My introduction to the rock band, Kiss

Back in 1978, I had a friend come over to my house, very excited for me to hear a new album that was out by a new band of clown rockers called, Kiss.

I was an insufferable rock snob about it and refused to let him bring into my house, a band that dressed like clowns. At the time, I was very into bands like Jethro Tull, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac's Then Play On album (I wasn't nuts about most of their other stuff), T Rex and Tommy Bolin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, etc. Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, and others; but mostly I was into serious guitar music. Also acid rock, and what I called "Heavy Metal" back then, but once it turned into a commercial production machine, I stopped listening. I was into a wide variety of music as I've mentioned before, classical, swing, blues, blue grass, reggae, etc. I loved Leon Redbone, for instance and had I known about him, I would have loved Tom Waits. And there are others that break the mold for me in my tastes. And, classical guitar, Segovia and others; blues, BB King and others; all serious players.

So when an acquaintance, younger than me, came over to my house all excited to show me the new Kiss album, I took one look at the clowns on the cover and turned my nose up. In retrospect I am not much a Kiss fan. I am actually, a bit of a fan of Gene Simmons, in a way.

I love his reality show with his family, Simmons Family Jewels. They are entertaining and Gene has some very good business savvy.

But my point in bringing this up is, that once I later, listened to Kiss, I was surprised and realized I shouldn't have turned away the guy that was so excited. It was two forms of music colliding in my driveway. But his wasn't that bad really, I was. I tried to be more open minded in the years following. What I should have done was let him play it for me. I should have been more understanding to someone very excited about something I may not, in the end, have been into. But my comment was, you're not bringing that into my house and not playing it on my Yamaha turntable.

What a jerk.

Eating Fetuses in China for Health reasons?

This is pretty hard to look at. So if you are of a delicate nature, skip this specific blog article today. I almost did, but then, I felt I had to let people know about this.

Yes, apparently some eat aborted fetuses for health effects in China. A "different" kind of Ancient Chinese Medicine, I guess, certainly not any of the type I've ever heard of before.

This, is not social myth, from what I can see in these photos. What I've read about it, sounds true. Remember, that this is a basically non Christian, non religious society (for the most part, or at least from State mandate) for many years. They see things differently than we do. They are more pedantic about things, than emotional, or religious. We need to consider this not only in judging, but also apply it to ourselves and ask where, we are being merely religious, immature, or unrealistic.

I say that because when you see something of this order of magnitude in change from your own personal and nationalistic orientations, you have to step back, you have to ask yourself, re-evaluate things. You may not agree with this, but you may then, in your own self re-evaluation, see something in a related, or even unrelated area, and it may lead to a change for the better. Whenever we find something like that, we need to make use of it. But perhaps you cannot see what I am saying here?

I can only warn you, not to look at this, if you are of a delicate nature. This is information freely available on the internet, there is no age consent to find this, so I have no issue blogging about it. I had never heard of this before and when I hear of something that is that far from my knowledge, I feel a need to share it with others. At least, to make it available to those who are curious, or seek to know Humankind in all its contexts. Especially, if its a current, ongoing phenomenon.

Here are a couple of articles to read what I read, and a video of photos that pretty much say it all. Its pretty disconcerting, so be aware of what you are about to see.

Article: Aborted Babies Sold As Health Food

Article: Cannibalism in China is acceptable if for health reasons

Video:

Emilie Autumn

Like Kate Bush gone insane, this lovely world class violinist and singer (writer, composer, choreographer, etc. extraordinaire), bring ordered, sexy, chaos to her stage shows. This describes Emilie Autumn's stage show (along with her merry, sexy band of "Bloody Crumpets"), pretty well, I think. Indeed. When on stage, she essentially invites you into her home, or her "asylum". Chosen by Interview Magazine as one of their “14 Artists to Watch.”

What is this about? Check this out.

With a very sexy stage presence, and a message of "we are all different and its okay", much like Lady Gaga with her little monsters and all about how being different is okay, Emilie Autumn is a very articulate, well read and, apparently, well educated, woman. Don't get me wrong, she's no Lady Gaga. That is to say, she's far more accessible, she's quite attractive, hot really, and plays a mean fiddle. She calls her type of music, VictorianIndustrial or violindustrial. I've always had a penchant for various types of industrial music. Asked about being Goth, she said that she has banned black from the stage, so she's not sure how people think she's Goth. However, Emilie has also been in Gothic Beauty magazine. And she's a beauty all right.

