The Undead Lives on the Living Dead of Dead Living

What does “Undead” really mean, anyway?  If I just ate, am I unhungry?  Why not just say “alive” like the rest of us?

In two hours, we’re all packing up and heading to lovely San Diego to film the Zombie Walk.  I can’t believe how last minute this is for me.  The good news?  Um… Yeah, I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Wish us luck.

Episode 2 Being Filmed This Weekend!

I told you Project: CURIOUS was being worked on again!  Why are you so shocked?  jeez…

In two days (Saturday the 24th), we’re packing up our cameras, our mics, our walking shoes, and our rotting flesh makeup and heading over to the annual Zombie Walk in San Diego, CA.

If you’re anything like me, you’re asking yourself “What the heck is a Zombie Walk?”, but at the same time plugging your ears and yelling “AWEEE AWEEE AWEEE I DON’T WANT TO KNOW!  AWEEE AWEEE AWEEE” Well, it’s an event where a whole bunch of people dress up like zombies and walk the city streets just like zombies would.  There are rules, of course.   No touching people or eating their brains or anything.  (rules for zombies… go figure)

So, we’re heading on over there to not only finally fulfill our life-long dream of walking with the undead and scaring the bejinkies out of innocent little kids that used to believe there is no such thing as zombies.

Wait.  What am I doing, again?

For more info, or if you’d like to be there, check this out:
http://www.sdzombiewalk.com/?page_id=9

Hey, I Remember You!

I’m about to give another one of those speeches that sounds something like this:

“Wow!  I can’t even believe how horrific 2009 was.  It was so horrible, I’ve been picking up the pieces well into 2010 as well!   Life has been so crazy, I’ve had to put Project: CURIOUS on hold for a while….” blah blah blah…

Well, it’s all true.  However, I really don’t want to talk about it any more than you want to hear about it.  So, I’m going to hand you the metaphor from Hell.  Ready?

The bottom line is, I’ve been in Hell for over a year.  I just crawled out, and now I’m dusting myself off.  In taking a look around to see what is still standing (which there isn’t much). I’ve found Project: CURIOUS sitting indian style in the corner, just waiting for me with a smile on it’s lame-@$$ face.  I decided to feed it, and it instantly became my friend again.

I’m currently working simultaneously on four new episodes for Project: CURIOUS.  The order of production will just have to depend on when I can schedule what, but rest assured, LARPing is coming.  It’s the idea that inspired this whole thing to begin with.  It’s been surprisingly difficult to find a LARPing group that doesn’t take themselves so seriously.  I may have found a group of people that might be up for it, though.  FINALLY!

As for the other three episodes, I really can’t spoil the fun yet.  Just kidding.  They have to do with zombies, super heroes, and Walmart.  I bet you’ve never heard anyone string those words together in a sentence, have you?

On another note, future episodes will be shot in HD.  Hooray for technology, eh?  They will all be released on the web for free, as in the original plan, but now they will most likely all be assembled onto a DVD.   It makes a great white elephant gift!  So be ready!

What else… hmm….  (<– Why didn’t I just think that instead of type it?)  I suppose there is one last thing worth mentioning.  A book is also going to be assembled, and up for sale after we finish enough episodes.  It will be a smokin’ hot coffee table type book loaded with behind the sceney goodness, pictures and captions.

So, I just thought I would update my one viewer.  Thanks, viewer!  I wish I knew your name, whoever you are.  I see you visiting this site every other day, and I appreciate it!

Soon

Project: Curious – “Trained Eyes” – Episode #1

Project: Curious, Take Two

When we first started Project: Curious, the ideas were flowing, the excitement was running high and we were on the ball.  We were planning out the rest of 2009 to a science.  It was just a matter of pulling it off.  Well, as it would happen, life got in the way.  Last year was probably the most difficult in my whole life due to a slew of really juicy and gossipy drama in which I will be keeping to myself.  But, the good news is, this year (2010) is the year of rebuilding.  It’s time to put all that nonsense behind and get back to work.  One of the first things that need to be done is to put Project: Curious back on schedule.

We filmed our first webisode, got it into the editing room and is about 40% complete.  The theme song is done, the title screen is mapped out but needs to be rendered, the clips are cut together, the voice over has been recorded, the music is selected and the whole stinking thing is pretty close to being assembled.  The only thing that needs to be done is sound design and an animation or two.  Once that is done, we’ll have our first webisode ready to watch on the Project: Curious web site.

