9. "Bad Girls" Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 3x14 by Douglas Petrie (4/5)
Shooting script
10. "Conversations With Dead People" Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 7x07 by Jane Espenson & Drew Goddard (4.5/5)
White script draft, before Tara's role was changed (due to a scheduling conflict) to the character Cassie for shooting.
Check out scripts for all the episodes of Buffy at BuffyWorld.
One year ago on TTaT: Disorientation
Technorati tags: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, shooting scripts, Buffy scripts, Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson, Drew Goddard
30 January 2008
29 January 2008
Thirty Year Old Jock-Thug
When I was thirty, I was that scruffy adult in hole-covered jeans who shot hoops at the playground. I tried to hit the park on its off hours, i.e., before school let out, but it turned out that space was so limited in San Francisco that a nearby school used the public playground for recess.
Myriad grade schoolers, toddlers, and young moms swarmed the small playground, but the basketball hoop was free, so I forged ahead. I missed a lot, but gradually I was able to tune them out some with the pounce of the ball on the pavement, the interior rubber echo, the shake of the backboard. Then class 203 left, and it got a bit quieter. My shooting groove improved some but not much. Didn't matter.
The toddlers' moms were all congregated at a series of benches in the corner. They were all about my age, and I vaguely wondered if any of them wanted to play. Didn't seem like it.
After a while I attracted the attention of a 2-3 year old girl. Old enough to be walking around without much trouble but not talking so much as squeaking communicatively. She really liked my basketball and wandered onto the court. She had a small orange balloon of similar color. I wasn't up for the trade she non-verbally proposed, but she didn't mind; we were silent compadres.
Myriad grade schoolers, toddlers, and young moms swarmed the small playground, but the basketball hoop was free, so I forged ahead. I missed a lot, but gradually I was able to tune them out some with the pounce of the ball on the pavement, the interior rubber echo, the shake of the backboard. Then class 203 left, and it got a bit quieter. My shooting groove improved some but not much. Didn't matter.
The toddlers' moms were all congregated at a series of benches in the corner. They were all about my age, and I vaguely wondered if any of them wanted to play. Didn't seem like it.
After a while I attracted the attention of a 2-3 year old girl. Old enough to be walking around without much trouble but not talking so much as squeaking communicatively. She really liked my basketball and wandered onto the court. She had a small orange balloon of similar color. I wasn't up for the trade she non-verbally proposed, but she didn't mind; we were silent compadres.
27 January 2008
Habits are not always glitch free
Senior year, high school:
The bell for 3rd lunch had just rung, but thanks to some creative scheduling, I was done for the day. I went to the locker I'd used 5 days a week for the previous 3 academic years, and I couldn't get it open. I tried the combination over and over, my cheeks burning hotter and hotter as classmates around me opened their locker doors and slammed them shut. I just wanted to go home, but I needed my physics text and notebook from my locker. This is what I get when I stop carrying everything around in my backpack all the time.
Within 10 minutes, the hallway was empty: everyone was at lunch or in class. I took a breath to calm down and tried my combination again. And again. Spinning in the other direction. And again. Just to be certain I wasn't making a stupid mistake, I made sure I was at the right locker: 317, that's it.
The combination had always been easy for me to remember because it was made up only of digits from the locker's number. I gave the dial a cavalier spin (as was my custom), and then very carefully turned the dial clockwise to 31, a full revolution counterclockwise and on to 17, and then clockwise to 1. I reached down to the latch and gave it a hard pull, and then another, and another. The familiar metal clangs reverberated down the hall, but the door still wouldn't open.
My biology teacher from 10th grade leaned out her door and asked, "What are you doing out here?"
Defeated, I said, "My locker won't open."
"Mrs. Noyes can help you with that."
"Oh, thanks."
I really didn't want anyone else to know about my locker problem, much less ask for help with it, but I didn't have much choice. My old teacher waited for me to start down the hall before returning to her class.
When I got to the office, Mrs. Noyes was at lunch. The secretary covering the phones couldn't help me, so like any stricken, impatient teenager would, I found Mrs. Noyes enjoying her lunch outside with colleagues and interrupted. Quite rightly, she told me I'd have to wait until lunch was over.
Though it was a beautiful autumn day outside, those next ten minutes felt interminable. Being exceptionally hungry did not help.
When Mrs. Noyes finally returned to her desk, she looked up my combination: 37-11-1.
I shook my head and said, "I think I was transposing two of the digits."
"Well, if that doesn't work, come on back and I'll get the key."
"Thank you."
Heading back to my nemesis, I could not fathom why I would've misremembered the combination after all those years. I stared my locker down for a moment, unable to face one more defeat.