Oh, and she has a very loyal fan base.

From Wikipedia:
"Emilie Autumn (born in Malibu, California, on September 22, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and violinist who is best known for her wide range of musical styles and her use of theatrics.[1] She began learning the violin at the age of four and left regular school five years later with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist; she practiced nine hours a day and read a wide range of literature. Progressing to writing her own music and poetry, she went to the Colburn School of Performing Arts, and then Indiana University's Music Conservatory, which she left over issues regarding the relationship between classical music and the appearance of the performer. Through her own independent label Traitor Records, Autumn debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo in 1997, followed by 2002's supernaturally themed album Enchant."

"After appearing in singer Courtney Love's backing band on her America's Sweetheart tour and returning to the United States, Autumn attempted suicide after having an abortion and was kept on suicide watch in a Los Angeles mental hospital. After being released, she had her cell block number tattooed on her arm as a way of remembering what had happened to her. She released the 2006 album Opheliac with the German label Trisol Music Group. In 2007, she released Laced/Unlaced; the re-release of On a Day... appeared as Laced with songs on the electric violin as Unlaced. She later left Trisol to join New York-based The End Records in 2009 and release Opheliac in the United States, where previously it had only been available as an import. Currently she is working on an upcoming album entitled Fight Like a Girl."

First of all, Emilie herself in 2009 called for her "muffins" or "Asylum Rats, (fans), and her "Asylum Army" (hardcore fans), a mission to, as she put it, "Fuck up" her wikipedia page, because its the "only way to fight wrong information". Hmmm...oh well.

First some conservative songs. on Piano doing "Yoshimi battles the pink robots". Here she is playing fiddle at the Celtic Show.

A day out with Emilie Autumn part 1

A day out with Emilie Autumn part 2

Here she is being quite normal on HGTV Crafters TV Show. She is showing you how to make great fairy wings. But that's not all, then she shows you how to make great sushi (one of my favorite things). One has to wonder if any of the viewers watching this show, have any clue as to what her day (okay, night) job is.

Like an erotic Alice from Wonderland, she is an advocate for hanging in there when things seem impossible, and for better understanding of difficult mental states as well as the Mental Health culture around the world, getting their act together. She is a self proclaimed asexual, indicating a lack of sexual attraction, and being on bipolar medications, its understandable and they can leave one with a flat affect in many areas of ones personality. Her and her female troup's (called Asylum Girls) bisexual antics on stage are a bit over the top, but its all in rather light fun and mostly for release from social pressures from what I can tell. A release in the way of relaxing the stress that culture puts on some. And that is understandable, when you consider her history.

She has had her spell of mental hospitals and events related to an unbalanced mental state, when she was younger. She has taken those experiences and presented them to her audience through her art and music, in a way saying, 'yes, this kind of thing exists, I've been there, but I'm still here; there is hope'. What this leads to is an understanding by her fans of what those parts of real life, of some of their realities, in areas that are seldom understood or even talked about.

Emilie takes her attractiveness, presented in a warped Victorian way to offer up her music in a way that is well played, in a humorous and erotic presentation; but with a light touch, evoking more brash and defiant attitudes allowing her audience to "let their hair down", to be a bit wild, while still requiring a sense of decorum and good behavior. When audience members get to the point of interrupting her show, she pulls them back and shuts them down in a way that is both entertaining and productive.

In listening to her interview, included below, you come to understand she is an advocate for good mental health, but more so, for good help, from loved ones of those going through mental and suicidal issues, and the professional mental health community, world wide. It seems her experiences were quite negative in how people related to her, how she received anger and even abuse from those she least expected to receive it from. And as she says, you'd expect to see a completely different behavior from those closest to people having problems like this. She also said that much of what she is saying is from Victorian times, and how hopeless things were for certainly, some women, which is reflected in songs of hers such as Marry Me and Thank God I'm Pretty.

She has written a book about it. She has albums of music exemplifying it. Her shows portray the results of her experiences, but in a way that is entertaining and productive to her fan base who love hear dearly, and know all her songs and the lyrics to the point that fans in other non English speaking countries, may know no English, but know all the English lyrics to her songs.