We have so many ideas for this!  We haven’t even scratched the surface on how we are planning to show you the strange things people do for fun.  I’m glad to say that we are back in production and will be bringing you the first episode very soon.  So, to the two people that actually read this blog (probably family members), I just want to say thanks for your patience.  Lets kick some butt.

Does Crack Kill?

Ever since I was in elementary school I have been brainwashed to think that crack kills. I was taught that crack not only harms your body but also has a negative impact on the people who are closest to you. I am here to announce to everyone reading this blog that these people are LIARS!

The Annual Mooning of the Amtrak is over and guess what??? I am still alive AND my crack is just fine. Not only did I survive with only a few fence burns on my cheeks but also the people closest to me were giving me mooning tips (of course I had to admit that I had been practicing for weeks and had my own techniques). Needless to say, exposing crack is the best thing one can do and I highly recommend it to people with or without teeth.

The Butts are in the Can

I woke up this morning, ate some breakfast (already a weird morning), packed up my camera and met up with the team to go film the “Annual Mooning of the Amtrak Train”.    Last year, a reported 9,000 people attended this event.  Apparently they caused so much trouble, the businesses in the area got the police involved this year to sit on any potential mooner’s enthusiasm for exposing their less than craptastic derrières.   It’s a long story, but basically, it worked.  The running count was about 300-400 people this year.

Still, the turnout was good enough to document.  After months of prepping her rump (so I hear) for the greatest Dean exposure this side of the US, Jenny delivered in all areas of this event.  She was a great sport through the whole thing.  She was excited to be there which made it really fun.  She also has a knack for carrying on conversations with people that you might never get to know otherwise.  We’ll just leave it at that.

In addition, my nephew Brandon was there to take on the challenge of appalling innocent train passerby’s.  It was great to know we had a hand in corrupting the future of our family.  Can’t you just see the pride in his face?  I am a scary judge of character, and I can tell when people are proud beyond belief.  Brings a tear to my eye.  (one second)  Anyway, Brandon has grown up to be a great guy, and I hope we can torture him some more in the future.

I rode the train at the end of the day to film a quick glimpse at what it would be like to be a passenger and witness such a horrific sight.  The truth is, the train goes so fast that you can’t see anything.  Many people on the train knew it was coming up and watched for it, but most just looked into space as they normally would.  (I’m guessing that’s normal for them.)  In fact, there is probably just enough time to see the mooners to wonder what just happened.  I wouldn’t be surprised if many people have gone crazy at the thought of not knowing what they just thought they understood themselves to probably had not have seen….  or… something like that.

The bar itself was packed with peanuts the whole time we were there.  There was constantly a line out the door.  I got some nice footage of the kinds of people your mother should have warned you about, but don’t judge her for not.  Unless your mom was Large Marge from Peewee’s Big Adventure, she wouldn’t have known how bad it could truly get.

It’s against my better judgement to post this picture of me.  I simply don’t want my name attached to this project.  It’s just downright embarrassing.  Then again, I’m okay with that.  Anyway, I’m hoping Santa’s bar-hopping brother Smacky, sitting comfortably in the back will draw most of your attention.

In a few days I’ll be posting the finished episode on this site, as well as the new “Project: CURIOUS” site.  I’ll keep you posted on that.

When all was said and done, when the heat stroke cleared, the @$$-induced pain in my left eye subsided, the faint smell of odorific emanations lifted, the day was done and it was a great start to the very long journey exploring the curious.  Chalk one up for “Project: CURIOUS.”

What’s Wrong with Mooning Passengers?

An article was given to me about the annual mooning of the Amtrak train, today.  Apparently there were so many people last year, that businesses surrounding the area were complaining.  I know I would hate to have a lot of people around my business.  Imagine if they all bought something?  No thanks!  [eye roll]

The article talks about how police will be “cracking down” on mooners breaking laws.  It says this:
Attendance hit an all-time high last year when 9,000 people partook in the festivities. This year city officials hope new ordinances and a big police presence at this Saturday’s event will keep the crowds low and discourage outsiders.

First of all, how could anyone resist the temptation to receive 9,000 vertical smiles in one day?  I doubt crowds will be low due to some parking restriction laws.  Secondly, discourage “outsiders”?  People, the club is 9,000 people large.  I think outsiders and insiders are the same thing.

The article also says this:
In April the City Council approved new ordinances that prohibit drinking alcoholic beverages, urination, and defecation in public. The City Council also agreed to pay a public relations firm about $17,500 to help dissuade any potential mooners. The outfit — Waters & Company — plans to use Twitter to monitor events, and communicate with potential participants.

