thought being an NFL season ticket holder might give me the right to share my experiences. Guess I've been having non-league-sanctioned thoughts again. The gang at Debevoise & Plimpton reminds me that this "remains a serious situation" and they urge me to contact an attorney.

So if you're a hot shot attorney looking to make a name for yourself by protecting an NFL fan from the NFL, get in touch with me at af@afgrant.com

Red Sox vs. Lost

The two hour season finale for "LOST" is tonight. Sweet! Can't wait. But we're gonna miss it. For the only thing I'd even consider missing it for - we've got tickets for the Red Sox vs Yankees tonight at Fenway. So I will have to shun all media, people, phone calls and email until I've gotten my chance to watch the finale around midnight tonight. The "American Idol" finale is tonight too, but I don't give a shit about that since my bald rocker Chris got the boot. I think the winner of that show loses in real life due to the recording contract they end up in. Contestants who just make it close to the end seem to end up with better careers.

"24" wrapped up a great season Monday night with possibly the best ending ever. Jack Bauer captured by the Chinese who were after him from the previous season, the very reason he had to fake his own death and disappear. Very cool. The next season's "worst day ever" could start just minutes after this season ends. Did you catch the "24" intro for "Family Guy" Sunday night? That was classic.

The soon to be blockbuster motion picture comedy, "Illegal Aliens", is wrapping up post-production and headed for a September release. I've been assured that Larry The Lizard's cameo has not ended up on the cutting room floor, but I forgot to inquire whether my fine thespian skills have been cast aside yet.

While I was off in Peru stories began surfacing about Anna Nicole Smith being pregnant. I just want to go on the record right now and let you all know that neither Larry nor I had anything to do with that.

Slowly Recovering

Hard to believe, but the sun actually came out late yesterday afternoon here in Massachusetts. We hadn't seen it since getting home from Peru and I'm told it had been raining since last Monday. The rain has stopped, but last night our water damage expanded rapidly. Nothing major, the only obvious loss is a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting, but the water is still seeping in. Seeing life along the Amazon, where the river can rise and fall up to 45 feet each year, was perfect timing before this New England flooding. Reminds me how fortunate we are to only have to deal with soggy carpeting.

I'm finally caught up with 24, Lost, Amazing Race, and Survivor. I've almost made it through my 1,000+ emails and still have a pile of unread mail. Can't believe how many people still use snail mail.

Larry The Lizard's Peruvian Adventure is now posted and more will be added on this site later this week. Somehow Larry always gets his pictures posted before I manage to. If you are just starved for entertainment, I've uploaded all 1,133 pictures to Shutterfly. Shared albums can't hold more than 250 pictures - so there are a few albums you can visit:
Amazon #1 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #2 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #3 (133 Pictures)
Machu Picchu (250 pictures)
Cusco (239 Pictures)

Back From Peru

A dozen boat rides, nine flights, eight hotels, five bus rides, and two train trips later - we're back home after two weeks in Peru. Our time spent high up in the Andes after the Amazon was sick. Real sick. Like altitude sickness kind of sick.

The first night and morning was gross. After landing in Cuzco, Peru (11,300 feet above sea level - twice that of Denver Colorado), it took a few hours for the headaches to start. They got progressively worse until it was a 24 hour migraine with nausea, loopiness and shortness of breath. It felt like the worst hangover ever and we were worried this was how we'd feel for the rest of our trip. We decided not to pursue a white water trip we had been considering - good choice because the river looked lame as hell in the parts they let tourists raft. It all subsided on the early morning train ride to Machu Picchu, which is 2,000 feet lower than Cuzco. That was enough to let us acclimate to the altitude and we felt fine for the rest of the trip. We just had to get used to the shortness of breath and Lori being loopier than normal.

We had two days at Machu Picchu, the first day was bright and sunny and the second was cool and misty. It was great to experience it under both conditions and being able to hang out without the masses of tourists who take the train/bus trip just for the day. We did three different hikes around the site then returned to Cuzco for a couple days on our own.

Cuzco is a really cool city, all the buildings are built on 500 year old Inca foundations. The combination of Inca, Spanish and modern architecture is pretty wild and the area is full of tourists from all around the world, with American definitely in the minority. We did find the best Pisco Sours and I even got to dine on a fine roasted guinea pig. Mmm... that guy was cute and delicious.

Many more details and photos will be posted eventually. Peru has a ton more things to do and is definitely on our travel list for a return trip someday.