Bottom line, if your teen daughter has been having issues and she wants to go to one of Emilie's shows, I would say let her, you have far more serious issues to worry about and this can only give her a positive outlet for something you may be finding difficult to handle yourself. And as Emilie herself has pointed out, this isn't only about young girls, anyone can have issues where life is simply too much to handle. Sometimes, you only need to give yourself the license, to lighten up, change your life, make things workable for you and it may not always be in a way that the authority in your life may agree with. But you have to survive. Isn't that what is paramount, after all?

Aside from the title of some of her songs like The Art of Suicide, her message is quite different than you might think and really is Life Affirming and oriented to living, to not killing oneself when times seem so impossible.
For my money, I find her quite intriguing and an interesting light in a dark cave that most of us have not had touch with, until it was too late.I speak from experience, to say that when you are in the situation with a child who is having problems, who is contemplating suicide, you have moved from the position of pitcher to catcher. If you continue to try to throw the ball in the direction you wish things to go, you will most likely, like the rest of us have experienced, lose.

Rather than try to mold the person at that point, you need to find out who they are, what they need, and give them the most positive environment possible to achieve who they need to grow into being. Because, for the most part, the symptom is the result of growing up one way, and trying to fit into an environment that is insane for them. The beginning of fixing the situation, has to do with, letting them become sane.


From what I've seen, frequently, this has been an issue in the part of the parents, in one way or another. Its not to lay blame, but to say that sometimes, there is just no way to understand, how things have changed and how to make them better. The one thing that is absolutely true, is that continuing to do things in the way they have been done up to that point, is indeed insane, only, on the part of the parent then.

If you find Emilie's sexuality, banter, playfulness to be challenging, it could be that these are the least of your concerns at this point. To Emilie, its only a way to allow herself and her fans to simply relax, be who you need to be, have fun with it, make fun of it. Step outside of things, outside of your world, and say, "See? Life, can be pretty great, pretty easy, pretty fun."

Emilie's web site says, "Welcome to the Asylum". Its just an admission really, of where it can feel things are, and sometimes, that is the beginning of finding your way out of the Asylum. She has her book available on there for $75 with incredible artwork, although, it seems its sold out for now; which perhaps, says something in itself.

This, is an incredible woman. She has for instance, taken a very dark period in her life and literally turned it into a stage show that is life affirming, energizing for her fans, and truly has a very high quality of sound and creativity.

I'm truly impressed.

Studio music: Thank God I'm pretty; Marry Me; Opheliac (title song to her album and a direct reference to her Victorian thoughts); and Rose Red.

A Live show taped by a fan:  Misery Loves Company

Another fan recorded show: I want my innocence back

Shredding on her fiddle at The Key Club in Los Angeles, 10/25/09

Interesting interview by Interviewer/Researcher: Evi Hoste. An unusual, in depth and by the Artist, a quite appreciated Interview.

Finally, Emilie's "Dominant" song, fan dance.

The 100th Monkey Effect

I got this from Wikipedia, as it states most clearly what I wanted to say, I'm just copying it here for your examination:

"The story of the hundredth monkey effect was published in the foreword to Lawrence Blair's Rhythms of Vision in 1975. The claim spread with the appearance of Lifetide, a 1979 book by Lyall Watson. In it, Watson repeats Blair's claim. The authors describe similar scenarios. They state that unidentified scientists were conducting a study of macaques monkeys on the Japanese island of Koshima in 1952."

These scientists purportedly observed that some of these monkeys learned to wash sweet potatoes, and gradually this new behavior spread through the younger generation of monkeys—in the usual fashion, through observation and repetition. Watson then claimed that the researchers observed that once a critical number of monkeys was reached—the so-called hundredth monkey—this previously learned behavior instantly spread across the water to monkeys on nearby islands.

Michael also mentions this story at the end of his documentary, only he says it is a coconut, rather than a sweet potato.

The effect discredited

An analysis of the appropriate literature by Ron Amundson, published by the Skeptics Society, revealed several key points that demystified the supposed effect.

Unsubstantiated claims that there was a sudden and remarkable increase in the proportion of washers in the first population were exaggerations of a much slower, more mundane effect. Rather than all monkeys mysteriously learning the skill it was noted that it was predominantly younger monkeys that learned the skill from the older monkeys through the usual means of imitation; older monkeys who did not know how to wash tended not to learn. As the older monkeys died and younger monkeys were born the proportion of washers naturally increased. The time span between observations was in the order of years.

