Those Mad Dogs of Glory

Hey Flip-philes! Back again with another heapin' helpin' of some good ol' fashioned blog. Its amazing how technology is finding new ways for us to waste time. You used to have to waste time by reading a book or wittling or making traps to catch game. Now, with the internet, you can argue about movies, play online poker, watch some guy get kicked in the groin on youtube, or read a blog about some jackass you probably don't know... like me. Life is beautiful.


I am entering Week 4 in L.A. and, so far, its not been that bad. There have been no Training Day type situations and just a few Heat-type scenarios. I will keep you posted and alert you if L.A. earthquakes and slides down into the Pacific and I have to escape, Snake Plissken-style (it would make for one hell of a blog).

My script for Trailer Trash Kidnapping continues. I'll have the first act finished within the week and am excited about embarking on the second. The first forty pages are always the most difficult between finding the tone and setting up the characters. Though the subject matter is extremely dark, the writing and the craft of it have been enjoyable. This time, I have far more confidence in the story I'm telling, and I believe it shows on page after page. I think its a good story and hopefully it can from my head and land on the page intact. You will probably know before I will.

I started my internship for Larger Than Life Productions, reading scripts. So far, it has been a great experience. Everyone there is extremely professional and smart- both book smart and in the ways of the industry. Most of my day there is spent reading scripts and doing coverage. Truth be told, most of the scripts I get are pretty bad. Now, I don't think I'm world's greatest writer (there are still plenty of areas I know I can improve upon), but it does not take a genius to know a piece of shit. Sorry for the language.

On to my next order of business, I have a confession: I am a TV junkie. Always have been, always will be. Now, I've been told that it will turn my brain into pancake batter, but so far, my mind has held relatively intact (well, at least enough for it to remain in my skull). I'm, of course, an avid Lost fan and obsess over to an almost sickening degree. My love for The Simpsons knows no bounds. I ALWAYS make time to watch The Daily Show, The Office, and South Park. Last year, I started watching Heroes... just in time for it to get crappy. On DVD, I have newfound obsessions with Freaks and Geeks and Futurama. As you can tell, I have a full schedule.

You may be shocked. You may wonder, "Why, Mr. Flippo, you good-looking master of all things awesome, how are you able to watch all that crazy programming and still have the sense to dress yourself in the morning?" Glad you asked, Dear Reader. The answer lies, ironically, in a book. This magical book is "Everything Bad Is Good For You" by Steven Berlin Johnson. In it, Johnson makes the claim that pop culture, over time, has grown more demanding and is actually making us smarter. I read that book about a year and change ago, and, well, I drank the kool-aid and am thinking he might be onto something.

Take Lost, for example. Has there ever been a television program that demanded more from its audience? Not only do episodes from season five reference and build on things that happened in season one, but the show almost demands a little familiarity with, among other things, Stephen Hawking, Kurt Vonnegut, Gilgamesh, etc. Of course, there are ways for you to shut off your brain (cough, The Hills, cough), but, if you want, there are plenty of intellectually stimulating programming out there as well.

Okay, as always, here are some youtube clips I'm digging this week:

The trailer for Tarantino's Ingorious Bastards. Awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pel3GE97evA

A teaser for Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown. If I enjoy this album half as much as I enjoyed American Idiot, then I think we're looking at one of the best discs of 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoccl36qqOU&feature=related

A beatboxing flute cover of the Super Mario theme. Crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crfrKqFp0Zg

The music video for MGMT's "Time to Pretend." I feel like its about me (don't we all feel that way about great songs?). If its not, then I'll still be happy to just crank it up and sing along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVnRzEjpUmE

Alright, Flip-philes. That's all from me this week. Come back next week to hang out, hang in, hang left, hang right, anything you fancy.

xoxo
The Flip

Don't Wait To Be Hunted To Hide

Hey, Flip-philes! As promised, I have written my second blog in two weeks (soon I'll be able to call this thing The Weekly Flippo again). A fair warning: if kicking ass does not seem like something you would want to do, I recommend going to another blog. Surely you'd rather read some lame posts about emo bands, C-SPAN, frozen yogurt, soft rock, low-carb diets, Heroes, games where "everybody wins," weather, John Mayer, knitting, dog whispering, scrapbooking, or sisterhoods (of both the Ya-Ya and traveling pants variety).
Hidden text is evil.

Are we on the same page? Good.

Screw you, guys!

On our first order of business, let's talk about the Super Bowl... and when I mean talk, I mean let me tell you what I think. Now football is fine and all, but the real fun comes from the commercials (like how I'm sure most of you enjoy airplane rides for the pretzels). This year's crop of commercials was merely okay. I enjoyed the one where Alec Baldwin was an alien, and the one where Mrs. Potato Head's mouth popped off. However, there weren't just enough quality commercials. I mean, seriously, comedy is not that hard. Just throw in some guy getting kicked in the groin or maybe a talking baby or two, and- tada!- I have just weaved a rich tapestry of comedy gold.

I hate hidden text.

As far as movie trailers go, the only big surprise was the one for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which actually might be pretty cool if Mike Bay can hold the camera still for a second and let us actually watch the robots fight. The Star Trek preview looked pretty cool, but it really didn't contain any new footage. The Fast and Furious movie (not to be confused with its article-challened prequel, The Fast and The Furious) looked pretty silly. All I know is that Lil Bow Wow better pop up and do some Tokyo Drifting. You can't give us pure, concentrated awesome, and then take it away. Us junkies need our fix!

The Weekly Flippo... though I write it, I am not really a fan.

Okay, next order of business. Its really more of an observation than anything, but I've noticed that Facebook has become really, really boring. Come on guys! Post about a break-up or put up some embarassing photos or write a politically-incorrect status update. Anything! Please! What is the point of a social network if the day's biggest event is that David Q. Hipster added "The Darjeeling Limited" to his list of favorite movies? What the hell, guys?! Give me someting! You guys are my friends, so entertain me!

What is your problem?

And, once again, here are some videos I'm really digging this week.

I'm sorry about what I said about scrapbooking. Nothing personal.

Yes, I've already put up a Flight of the Conchords song a few posts back, but genius is genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-re8z-H1UqY&feature=related

Huh?!

I am also digging this trailer for 500 Days of Summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILCB_f0IIyI

Why don't you kick yourself out... you're an immigrant, too!

Also, here is the head explosion from Scanners.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ0pmMW6vxE&feature=related

Gross.

And with that, fellow Flipinites, I leave you to venture forth into that dark abyness that is the future. Come back next week as I continue to shoot the breeze, as well as any other kind of weather that dares cross my path!

xoxo

The Flipmeister