Live From Lima

Buenus dias! Checking in from downtown Lima Peru to let the world know that despite aborted airplane landings, pirahnnas, millions of bugs, a visit to a shaman, a wild boa, pounding rain, and lots of local drinks -- we´ve survived a week in the Amazon. And never has an a region of the globe taken so strongly to Larry The Lizard, all the guides, staff, and children on the Amazon loved Larry. Everyone except the monkeys, who live in absolute horror of lovable Larry. We only had to share the jungle lodges with one other couple, Kevin & Lynn, who live 30 minutes from us up in New Hampshire but we had to travel to the Amazon jungle to meet them.
Today we catch a flight (maybe?) to Cuzco and spend 4 days in high altitude near Macchu Pichu.
Adios amigos -- AF & Lori

Off to Peru

We are off to Peru! We've got eight days of exploring the Amazon and then we'll head up into The Andes to check out the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. Along the Amazon we are staying at a series of different jungle lodges. The newest one says it has electricity and Internet access, so I maybe be able to send out an update from deep in the rain forest. I'll be sure to let you know if I successfully evaded the candiru -- the tiny barbed fish that can swim up into and become enlodged in your urethra. For anyone who flunked biology, that means it swims up into my penis and makes a home. Not cool.

We'll be gone for two weeks, and while you might think this is your chance to come steal my priceless collection of KISS memorabilia - think again! Our house sitter is quite the gun nut and may even be a meth addict. We'll have to be extra careful ourselves when we come back home.

Things are looking very good for "Illegal Aliens." The movie is finishing up its post production and interest is high among multiple distributors. Looks like a late summer theatrical release. As soon as I know any more, I'll pass it along.

Adios

Check out Lenise

A quick plug for Lenise Soren, one of the most charming, beautiful and talented actresses I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She kicked ass in "Illegal Aliens" (sorry, still no news on a release date) and is destined for greatness. She's on "Eve" tonight. I've never seen the show but I can't resist a good lesbian story line.

Watch Lenise Soren playing Brenda Cortland the GUEST STAR on the hit Sitcom EVE this Thursday, April 20th, 2006 at 9PM on UPN.
Lenise plays the Ex-Lesbian Lover of Ali Landry's character Rita (the totally hot Dorito girl from the Super Bowl commercial from a few years back.) Rita's best friends/business partners convince her to come back into Brenda's life and it all climaxes in a sizzling Latin Dance!

Check out the EVE website for a VIDEO SNEAK PREVIEW of Lenise's Episode!
http://www.upn.com/upn_video/insider/index.php?page=nav&cat=4&chap=14778

Beyond Structure

Spent the weekend in New York City at a writing seminar; David Freeman's Beyond Structure, and it was fantastic. Two, 10-hour long, intensive days of writing techniques and lecture that amazingly didn't put me to sleep once. The days actually flew by. I think that is the best compliment I can give the class. I recommend it for anyone serious about writing fiction - be it for film, plays or novels. David's lectures/rants went far beyond writing into philosophy, religion, artistry, the meaning of life... my brain is so full it hurts.
I had originally signed up to take it in Boston last month, but it was cancelled. I don't think I would have looked into the class seriously if it hadn't been offered in Boston, so fate must have wanted me in NYC. The other students were a wide variety of professional writers, actors and directors as well as a number of newbies who've yet to write a thing - plus plenty of retards like me in the middle.
Even met my latest personal hero, Charla. She works for Hit Parader (among other things) and even used to date Paul Stanley. Could a woman be any cooler?

NFL Update

Well, I finally called the NFL corporate office today to see what sort of fight they were looking to pick with me. Spoke with their Assistant Counsel who told me they were concerned with some of the links on my website. She said, while they are supportive of fan sites, they were concerned with sites that had commercial links. I don't think there are any websites without some affiliate banners, google ads etc on them these days. She just kept saying they were "concerned" and asked me to remove the ad links from this particular page.

I told her I was not inclined to do so, and that quickly ended the call. I could have easily deleted the links and been done with it, but their request really rubs me the wrong way. I'm not about to give up my freedom of speech because it concerns the NFL. Hell, I've already got an ongoing dispute with the Patriots, mine as well take on the whole league. Maybe they'll punish me by taking away the Gillette Stadium Club Seats that the Patriots scammed me into.

Just adds to an exciting upcoming season. By the way, the 2006 NFL regular season schedule gets announced tomorrow.