Claims that the practice spread suddenly to other isolated populations of monkeys may be dis-proven given the fact that at least one washing monkey swam to another population and spent about four years there. It is also to be noted that the sweet potato was not available to the monkeys prior to human intervention.

This may be a social myth, but it does exemplify a point. One of critical mass. When some things reach a critical point, it can suddenly explode across the board. Change can suddenly happen. You can put up with something as status quo, then when you least expect it, it can change, bounce 180 degrees. Be aware of it. Notice, when it happens, was it explainable, something building to a point of change? Or, was it unexplainable, and something that was building, then suddenly tips the scale and appears to be far more than it every appeared to be.

Meeting Roddy McDowall at Seattle's Cirque Dinner Theater

I don't remember what got me on this topic, but I met Roddy McDowall once a long time ago. I met him in a large room, with a stage, in the Cirque Dinner Theater, in Seattle, WA. There were only the two of us there for a short time, just talking. 

As I remember it, it had to be the late 1960s but the only reference I can find for him playing Charlie's Aunt at the Cirque in Seattle is for 1975. But that can't be when I met him, because my younger brother died that year. And I remember him being much younger.

It was at the Cirque Dinner Theater in Seattle. It was not 1975. And that, is a conundrum.

Image from Xmoppet

He was performing in a play, a farce really, by Brandon Thomas, as the character, Lord Fancourt Babberley. The play was called Charlie's Aunt. The only date I can find for this, and its listed in several places, was on Tuesday, August 12, 1975. On September 9th, of that year, I entered the Air Force.

My mother had took my younger brother, Kim and I, to Seattle, to the Cirque ticket office, to pick up the tickets. It may have been the day before but considering that my brother died of cancer in June of 1975, I have to assume that my feelings that this event took place years earlier, has to be valid.

However, I cannot find documentation anywhere on a prior engagement. Its a conundrum. From what I can deduce, the cirque opened at the location we saw these plays at, in 1973. My brother died in 75 and was already getting sick in 74 if not sooner. So we had to have seen Charlie's Aunt in 73 (or, possibly, 74) but I can find no indication of the play having been staged other than in 1975 but I remember our being much younger. Like I was in junior high and my brother in grade school. I remember him being much shorter than at the end of his life. So I'm thinking the late 1960s.

So, strange....

Roderick McDowall (sometimes written MacDowall) was a British actor. He was born in London to a family enthusiastic about the theatre, and made his first film appearance at the age of ten. It was as Huw in How Green Was My Valley (1941) that he made his name, and he appeared in many other films as a child actor, including The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) and some of the Lassie series, where he appeared opposite the young Elizabeth Taylor.

McDowall was one of the few child actors to continue his career successfully into adulthood, but it was usually in character roles, notably in four of the five original Planet of the Apes movies (1968-1973). Other film appearances included The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974). He also appeared on stage and television.

I had found a program saying Vincent Price, another of my movie idols, was also in it, but Roddy McDowall was the biggest star I remember from seeing the play, that night in Seattle. It's possible that perhaps, Vincent Price was ill, and we may have been disappointed, but I do not clearly remember if that is true, or not. What an event it would have been, had Price also acted that evening. Still it also supports my belief we saw this play years earlier, even in a different decade.

Price played Stephen Spettigue on August 12, 1975, in Seattle, and elsewhere on March 16 to April 10, 1976, and May 10 to June 26, 1976.

On another evening, I saw Keenan Wynn in a play there, directed by his son, on the night that I first got engaged. After the play, Keenan sat on a chair, on stage, for a question and answer period. His son spoke, saying his father was partially deaf, but he would transfer questions so he could hear what the audience was asking. This too, was a very pleasant evening. But that is a story for another time.

The Cirque opened in 1950 and had several incarnations at different locations around Seattle. On February 16, 1969, Seattle's Cirque Playhouse closed "permanently" after 17 years in the Central Area. Limited parking and an increase in street violence in the neighborhood had cut attendance. After two years of putting on summer shows in Port Townsend and for the Seattle Parks Department with a core of six loyal actors, it reopened as a weekend dinner theater in the Georgian Room of the Olympic Hotel (4th Avenue and University Street) in March 1971.

