Mondays can be a bit rough. So I thought I’d offer up something fun. I’ve had this video for a while. Don’t actually remember where I got it from (or from whom) but it’s a ton of fun. Eric O’Shea is obvioulsy a standup comedian. This is him doing a bit of his routine. I think based on this small tidbit that it might be worth catching all of Eric’s show if the opportunity arrises. Eric has an interesting take on how to make commercials more fun. Enjoy.
eric_o_shea_-_tv_commercials
Archive for September, 2009
Something to Cure the Monday Blues
Monday, September 28th, 2009Mike Hanson (of Sha’Daa Fame) Gets Interviewed
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Mike Hanson (creator and Demigod of the Sha’Daa project) was interviewed as the first guest of a new blogtalkradio show: Sonar4 Mag Talk. The show aired on the web this past Sunday but you can still hear the entire interview on their web site. Mike dishes the dirt on the history of the Sha’Daa project and book and even answers the question of: “Boxer or Briefs.” I’m not sure how many of you wanted to know that but if you listen to the show, you’ll get the answer. Just plain fun and a nice job by all.
2 Minute Review: “Julie & Julia”
Monday, September 21st, 2009Don’t go see this movie if you’re hungry.
No, seriously, don’t go hungry. The movie will make you hungry. If you go in feeling even a little bit peckish, you’ll come out starving. It’s no wonder that now, after all this time, Julia Child’s cookbook has finally hit number one. After seeing this movie you’ll want to go out and do all of the recipes.
That said, it’s a fun little movie. Meryl Streep will definitely get an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Julia Child. Amy Adams got the short end of the stick because, despite a very good job doing her character, her character is nowhere near as fun as Julia Child. Besides, haven’t we all seen enough of confused, depressed, self-absorbed writers who start blogging in order to try and prove that they have something to offer . . . Hold on, wait a minute, that sounds an awful lot like . . . Naaaah, forget about it.
Anyway, a nice quiet film about finding yourself. As my brother-in-law said as we were leaving the theater (with just a hint of disappointment): “It was a good movie. Nothing blew up but it was a good movie.”
It was a good movie.
Sha’Daa Tales of the Apocalypse Gets Reviewed
Friday, September 18th, 2009Just heard from Mike Hanson (Sha’Daa creator) that “Tales of the Apocalypse” (in which I have a story) has been reviewed by Dark Scribe Magazine. And it’s a good review. I even get an honorable mention. Well, I get mentioned and the reviewer seemed positive about the story so I’m taking that as being an honor. In any case, it’s a step in the right direction. Very cool. If you’re curious about the review, click on this link to check it out for yourself.
We’re #37
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009Ok, like a lot of people I’ve watched in fascinated horror over the Health Care Debate. I used to take such things very seriously and would love to have an intelligent conversation with someone for, and with someone against, the new proposals. I have some questions. But it seems that the “inmates have taken over the asylym” and the crazies are only interested in yelling at one another. So, I’ve pretty much given up hope on any intelligent conversations as the cries of “socialism,” “death panels,” and “defending the constitution,” flies over my head. (Yes, the other side has their catch phrases as well but none of them are catchy enough to remember.)
So then I get an email with this link to a You-Tube video. This guy has made up a song about how “We’re #37″ and he makes a bunch of statements that I find interesting. In fact, I agree with him. So I thought I’d share it with you. It’ll be funny to some, sad to others, and infuriating to the rest. Which I guess is his point. At least I got a laugh out of it and it gave me something to post.
Enjoy
Sometimes Things Work
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009About two weeks ago I was contacted by a gentleman who (along with some friends) was starting up a new web site devoted to reviewing online short stories and print books. He wanted to know if I’d be willing to have my story: “A Box Full of Nothing” which was published on www.anotherealm.com reviewed. He said they wanted to review my story because they generally liked it and at least one reviewer loved that I’d written a Sci Fi story about a garage sale. He also told me that I could expect that the review would not be “grossly negative.” I teased him about that saying that: “if I won’t get a grossly negative review then I was there!”