NFL Lawyer Scam?

Is there some sort of email scam making the rounds, claiming to be from lawyers representing the NFL? Most email I get through this site is spam, porn, and requests to help families of various dictators get money out of their country.
Now I've received email asking me to call an attorney who represents the National Football League (allegedly). I'm not sure that being contacted out of the blue by any attorney is ever good news, but hearing from some corporate attorney via email seems very fishy to me. Any organization with half-a-clue could easily find my address and phone number and contact me in a more lawyerly fashion. Maybe I'm in the running to be the new NFL Commissioner?

At The Movies

Been catching up on movies this past week. Finally saw Murderball; the Oscar nominated documentary on quadriplegic rugby. It is a great flick - funny and moving. It tracks a few different players and coaches for years. This should have won the Academy Award (in my humble opinion). March of the Penguinswas a good documentary and all, but I always thought it was a very traditional nature documentary. Take a standard animal story, throw in a Morgan Freeman voice over and market the Hell out of it. I'd rather learn about interesting people like in Murderball, or even Grizzly Man, than an interesting penguin.

Also watched The Island, the Michael Bay action flick that bombed in the theaters last summer, but whose basic idea I always thought was cool. The idea of clones not knowing that they are clones, and escaping. It was a lot of fun. At times it felt like nothing more than Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson running for hours - but overall fun and enjoyable.

Which I can't say for Fever Pitch. Lori and I were both horribly disappointed by this movie. I don't know why anyone who wasn't a Red Sox fan would even watch it. I thought it was pretty boring, and quite unfunny. Even the stuff at Fenway Park and with the Red Sox just felt very flat. Maybe if the Sox hadn't have won the World Series, it would have been a better film.

Yesterday we watched C.S.A., an independent film that is available OnDemand with cable and is in some theaters. IFC is doing this now with their new releases and I think it's awesome. For $6 we could watch a brand new movie instead of heading into an art house theater in Boston trying to see it. C.S.A. stands for The Confederate States of America, this fake documentary imagines the world if the South won the Civil War - er, I mean the War of Northern Aggression. It covers history right up until today and includes lots of fake commercials and promos within the movie. Bitingly funny, and scarily true at the same time.

Finally, today we actually went to the theater and saw Inside Man. I can't remember going to the theater since King Kong opened. Inside Man is very good; a traditional heist film with some twists, some New York humor, and a couple cool camera shots courtesy of director Spike Lee. I was most interested in the film because it was written by a first time screen writer. This was his first completed script, and it was sold and produced. That is quite a feat, one that I am trying to accomplish as well.

That's It, I'm Outta Here!

With so many Red Sox and Patriots' players fleeing New England lately, we've decided to bolt too. Not forever, just for our next vacation. We've finally nailed down the next adventure. In May, we are off to Peru - for a week in the Amazon and then a few days at the Lost City of the Incas; Machu Picchu. Now, we just need to learn Spanish in a month. Maybe Larry The Lizard already knows it.

Say It Ain't So Adam

What is going on with my beloved New England Patriots? Adam Vinatieri gone!?! To the Indianapolis Colts? I'm gonna puke! And now the Patriots are talking to Mike Vanderjagt. The only thing more disgusting than seeing the best clutch kicker in NFL history walk away is replacing him with Vanderjerk, the kicker hated even by his own team. I hate the modern NFL. Fans are just expected to root for whoever is in the uniform.

I was prepared for David Givens to leave. He's been solid, but I knew someone would pay more than the Pats would. Everyone knew Willie McGinest was gonna get cut over salary cap issues - but he was supposed to resign with us for less. That's how the Pats have been working for years. And his loss is personal. His family sits in our section. Who am I gonna hang out with now after games if Big Willie's folks now spend their weekends in Cleveland.

But now, no more Adam? The highest scoring Patriot ever. The kicker of the Best Kick in NFL history at the Snow Bowl against the Raiders! He could easily win a run for governor of any New England state. Hell he could win them all simultaneously. How can he walk away from all of those who worship at the altar of his foot.
Plus we haven't signed a single of our own free agents. Tim Dwight, gone. Christian Fauria, gone. What's next - Troy Brown joining the Jets? Crap, think I'll just take up bowling.

The only guy left from the core group who had been with the team since the 1996 Super Bowl is now Tedy Bruschi. And we've only got one receiver worth a damn - Deion Branch (for one more season at least).