In 1973, the Cirque moved to a remodeled bowling alley at 131 Taylor Avenue N where it became the only professional dinner theater on the West Coast. By 1975, the Cirque had staged 225 shows featuring actors such as Sterling Holloway, Edward Everett Horton, John Carradine, Mercedes McCambridge, Hans Conreid, Ruta Lee, Eve Arden, Bob Cummings, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn and Roddy McDowall.

I had never been to the Cirque before and my mother was busy talking to the ticket agent at the front counter, just inside the front doors. I saw that there were some double doors open, and bored, I wandered through them. As I was entering them, I realized it was the dinner/stage area and I wanted to see the stage. So I walked into that area.

From Charlie's Aunt

I turned right and I was looking at the stage. Standing at the stage, leaning over, his elbows on the stage as he gazed at the proscenium, possibly thinking about the performance, stood, Roddy McDowall, smoking a cigarette.

He felt someone behind him, and he turned around. We looked at one another. I saw no hint in his eyes of like, "Oh no, another fan" or anything like that. He was as nice as can be. He walked over and put his hand out. We shook hands. We talked for a couple of minutes, before my mother walked in with my little brother.

I had the chance to tell Roddy McDowall how much his movies had meant to me over the years. I couldn't say enough, fast enough, but he got the point. He couldn't have been more gracious and humble. He thanked me for my words, in a completely heartfelt and affected way. I told him we were there to get tickets to his play and we couldn't wait to see it. Then my mother walked in and they talked, perhaps shook hands, by that time I was so stunned, I cannot remember anything beyond my stepping away from McDowall.

I haven't met all that many famous people. But if you ever think of the scene of someone meeting a long time idol and being disillusioned by it, this was the exact opposite of that. I was charmed, grateful, and continued being a big fan.

For more, check out this fan site.

So, I've written a screenplay

I have mentioned before, my "HearthTales" screenplay. Or, "The Hearth Tales". I them both titles, but I've called it by the former for so many years now, well, I don't know.... I last mentioned it here on November 18th. Since I've pretty much finished it, as much as any screenplay is ever finished anyway, I'm now looking for someone to produce it. It's a process.

So, what does one do about that? I don't have an Agent, or Manager, or an Entertainment Law Attorney. Those are all something I need to start looking into, however. I've just been so busy writing and building a catalog that my work that, well, there wasn't much time for that, till now.

Anyway, the screenplay has come together very well. This isn't my first screenplay, just my last project. I am already six months into a treatment for a screenplay titled, "America" that I've been working on with a producer in California.

As to my HearthTales screenplay, from the opening scene of Osama Bin Laden and a re-explanation of his death, through the dark and the light of it, to the ending ripe for a franchised type sequel, it's looking good. Yeah, yeah, you can talk a big story until it gets read. Every screenwriter, or novelist has written "the next big thing", if you listen to them. Well, I don't think it is the next big thing, but I have to have that attitude, at least in my head, don't I? I do know I would love to watch it in a theater (or okay, even on DVD) one day, even if someone else had written it.

So, what to do now? I could get some people together and shoot a short for it, kind of a teaser, or a short version of it. That's one option. It seems that's appreciated when you are trying to pitch a screenplay, so they have something cool to watch. Or, I could run the gamut of trying to attract an agent for it, or a manager for both of us writer and script, or try to hook the right Attorney. I could enter screenplay contests (it's already been through one and got a good review). Or, I can contact Producers and studios; actors, or get someone with a "name" attached that would definitely be a plus in a pitch meeting.

In a series of seminars I once took, years ago, famous Director Stanley Kramer once told us that to get a film made, you just do it. He said he got his first film made by going to the actors and saying that he had the studio and bank behind him; he told the bank and studio he had the actors, and the studio he had the bank and actors. So his one word summation? Lie. No, really, he said that, he said, "If I have to sum it all up in a single word, Lie. Lie to whomever you have to, but get it done."

But I have two issues with that. One, I don't like to lie; and two, I don't like to pitch. I hear all about it but really, I have no desire to. Take a meeting? Sure. But I feel about pitching like I do about contests, they are annoying and, well that about sums it up. They're annoying.

