The fun has begun

Last year at Dragon*Con, I spent most of my time running errands for our show. Such is life for a producer. At least a lot of the stuff has gotten done this year, and I'm not standing in Lowes or Home Depot tomorrow trying to finish sets and props at the last minute.I might actually have time to enjoy myself this year--probably not until Monday morning again after our show. (I worry too much)I think we might actually go on closer to midnight this year instead of 2:30 am. So Rocky Horror at Midnight might actually happen.Speaking of which, our booth for Lips Down On Dixie is where it was last year (between Centennial I and II ) If anyone wants to stop by and leave me a message, that would be great.We finally got the DVDs from last year's Dragon*Con show (the one everyone couldn't stop talking about) on sale at the booth. $15 (and now a word from our sponsor)I'm really excited about our cast and production. We've worked extra hard, and everyone seems to be working in unison."Dress Rehearsal" is tonight at Lefont Plaza at midnight. It should be really fun.www.ldod.org

futility

the definition of insanity is repeating the same actions and expecting a different result.sometimes i wonder...

Knuckle Sandwich Film Shoot

btw, I just got back from Dalton, GA from princpal photography on Knuckle Sandwich, a low-budget independent feature film to be completed in L.A. I worked sound. It was definitely an experience. I now can't stand the sound of trains. Dalton is right on the train line and a train passes thru every 17 minutes blowing its whistle for every crossroad. Normally, this wouldn't bother me, except I was responsible for getting clean dialogue, and train whistles in every 3rd take aren't exactly condusive to that.Here are some pics from the shoot:http://pak02.pictures.aol.com/NASApp/ygp/GuestLogin?event=DirectView&shareInfo=1uXYxRKKm4QCJfWm3KF5peFS2pD99PqvCVajR8Vyaci%2fjFCnkV3ciA%3d%3d&pageName=AlbumViewFromEmails

the economy

I am now convinced that it's gonna have to get a lot worse before it gets better. The economy that is. A lot of businesses are still turning away potential customers. About a year ago, my friend and I were in a small flea-market business on Peachtree Ind. Blvd in Chamblee GA. We were shopping there at around 4:45 on a Saturday. At 4:50 the lights started to go out and the announcement came over the P.A. that they were closing at 5 PM. I looked around the store and there were still more than 30 people shopping (picking stuff up and holding onto it). At 5 PM we were all hurried out of the store. Gotta close on time I guess. Make sure the store is empty at 4:59!About 3 months ago I stopped into an all you can eat Pizza Buffet at closing. There were a few pies left. I asked if I could pay the buffet price and leave with roughly 12 slices. The clerk told me that they didn't do take-out buffet and that I'd have to pay $1 a slice if I wanted them. I could have, of course, sat down at a table taking up more of their time, and payed for the buffet, knowing that they were not going to make any more pizzas, but I figured that they would benefit from me taking the old slices and leaving (allowing them to close). I asked her what they were gonna do with the pizza slices if I didn't buy them. She told me they were throwing them out. So I asked a second time if they would be willing to charge me for a buffet for the remaining slices. The clerk wouldn't budge. I left...knowing that the restaurant could have made about 5 bucks off of me for some stuff they were throwing out, but instead they made nothing.Finally, yesterday evening I made it to Sam's Club at 8:28 PM. There was already someone at the door making sure no one else entered the store. I told him it wasn't 8:30 yet, and he disagreed telling me it was 5 minutes after. I checked my cell phone which has its time updated frequently by the cell towers and it had just turned 8:29.I told him I knew exactly what I wanted and could be in and out within a few minutes. No luck.The only decent example I have is from my Dry Cleaner. It's a mom & pop owned establishment. They do not accept plastic, but that's the only disadvantage. They regularly stay open late for their customers. They offer discounts when you bring in lots of clothes at the same time. They know me by name and occupation, and they pay close attention to details.I suppose the reason the dry-cleaner is the exception here is the fact that the owners work in the store. They own AND RUN the business.Customer service for big businesses has gone even further down hill since the economy tanked. It's truly amazing. If I were a business owner of any kind, I would stress to my employees that keeping customers and generating sales takes priority over anything else, be it closing time, or inconvenience. Most of these minimum wage people don't care. It will be a while before they start caring. They don't realize that their point of contact with the customer can mean the difference between keeping a business open and filing for bankruptcy.Learn dammit!getting down off my proverbial soapbox

we made best of atlanta!

Our film in the 48 hour film project made the Best of Atlanta. It's gonna be screened tomorrow night at the Rialto at 6 pmwww.roundtablestudios.com click on the new link for tickets

been a while--48 hour film project

well, i worked on the 48 hour film project two weeks ago. www.48hourfilm.comWe drew "musical or Western" genre.guess what we took?here's the website and film:www.roundtablestudios.com

worried

aside from the fact that I'm updating twice in the same day......ok...now i'm worried. The girl that cuts my hair suggested that I take a look at the country music channel. She keeps telling me that things have changed in that scene.Is it my imagination or are most country songs now what used to be called contemporary soft rock? I haven't heard a hawaiian guitar, or seen anyone squealing with a cowboy hat on.Maybe I just got too much hee-haw when I was younger, but the top 20 countdown featiring faith hill is not that bad.and the guy hosting the countdown looks like he's from MTV.weird

another day

Saw Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets yesterday. Not a bad movie at all. Runs about 2 1/2 hours though. It's much darker than the first one and from what I understand they're going to get progressively darker with each new one.It should be easy to replace Richard Harris as Dumbledor. He's under so much makeup and facial hair, he's literally unrecognizable.Went to a launch party for Jewish singles. I just don't get it. They seem to be the same people at all of these functions. They seem to have the same attitude as well. It's no wonder that they're still single.I've often wondered why a majority of Jewish women don't like cats.Left the party after the initial rush of people had died down. If I had left ten minutes earlier than I did, my team trivia team would have come in first place. I knew the lost lyrics bonus question--a surprise considering I'm usually horrible with lyrics. I also got the Laverne and Shirley TV question wrong. What was Squiggy's real first name? I had two guesses on the sheet, and asked a teammate to pick one. Of course, it was the other one.I wish this damned economy would turn around already.

A reminder not to give to UNICEF

I'll probably get a lot of flack for saying this, but it needs to be said. UNICEF is not our friend.It's a charity that takes money from U.S. citizens and uses it in third world countries under the banner of United Nations.Despite the actions of the U.S. in other lands, good or bad, our charitable donations are never credited to us under UNICEF. True, anonymous donations are usually much more sincere, but the U.S. has really big P.R. problem these days. If you would like to contribute charity to third world countries, make sure that the organization you choose does it giving you or the country it came from credit for it.