OK, deep breaths. Remember THREE Super Bowls.... most teams self destruct after one... in Belichick we trust. In Belichick we trust. In Belichick we trust.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Metallica inducted Black Sabbath into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night in NYC. VH1 will be airing the 2006 Induction starting next Tuesday March 21, 2006. Sabbath didn't play, so Metallica ripped through "Iron Man" and "Hole in The Sky" for them. Also inducted this year; Blondie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Miles Davis (what?!) and the Sex Pistols who blew the whole thing off. Something Ozzy always said he would do, but didn't.

Queen and Paul Rodgers

Caught Queen + Paul Rodgers Friday night at the DCU Center in Worcester Ma. Went to the show with pretty low expectations. Wasn't counting on much more than a decent cover band since this was really just two members of Queen (Roger Taylor and Brian May) and Paul Rodgers (lead singer for Free, Bad Company and The Firm over the years), but I had never seen Queen and wanted to check it out. My low expectations were easily blown away, this tour was much bigger than I expected. The stage had a center ramp coming halfway out into the crowd and an impressive lighting grid that made it seem they were planning on hitting some major stadiums. And no opening act! The best way to win me over.

After a blistering version of "Tie Your Mother Down" and then "Fat Bottomed Girls" it was clear this was going to be a great show. Rodgers didn't always look comfortable doing the Queen songs, especially "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites The Dust", but I'll give him credit for not just trying to do a Freddie Mercury impersonation. The band seemed most relaxed and having fun doing Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Bad Company". They even did a new track that they wrote together called "Take Love" which was a decent classic rock sort of tune.

Drummer Roger Taylor did a lot more singing than I ever knew he did. He was the lead vocalist for "I'm in Love With My Car", which I didn't even realize was by Queen - it is currently in some car ad on TV. He also stepped down from behind the drum kit for another song later. Brian May did multiple solos and some lead singing as well. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was pretty cool. They combined the live band with Freddy Mercury on the video screens playing piano and singing then joined by Paul Rodgers on stage for a weird but moving video karaoke performance. The encores rocked with "We Will Rock You". Have sung this many times at sporting events but it was very cool to finally do it with live band. And it was a blast seeing Rodgers do his hit from way back when with Free, "Alright Now" and it felt surprisingly awesome to sing "We Are The Champions" with Queen... well most of .. I mean some of Queen. Oh and Paul Rodgers.

Set List:
Intro - Beautiful Day
Reaching Out
Tie Your Mother Down
Fat Bottomed Girls
I Want To Break Free
Take Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Love Of My Life
Hammer To Fall
Feel Like Makin' Love
Drum Solo
I'm In Love With My Car
Guitar Solo
Last Horizon
Bad Company
Can't Get Enough
Another One Bites The Dust
Dragon Attack
These Are The Days Of Our Lives
Radio Ga Ga
The Show Must Go On
Bohemian Rhapsody
----------------------------
We Will Rock You
All Right Now
We Are The Champions

More Photos from "Illegal Aliens" Screening

Here are a couple shots from the event in NYC on March 1. Interest is high and a summer release looks likely. As soon as there is a solid date I'll let everyone know. Here are links to even more photos from the mayhem at Tribeca Cinema; Worldwide Entertainment News Network, WireImage, FilmMagic, and more on Anna Nicole Smith from Entertainment Tonight.

"Illegal Aliens" Takes Off

The "Illegal Aliens" event last night in NYC was a big success. A fifteen minute teaser of the film packaged as "Top Ten Reasons We Love B-Movies" was screened to an enthusiastic audience of media and potential distributors. It went over so well that it was shown a second time later in the evening due to popular demand. My shiny dome was even spotted a couple times on screen.
The amount of press outside the Tribeca Cinema was amazing, seemed like there was more press than audience at one point. Anna Nicole Smith was scheduled to attend but her appearance at the US Supreme Court on Tuesday took a heavy toll on her and she was forced to just send her regrets for not making it. Seems her camp had some security concerns following the heavy paparazzi presence at the Supreme Court.
Lots of my fellow crew members did make it as did other members of the cast including Kevin McGuire, John James, Woody Keppel, Dennis LeMoine (Dennis reminds me of Will Ferrell and is someone to keep an eye on) and one of the three Illegal Aliens, Lenise Soren. Lenise is another name to remember, she is one of the most gorgeous, classiest actresses I've ever met. Lots of buzz fluttering around her and a potential role as Wonder Woman.
The queen of the night was certainly Mz. Joanie Laurer (aka Chynna), who started the day off with an appearance on Howard Stern's show. She is just hilarious in her role as Rex, the villain of the film. This should really be a break out role for her. As soon as I approached Chynna after the screening she looked me up and down and asked "Well, where is he?", referring of course to her good friend Larry The Lizard. Larry and Chynna really hit it off during production of Illegal Aliens back in the fall of 2005. It was rather difficult to explain to Chynna that Larry couldn't make it because he was in China. Larry's actually been in Beijing China for a couple weeks, but he'll be home soon.
I've seen stories on the film on Access Hollywood, The Insider and Entertainment Tonight so far today. ET will be running another piece on Anna Nicole and Illegal Aliens on Friday's show.