My biggest problem in life hasn't been talent or enamoring myself to someone, people seem to get along well with me for some reason. But dealing with business, money, forced networking? Well, I can do it, I just find it distasteful. There is nothing I dislike more than "selling" myself, in interviews for jobs, or whatever.

That is one of the things I really like about writing. You write, no one really cares about your history, they want to read your work and that, sells you. If you are great, you don't so much have to jump through hoops; not as much anyway. I mean yes, they do want to know you will continue to produce, that you can be worked with. That you can play ball, so to speak. I can do all of that... with my eyes closed.

But getting back to HearthTales. I have been trying to find a movie that is similar to it. See, in case you don't already know, Hollywood likes when you can say that your movie is like this or that other movie. I've tried to be fresh and different and guess what? If you do a good job of that, it's kind of hard to say there are other films like it. Lovely, right?

The closest I could come to recently was "The Hidden", for elements of people trying to stop a bad guy (an alien in this case, whereas my film has a demon).

The "House that dripped blood" (with, Christopher Lee). I remembered seeing "House...." when it came out. I found it very, very interesting.

But I was just sitting here watching Netflix and came across "Trapped Ashes". Interesting flick. Anthology horror movie like "Creepshow" or the old "Tales from the Crypt".

But rather than random stories from a comic book, or the "CryptKeeper" talking between scenes, mins has a frame holding the tales the characters tell one another. This "Trapped...." film is done pretty well and has multiple directors including Joe Dante, Ken Russell and others, each directing a storyline. They call the scenes in between, wraparound scenes; I call them a frame for mine. I think the word for each, more closely describes what they do for each film involved.

Cinemafantastique Online has an article on "Trapped...." that is very interesting. Cinemafantastique itself offers a few other similar films: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror. I've always liked these anthology, story in a story, or portmanteaux style films. Not as a steady diet to be sure, but once in a while it's fun to see something that takes you on a journey to multiple unrelated places, yet somehow is held together by a central theme.I guess it's the ADD in me that is attracted to it. But then, I should think our modern  "MTV" type brains also should like that.

So, since that film was similar to mine, it's not a bad idea to look at who produced that film, all the people involved, individuals to studios. So I took a look at the cast of producers and directors and it's a bit overwhelming. Here is what I found:

Production Companies

    Independent Film Fund (present) (as Independent Film Fund/CINV)
    Cinema Investment (present) (as Independent Film Fund/CINV)
    Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) (present) (as Tokyo Broadcasting System International, Inc.)
    Asmik Ace Entertainment (present)
    Elephant Studio (producer) (as Elephant Studio / Five Windows)
    Five Windows Productions (producer) (as Elephant Studio / Five Windows)
    11:11 Mediaworks
    Trapped Ashes

Directed by
Sean S. Cunningham         (segment "Jibaku")
Joe Dante         (story segments "Wraparound")
John Gaeta         (segment "My Twin, The Worm")
Monte Hellman         (segment "Stanley's Girlfriend")
Ken Russell         (segment "The Girl With Golden Breasts") 

Produced by
Dennis Bartok    ....     producer
Michael Frislev    ....     executive producer
Misako Furukawa    ....     assistant line producer: Japan
Yoshifumi Hosoya    ....     producer
Joe Ikeda    ....     associate producer
Akira Ishii    ....     executive producer
Yasuyuki Iwanami    ....     associate producer
Takahiro Maeyama    ....     associate producer
Masakazu Nariai    ....     co-executive producer
Shinji Ogawa    ....     co-executive producer
Daisuke Ooka    ....     co-producer (as Daisuke O-Oka)
Masayuki Sano    ....     associate producer
Yasushi Shiina    ....     executive producer
Norihiko Tani    ....     executive producer
Masayuki Tanishima    ....     co-producer
Hironori Terashima    ....     associate producer
Masao Teshima    ....     co-executive producer
Christopher Tricarico    ....     co-executive producer
Hirosuke Usui    ....     associate producer
Masazumi Watanabe    ....     co-producer
Yuko Yoshikawa    ....     producer
Yoshihiro Yuhki    ....     line producer: Japan (as Yoshihiro Yuki)

A lot to digest, right? Well, that is what I have to do now, I guess. I need to continue trying to attract an agent, find an agent or someone to advocate my screenplay, and continue working on my other screenplays and finish up my novel. I just finished it and I'm not in the editing stage.