Right- 37, left- 11, right- 1. The latch lifted easily, as though it had no memory of the trouble it'd caused me. I grabbed my books and went home.
One year ago on TTaT: Making life easier
Technorati tags: lockers, trouble with locks, memory glitches, combination locks
The bell for 3rd lunch had just rung, but thanks to some creative scheduling, I was done for the day. I went to the locker I'd used 5 days a week for the previous 3 academic years, and I couldn't get it open. I tried the combination over and over, my cheeks burning hotter and hotter as classmates around me opened their locker doors and slammed them shut. I just wanted to go home, but I needed my physics text and notebook from my locker. This is what I get when I stop carrying everything around in my backpack all the time.
Within 10 minutes, the hallway was empty: everyone was at lunch or in class. I took a breath to calm down and tried my combination again. And again. Spinning in the other direction. And again. Just to be certain I wasn't making a stupid mistake, I made sure I was at the right locker: 317, that's it.
The combination had always been easy for me to remember because it was made up only of digits from the locker's number. I gave the dial a cavalier spin (as was my custom), and then very carefully turned the dial clockwise to 31, a full revolution counterclockwise and on to 17, and then clockwise to 1. I reached down to the latch and gave it a hard pull, and then another, and another. The familiar metal clangs reverberated down the hall, but the door still wouldn't open.
My biology teacher from 10th grade leaned out her door and asked, "What are you doing out here?"
Defeated, I said, "My locker won't open."
"Mrs. Noyes can help you with that."
"Oh, thanks."
I really didn't want anyone else to know about my locker problem, much less ask for help with it, but I didn't have much choice. My old teacher waited for me to start down the hall before returning to her class.
When I got to the office, Mrs. Noyes was at lunch. The secretary covering the phones couldn't help me, so like any stricken, impatient teenager would, I found Mrs. Noyes enjoying her lunch outside with colleagues and interrupted. Quite rightly, she told me I'd have to wait until lunch was over.
Though it was a beautiful autumn day outside, those next ten minutes felt interminable. Being exceptionally hungry did not help.
When Mrs. Noyes finally returned to her desk, she looked up my combination: 37-11-1.
I shook my head and said, "I think I was transposing two of the digits."
"Well, if that doesn't work, come on back and I'll get the key."
"Thank you."
Heading back to my nemesis, I could not fathom why I would've misremembered the combination after all those years. I stared my locker down for a moment, unable to face one more defeat.
Right- 37, left- 11, right- 1. The latch lifted easily, as though it had no memory of the trouble it'd caused me. I grabbed my books and went home.
One year ago on TTaT: Making life easier
Technorati tags: lockers, trouble with locks, memory glitches, combination locks
24 January 2008
Bullet time
As soon as I typed that title, it occurred to me I wasn't sure I knew how to make bullets, but let's just forge ahead and see what happens.
- If you're in the LA area or NYC, go see THE AIR I BREATHE Friday night.
Sure the film features Forest Whitaker, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia, Sarah
Michelle Gellar, Emile Hirsch, Kevin Bacon, and Julie Delpy, but I want you to see it for William Maier. A friend of mine is in a movie with Buffy; I believe he gets his ass kicked by Andy Garcia- how cool is that? I'm so proud of him.
I really want to see the film, but for it to come anywhere near my sleepy burg during its broader release on Feb 8th, it needs to do well this weekend.
The venues listed below are taken from the film's Myspace Page blog. Double-check locations and find screening times via theater links there.
VENUES FOR JAN 25th:
LOS ANGELES:
1) In LA: Laemmle Sunset 5 Theater **Q&As WITH DIRECTOR JIEHO LEE AND CO-WRITER BOB DEROSA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT AT SUNSET 5**
2) In Pasadena: Laemmle One Colorado
3) In Irvine: Regal/Edwards Westpark 8
4) In Burbank: AMC Burbank Town Center 6
5) In Orange: AMC 30 at The Block
NEW YORK CITY:
1) AMC Empire 25 Theater (Midtown)
2) AMC Loews Village 7 Theater (Downtown)
Rest of the Country (Will open on Feb 8)
1) PORTLAND: Regal Fox Tower
2) SAN DIEGO: AMC Fashion Valley 20
3) SAN FRANCISCO: Sundance Kabuki Theater
4) SEATTLE: Regal Meridan 16
5) CHICAGO: AMC Piper's Alley 4
Other cities will be added as well, but are not confirmed yet --the more people see it the first weekend, the more theaters will be added, so please tell a friend. - Hmm, that first bullet could've been a whole post.