Spotlight on "Illegal Aliens"

Today was Anna Nicole Smith's big day before the US Supreme Court and tomorrow is the big unveiling of her movie Illegal Aliens in New York City. It isn't the premiere of the full film yet, just a private screening of a teaser for it. Tomorrow morning co-star Joanie "Chynna" Laurer and director David Giancola will be on Howard Stern's show on Sirius radio. Lori and I are both headed down for the Wednesday night festivities.
A full report will follow - unless someone buys my silence.

Assorted Cool Stuff

A Few odds and ends from the last week. Found this great Comic Book Creator software that lets you easily create comics (or graphic novels if you want to sound important) with your own photos, screen grabs and clip art. It has a free trial version, then is under $20 for full version. This means the long awaited Larry The Lizard comics will soon be a reality. Speaking of Larry, don't miss his latest adventure; China!

Best new band name in quit some time -- Morningwood, led by a cute chick no less Check out the video for Nth Degree. It is pretty cool, puts the band into lots of classic album covers.

Fun with movie previews: Suspense thriller version of Sleepless in Seattle. New feel-good version of The Shining. There are lots of Brokeback Mountain spoofs out, like Brokeback To The Future and my fave Star Wars: The Empire Brokeback.
Four Word Film Review The name says it all.
And this loser was featured in the Boston Globe recently, didn't do much for me but maybe you'll be a fan. www.itsjerrytime.com

The Buzz Builds for "Illegal Aliens"

Edgewood Studios has posted lots of publicity photos for Illegal Aliens. This is the movie I worked on back in September 2005 that features Anna Nicole Smith and Joanie Lauer (aka Chyna). There are two clips from the movie that you can now check out.
IA even got a mention in Liz Smith's New York Post column this week:
http://www.nypost.com/gossip/liz/liz.htm

ANNA NICOLE SMITH and Joanie "Chyna" Lauer will preview 15 minutes of their coming big-screen epic, "Illegal Aliens" at Tribeca Cinemas on March 1. They are looking for distributors. The film is being described as " 'Charlie's Angels' goes sci-fi with a touch of 'Men in Black' thrown in. High-energy action, lowbrow spoofs and high-camp." Next year, come the awards season, we are sure to be talking about it . . .

Online Biz Ops

With the demise of the New England Patriots I've been looking for something to fill my empty life and I've found it. The magical money making programs of the Internet known as Autosurfs and HYIPS. Autosurf programs pay you to browse websites. You can start out by putting in as little as $5, but the more you put in, the more you earn for each day of surfing. There are tons of these programs and many are scams, but I've found a few that I've been using for the past couple weeks that are paying and have good stable reputations. HYIPS are high-yield investment programs. The idea is that you invest through a website and large pools of money are put into risky stock and currency trading. Is that really what they do? I don't know and don't care as long as they pay out. Consider it more like gambling than investing and don't risk more than your comfortable losing and you'll be fine. It's actually quite addictive watching my account balances grow each day. Some of the Autosurfs I'm using just need a PayPal account, while others need StormPay, e-Gold, or other payment processors - all of which can be opened pretty easy. I read of an FBI investigation into e-Gold. It may be a little too easy to open an account with them and it seems to be a favorite tool of terrorists and drug dealers, so I've avoided using it and some programs like 12dailypro have dropped support for it.
I learned most of what I've found out at eProfitTeam.com. You can sign up for free and learn about these and some other ways to make some money online. I'll keep my pages updated with how I'm doing.