Once that is ready to send off again, I'll have to start the process for the book also; possibly, write a screenplay for it. Now I had the book already in the editors queue at Knight Publishing, but I had pulled it in order to rework it. And, I'm so glad I did. Because I've taken it from an anthology book, with a concept that no one got, and rebuilt it into a concept and a novel of sorts. And I've made it much more accessible to the reader.

So the hard part is over, and the hard part has begun. You have to know how to write a screenplay and you have to have the talent for it, but then you have to sell it, three equal parts. Skill, talent, sales. None of it is easy, but in the end one can only hope that it is all rewarding.

Someone gave some good advice when they said that if you are writing screenplays (or novels for that matter) and you aren't doing it for the love and passion you have for it, you're in the wrong business. They also said, if you would continue doing it, even if you never sold a thing, then maybe you are in the right business after all.

I know that selling my writings has little to do with my need to write them. But it would be nice to get some notoriety and sales involved. Passion always goes better with benefits.

Happy New Year's!! Weekend Wise Words

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Now....

I've seen some mention online about how New Year's Eve is just another day, a random selection of one day per year to indicate a change in restarting the cycle of the rotation of the Earth around the Sun.

All true.

I've seen people talking about making New Year's resolutions.

I've seen people talking about not making New Year's resolutions.

 Where does that leave us?

New Year's is arbitrary? Or not? Resolutions are necessary, or not? Desired, or not? Useful or not?

We cannot avoid having a day during the year that the cycle starts over again. Its seasonal, we cannot miss it. It just happens. We note it. Some of us hang on to it like the last thread in a sheet being pulled off of us on our bed. We are looking forward to the new coolness, of Winter; or the new warmness, of Summer.

So we might as well all set a common date for this new beginning of the year where another cycle is beginning anew. We might as well all choose to acknowledge the same date each year where we can consider the end to an old cycle and the beginning of a new one.

So how should we acknowledge a rebirth of the seasonal cycles? Should we? As it affects us all so personally, and the changes are so vast in most places, I think we should. Why not? And if we are going to, we might as well make good use of it.

Should we make resolutions? Or not? Obviously, its up to the individual. But considering how many people don't follow through on their resolutions, then, what's the use? It just becomes a useless ritual serving no purpose. And that I think, is why many people think they are a waste of time. And I would agree.

So, let's have a New Year's Eve. Let's celebrate out the past year, and bring in a new one. I'm all for a party, community, and a reason to boost our intentions and hopes, desires and dreams. Let's take some time to think about what has happened over the past year since the last time we did this. Let's also try to make as much use of this as possible. Don't make a resolution, unless you are really going to stick to it. Don't even waste time thinking about it, unless you find it useful.

But at very least, take the time to celebrate your efforts and trials over this past year. Take some separate time to consider, just what your intentions may be for this coming year. Consider, just what you want to achieve? Think about what goals would you like to see through to the end.

When you are walking long distance in the middle of now where, much like traveling through time as we do, because really, we don't know where we are headed, and its so easy to miss your mark if you are not paying attention; then, pick a place far before you, and choose to make it to that marker. In the wilderness, you would choose a marker, a point before you that you can aim for, and if you veer off from it, you adjust your course and make for it again, more precisely.

So to, in our desires for the future, even if for only during the next year, you can do the same. But you don't have to make it a resolution, just a point in time where you can see if you are on the same path you have chosen for yourself. We need short turn goals, middle and long term ones. New Year's is an excellent time to choose your short term goals.

Look over your thoughts in a few months, at least, say at the 4th of July, while celebrating the birth of our nation, revisit these thoughts and see, are you on that path still? Have you changed it, if so, update yourself, but do so consciously. Too many of us just wander through Life aimlessly. We think we have a goal, a direction, but we just go to work, come home, kiss the family hello, eat, go to bed, get up, do it all over again.

Just be sure you know why, where you are headed and work to attain, only what it is you really wanted and if you still want it. Sometimes, you get off the path, for good reason. But in the back of your mind, you are still going for your original goal, so you find yourself conflicted without even knowing it.

And so, having at least one day a year, to evaluate your life, really, isn't a bad thing.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year and all the happiness that you can bring into your Life, to share with those you love, those you like, and all the rest of us sharing this world with you.