- Suzanne Pleshette died earlier this week. I always loved her gravelly voice. At 70, however, she was only ~2 years older than my parents which I find a bit unnerving.
- Heath Ledger: I first read about his death in a shared blog feed and thought/hoped it was some poor joke until I checked the google news page where the story of his death was the apex.
He was younger than me which I hadn't realized, and that really bummed me out. I've been a fan since he screamed my name in Roar. - My sinuses have been kicking my ass this week. Been nauseated the past couple days, even threw up yesterday. Had ginger ale and saltines for breakfast today and even that felt like pushing my luck. Ready for a weather change.
20 January 2008
Sette
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (4.5/5)
When my friend Bradley recommended The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay to me some years ago, I developed a notion that it was a graphic novel, so when I picked up the 600 plus page book from the library, I was daunted. It sat on my shelf for a while unexamined, but once I started reading, the pages passed quickly.
It is, if not The then certainly, A Great American Novel: an epic, to be sure, spanning the years 1939 to 1954 with a few fluid dips into the deeper pasts of the Jewish cousins Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay. In 1939, artist Joe escapes from Czechoslovakia to New York City where he meets an ambitious Sammy. The two young men team up to get in on the golden age of comic books while Joe struggles to bring the rest of his family over, a constant reminder of World War II.
The Pulitzer Prize winning book deftly transported me to times past. The writing is lush, funny, at times heart-breaking, and poignant. Don't be daunted.
Technorati tags: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon, review
When my friend Bradley recommended The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay to me some years ago, I developed a notion that it was a graphic novel, so when I picked up the 600 plus page book from the library, I was daunted. It sat on my shelf for a while unexamined, but once I started reading, the pages passed quickly.
It is, if not The then certainly, A Great American Novel: an epic, to be sure, spanning the years 1939 to 1954 with a few fluid dips into the deeper pasts of the Jewish cousins Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay. In 1939, artist Joe escapes from Czechoslovakia to New York City where he meets an ambitious Sammy. The two young men team up to get in on the golden age of comic books while Joe struggles to bring the rest of his family over, a constant reminder of World War II.
The Pulitzer Prize winning book deftly transported me to times past. The writing is lush, funny, at times heart-breaking, and poignant. Don't be daunted.
Technorati tags: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon, review
19 January 2008
DailyLit
Have chunks of public domain books emailed to you for free from DailyLit. As they say on the site:
DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail. DailyLit currently offers over 400 classic public domain titles that can be subscribed to and read in their entirety for free. ... Readers can choose how often and at what time they want the e-mails sent to them (e.g. every weekday at 6:30am). Books on DailyLit can be read any place that a reader receives e-mail, including on a PDA, Blackberry, Trio, etc. Each installment of a book can be read in under 5 minutes, and if a reader is done with a particular installment, a reader can receive the next installment immediately in his/her e-mail Inbox.
What a cool idea for the busy person on the go. You can search for books by category, title, or author. Some popular free titles are listed here.
Note that they also offer more recent titles for a price; these are well marked.
Ooh, I just noticed that you can also subscribe to books via an RSS feed. Sweet.
Two years ago on TTaT: 4 years, hot flashes, and meds
Technorati tags: DailyLit, books by email
15 January 2008
Traction
It's been on my mind lately, this idea of traction in life. Without it, any time you're knocked down, you're left scrambling on a super slick obsidian surface. If you're lucky, you're not on an incline. At least, that's how I imagine it.
Too much traction, you'll be stuck in place. Too little, and you won't be able to step forward without falling.
I suppose it amounts to experience and confidence, and in some arenas, mostly networking. Although it sometimes feels like I've had no traction in my adult work life, it's not strictly true. I just didn't like the traction I was finding because advancement opportunities were glacially slow (along with salary increases), not what I wanted to do anyway, and once dependent on dealing with a sexist idiot coworker who delighted in trying to make me look bad.
I just want a little traction to give me some direction, a bit of footing for that first step, but I reckon direction has to come first.
Two years ago on TTaT: Tagged
Technorati tags: traction, goals
Too much traction, you'll be stuck in place. Too little, and you won't be able to step forward without falling.
I suppose it amounts to experience and confidence, and in some arenas, mostly networking. Although it sometimes feels like I've had no traction in my adult work life, it's not strictly true. I just didn't like the traction I was finding because advancement opportunities were glacially slow (along with salary increases), not what I wanted to do anyway, and once dependent on dealing with a sexist idiot coworker who delighted in trying to make me look bad.
I just want a little traction to give me some direction, a bit of footing for that first step, but I reckon direction has to come first.
Two years ago on TTaT: Tagged
Technorati tags: traction, goals
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