End of The Road For Patriots

Well the Patriots quest for a third consecutive Super Bowl is over. The Denver Broncos beat them last night, 27 - 13. Actually the Patriots beat themselves ( plus a little help from a horrible call from the refs) with five turnovers, and bad plays by their most consistent guys like Troy Brown, Tom Brady and Adam Vinatieri. But the game was a fun, emotional roller coaster - as was the season. I was one of many who gave them up at mid season when they were 4 - 4. They overcame a tremendous amount of injuries last year and then had even more this year, not to mention the loss of their long time offensive and defensive coordinators. It was just too much to overcome. Not too much to make a successful season, just too much to make it to the Super Bowl. Which really just points out to all of us New England fans who've gotten so spoiled, what this team has done in the last 5 years is amazing. And they've taken a year off in between Super Bowl wins before anyway. They'll be back.

A Million Little Lies

Time to chime in on the controversy over James Frey and his autobiographical rehab story "A Million Little Pieces". I've been recommending it for months and can't believe how often I've seen this on the news and in the papers over last couple weeks. I first heard of it on Oprah back in the Fall. I bought it read it loved it. Lori read it friends read it all loved it. Gave more copies out as gifts and bought the sequel "My Friend Leonard" for Lori at Christmas.

Many times while reading "Pieces" I thought, No way did this happen, and If this was a script I'd stop reading, if it was a movie I'd walk out. But it was a true story so I read on and loved it. This story proved truth is way stranger than fiction. When The Smoking Gun first came out saying Frey made up lots of shit in the book I didn't really care. I still enjoyed the book and knew there had to be exaggerations, there were two many details of days 20 years ago and these were memories of an alcoholic and drug addict. Of course it couldn't all be proven to be 100% accurate. All this stink came to light this month while I was reading My Friend Leonard and it has affected it. First this book just isn't as good as "Pieces", there were even more times I said to myself - I don't believe for a second this shit happened - much of that before this story hit the news.

I finally read the full investigation at TheSmokingGun.com and now the only thing I really believe in the books is that he is a shitty screenwriter. In "Leonard", Frey writes of years of trying to write books and screenplays and how they all sucked. Now we find out he tried to sell "Pieces" as a work of fiction and publishers all passed, then he made some changes and called it his non-fiction memoir and the rest is publishing history. He says in his books repeatedly, I am an alcoholic, a drug addict and a criminal. That is code for lying sack of shit who can only write cliche ridden melodramatic crappy movies.

NFL Playoff Time

Sweet! It's football playoff time again and the New England Patriots dynasty continues as they try to make it to their third consecutive Super Bowl. While I certainly expect them to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars tonight at Gillette Stadium, I do think it will be a closer game than most others are saying. The "no-respect" underdog card has always been well played by the Pats and it could help the Jags this year. The temperature will be in the 20's tonight, but no snow is forecast so I doubt the weather will be much of a factor.

UPDATE: Well that was surprisingly easy. The Patriots sent the Jaguars home with their tails between their legs after a 28 - 3 thrashing. Next stop is Denver Saturday night and if Pittsburg beats Indy on Sunday the Patriots will host the AFC Championship the following Sunday.

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2005: The Year That Was

Well Happy 2006 to all you web geeks. I'm not big on making resolutions but I do enjoy looking back to see what I've done that I had no expectation of doing.
In 2005 Lori and I made it to Belize and Guatemala and later in the year went sick at Cedar Point Amusement Park. I took the Action/Cut Directing seminar, worked on two shorts, and two features (even did some bad acting); Zombie Town and Illegal Aliens. Zombie Town will be released soon - you can check out the trailer here. The movie I was part of last year, Chaos Unlimited, was completed and released. Well released to a handful of people anyway.
I finished my first script early in the year and my second one in November, which is currently being shopped around. Larry the Lizard did his big model shoot.
We saw the World Champion Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and enjoyed the continuation of the New England Patriots football dynasty - plus the amazing story of Tedy Bruschi who suffered a stroke in February and was playing football again in October. We applied to be on The Amazing Race, but heard nothing. I took part in National Novel Writing Month, but came up short. Saw some great movies (Sin City, King Kong, 40 Year Old Virgin), great concerts (System of a Down) and I even ended up stirring up some shit with my reports from the set of Illegal Aliens. Quite a year.
What will happen in 2006? Who knows, but it will start with another Patriots playoff run and it better include a cool trip to some crazy location. Plus I've already got three more scripts in development and Illegal Aliens should get finished.