Well, the review (and accompanying interview) has been published and to say that I was floored is an understatement. To quote the opening two paragraphs:
What do Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Ambrose Bierce, Damon Knight and Arthur Sanchez share in common? Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Ambrose Bierce, Damon Knight all had their work, or versions of their work, on the Twilight Zone. Arthur Sanchez’s work would fit right in.
A Box Full of Nothing by Arthur Sanchez is a good read and story.
Bottom line, as reviews go, it don’t get no better than that.
Now, to the cynical, this will appear to be a set up. Maybe there’s some Quid Pro Quo going on here? Maybe Arthur Sanchez is the mastermind behind this obvious attempt at self-promotion. But thankfully, for my ego at least, there isn’t. The guys over at http://independentpressreview.blogspot.com/ were free to write what they thought. I even told the Editor that I’d welcome negative comments so long as they were constructive. I want to know what didn’t work just as much as what did. I can use that feedback to make my future stories better.
Well, sometimes things work. Sometimes all the stars align and you do good. And when that happens, you don’t ask why, you just enjoy the moment. Because if the Universe stays true to form, I’m about to get slammed for writing a trite, cliché’d, piece of you-know-what any second now. It’s one of those Yin/Yang things. I expect it.
Anyways, if you’d like to read the review and interview, just go to: http://independentpressreview.blogspot.com/
Celebrity is as Celebrity Does
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009So, there Dustin and I are, taking our morning constitutional. It’s an extra long walk cause Dustin’s still fired up from having attended “Yappy Hour” at the Jollimon’s Bar and Grill the night before. The Dunedin Dog Rescue group had sponsored the event and a portion of the proceeds from certain drink sales were being donated to the group. (Dustin loved hanging out with the other dogs and listening to the live music.) In any case, we’re walking along when we come across one of our neighbors walking her two dogs.
The neighbor looks at Dustin, smiles and says: “Looks like we’ve got a pair of twins. Right down to the one floppy ear and one upright ear.” I look at her dog and sure enough she’s pretty similar to Dustin. “What is he?” The neighbor asks me. “Part Border and part Rotweiller?”
“No,” I said, “he’s part Shepard and part Collie.”
The woman looks at Dustin again, more intently, and begins to nod her head. “Oh, I see –” Then a frown crosses her face. “Do I know your dog?” I look at the woman. I didn’t know her so I wasn’t sure how she’d know my dog. “Was he on Petfinder.com?” She asks.
I nod my head. “He might have been. We adopted him a few months back from a shelter in Miami. They probably had him in the Petfinder database.”
She nods her head again. “Yeah, I think I was looking at his profile. He’s . . . What? . . . Eight years old?”
“Ten,” I correct her. “He was at the shelter for eight years.”
“Oh, my God, I did see his profile. I was thinking of adopting him. What’s his name?”
“Dustin.”
“It IS him! Oh, that’s wonderful that you adopted him.”
Turns out that this neighbor, whom I’ve never met before, had been looking for a dog for the past few months and had seen Dustin’s profile on Petfinder. She ended up adopting her dog just three weeks earlier from the local pound because it was her dog’s last day.
“We went in to look at another dog but then we saw her, and we saw that she’d be put down in the morning if nobody took her, we had to take her. She’s been a doll.”
“Yes,” I agreed, “so is Dustin.”
So what are the odds of that? Months after the fact and a five-hour’s drive from the shelter he was in and I run into a neighbor that not only knew Dustin’s story but had considered adopting him. And she recognized him from his photo. Of course, during this conversation Dustin has been introducing himself to the woman’s two dogs with the kind of polite sniffs that only dogs seem to enjoy. Obviously, he doesn’t take his fame all that seriously. As Forrest Gump would have said: “Celebrity is what celebrity does.”