I actually approve of the no-pooing ordinance.  I mean, defecation gangs have been a problem in that area for years.  The number two gang in that area are known as “the Skids” which have caused a number of $#!+ and run cases over the passed 10 years.

The point is, all of these ordinances are being passed, money is being spent to bring extra police forces there, public relations firms are being hired to frown upon attending this event…  But, no one is saying that mooning is illegal.   Has someone already tried to pass this law?  It seems like the easiest way to put a stop to it once and for all, doesn’t it?  I have a hard to believing that no one has thought of this.  The only thing I can think of is that the city of Laguna Niguel doesn’t want a law saying you can’t show your butt to people, and they would like to “legalize crack” for lack of a better term.

Regardless, we’re still going to film this Saturday.  I’ll be shocked if there isn’t a big turnout just like last year.  The weak attempts at discouraging mooners are laughable to me, since we all know the extra cops are going to be in line mooning the train just like everyone else.  Cops are people, too, and everyone needs to show their roast every once and while.

If you would like to read the full article, it can be found here:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/year-city-people-2483931-bar-event

A Dirty Crack About Drunks

It’s been a fairly slow-going week.  Aside from the fact that I’ve been living in slow motion due to lack of sleep, it seems that not a lot of progress has been made, which I’m not extremely used to.  However, we are scheduled for our first visit to the annual “mooning” of the Amtrak train.  Hey, quit laughing!  I haven’t even explained it yet.  Sheesh!

From the web site:

How it started
To best answer the story of the birth of the Mooning tradition, refer to the Sunday July 11, 1999 edition of The Orange County (California) Register newspaper, and the article headlined as, “Full moon over Amtrak keeps Laguna Niguel tradition alive”, as follows: Twenty years ago (1979), at The Mugs Away Saloon, a K.T.Smith told his buddies he’d buy a drink for all who would run outside to the rail road tracks and “moon” the next train, which many did. The mooning tradition has prevailed, but there is no longer a volunteer to buy free drinks for thousands of “Mooners”

So, basically some drunk dudes pulled down their hobo-pants and showed their caboose to some families on board a passing train, and people have been doing it ever since.   Poor kids had no idea what hit them.  (“Close your eyes, little Johnny!”)  I mean, seriously…  How would you like it if your 4 year-old daughter saw a row of cyclopes and asked you “Mommy?  Do drunk miners explore caves and canyons?”

I don’t understand it.  I don’t want to participate.  I don’t want to admit I was ever there.  I don’t want to use my real name, or my real butt.  “But”, something tells me I will do all of the above.  (then again, I am on the wrong side of the camera)  For more information, you can check out the “www.moonamtrak.org” web site.

LARP. It’s Not Such a Mystery Anymore

It took me about 45 minutes to find the LARP event I planned on learning so much from today.  It turns out that Huntington Beach Central Park is so big that I found skeletons stuck in bushes, which I can only assume were people trying find their cars.  I finally found 5 booths, and about 50-60 people that were dressed in armor, tunics and a lot more.

At first, approaching a large group of people that enjoy role playing as much as I enjoy a good pizza was a little on the daunting side.  Knowing nothing about LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) I had no idea what kind of a people I would be talking to.  Very quickly, I learned that just about everyone there was very nice, cool and extremely imaginative.  I didn’t get to take a lot of  video today, because there was a mixed crowd of who would be willing to be on camera, but I met a couple people that were really helpful in getting me started in learning what Jenny and Kendra have in store.  🙂

Here is my silent 40 seconds of nothing from today:

Something that impressed me was how organized they were.  They had business cards, documentation, full color invites and even insurance!  I totally thought I would be arriving at a gathering of weekend loafers trying to tie their shoes.  It was an awesome wake up call to see that I was wrong.

So, that makes this particular adventure a lot more exciting for this lonely cameraman.  I haven’t decided which group I will be working further with yet because there are still more questions that need answering.  But, one thing is for sure, there is some serious potential to have a lot of fun with this one.  Since you can make your own foam weapons for combat, I’m thinking we’ll try some experimental weapons, like the great giant foam fork of Azeroth.  Maybe even go as far as a foam waffle iron on a chain.  Sky is the limit from what I’ve seen.  Who’s game?

What I didn’t get today was a great “feeling” for how it really works.  They hadn’t started the games yet, and of course, I had to leave because I ran out of time.  It’s okay, though.  I got what I went for, which is some names and email addresses.  The next few days are going to be getting all of this solidified.  Very soon, we will be suiting up in our magical chonies and exposing the world of LARP Jenny and Kendra style.  You’ve been warned.