The Day I Joined the Track Team

Got a great story that I was reminded of the other day. I find this so funny, but I dunno, you might not.

Last year, Sean, Kevin and I went to Norman for the bedlam basketball game (in which we lost, unfortunately). We stopped at our favorite barbecue spot in Oklahoma City, Leo's. It is straight up the best barbecue you will ever put in your mouth.

So, we downing our brisket sandwiches and huge plate of fries and we start a casual talk with the people next to us. Right off the bat, I could tell these jokers were strange.

They strike up small talk and we pretend to care (sorry, that sounds bad, but it was lame). We told them we were going down to Norman for the bedlam game and somehow the one hick drastically misunderstood us.

He says something and Sean was the only one kind enough to give a response. He just keeps nodding his head and we just kind of tune them out. After Sean nods at what he says, he asks, "So what events do you guys do?"

We were completely confused. "Events?" "Ya, what do you guys run in track?"

Hahaha. I just started laughing at how ridiculous this question was. Apparently, through Sean's head nods, the guy had decided we ran track for Oklahoma State (I guess track runners eat big barbecue meals before events where he's from, I dunno).

We just sat there and laughed for a few seconds thinking it was some sort of strange joke. The response was something like. "Haha, uh... We don't run track." This made the whole conversation even more amusing because we clearly told the guy we ran track with our head nods only to verbally tell him that he was crazy.

So, we basically just told him that he did nothing with track and he stopped talking to us.

Anyway, I thought it was hilarious and it still gets me chuckling to this day at how preposterous the whole situation was.

Hahaha, I don't know who the bigger fools were: us or these schmoes.

O and Leo's has the best cake you will ever eat. It is strawberry banana and it is worth a trip for the cake alone.

That's the Problem with Angry People

Jumping aboard to talk about something that has really made me laugh as of late. It really is hilarious in my opinion.

So, I went through most of high school (actually most of my life) not worrying about what other people think about me or what I do. Mainly, I acted crazy and wore crazy clothes or costumes on a regular basis.

I am very interested in people's reactions, so I find myself in seemingly awkward situations just to see what kind of reaction I can get. There is nothing better than acting like a fool in some kind of costume and looking at someone's facial response. All people react to differently to an idiot running around screaming in a clown costume.

My favorite reaction is the one I have gotten since arriving at college. It seems that most people in college are unhappy or depressed. Though some things I wear (like my basketball costume the other night - which consisted of really short gym shorts, tall socks, throwback shoes, an afro and headband) generate laughs and jests, sometimes people get angry.

Can you believe that?

They are actually angry with what I am wearing. It is like my presence ruined their day, which just makes dressing up and acting like a fool all the more enjoyable. What causes them to react like this? Does my strange hat really elicit a response as if their dog just died?

Hahaha.

I would hate for something I wore to cause someone to feel miserable or to ruin their perfect day. Do you see the humor in all of this?

People are legitimately hacked off because I look like an idiot. Instead of laughing at how stupid I am or just simply ignoring me, people turn and stare and get pissed off and hate the rest of their day.

The only thing I can figure is that people are upset with my immaturity. Possibly, they are mad that a college student is acting like an immature 6th grader. Still, I don't see why that would upset anyone. It is all just a laughable situation.

My advice to you is to laugh next time you see a fool and not get angry at his weirdness. Maybe he actually thinks it's cool or maybe he is looking for that angry reaction.

Sean and I joke about this, that some guy looks at me in my lamp shade hat and points and angrily says, "Look at that hat. I'm beating that kid up." Haha.

The sad thing is there are people that do think like that. They beat up what's different just because they don't like it. That hasn't happened to me, yet.

Results on That

How did I do? I'd say I did golden. They ought to put me on the Academy because I'm so good.

First, the actual awards show sucked majorly. Jon Stewart is nowhere near funny and his jokes stalled like no one's business. He has never been funny and he pretty much ruined the show. O well, I hate all that crap anyway. The only thing I care about is the victors.

Daniel Day-Lewis brought it home just like everyone thought he would. What a champion. "My name is Daniel Plainview and I'm an oil man."

My boy Javier Bardem may have shocked a few, but he is definitely well-deserving. His role is going to go down in history as one of the creepiest of all time. Marion Cotillard won for "La Vie En Rose" the actress in a leading role, a category that I got wrong mainly because I had no idea.

Tilda Swinton took home the oscar for best supporting actress. I checked out "Michael Clayton" yesterday and I was highly confused as to why Swinton deserved a win. She really did not do anything. She sat there and looked in the mirror and said a few things. Clayton is a terrific movie, but I do not agree with Swinton's victory.

Ratatouille wins and no surprise there. There Will Be Blood grabs the Cinematography.

My Coen brother boys brought home the full ship Sunday night. They swept it to say the least. They won directing, best picture and adapted screenplay. Geniuses.

The Bourne Ultimatum won the three editing awards in which I am pleased.

Two atrocities littered the oscars this year. First, as we all know I hate Juno so I was completely disappointed when Cody won the original screenplay award. What a loser. The biggest pratfall of the night was the fact that Golden Compass won special effects. I don't know when I have been more upset. Sure, the polar bears were awesome, but we must have seen different movies. Transformers is, like I said, the greatest display of special effects of all time. Screw the Academy.

So, I was 6 for 11 in my prediction which isn't too bad considering the ones I lost in where because I hadn't seen any of those movies (and because the Academy sucks).

Can't wait to catch up on those I missed especially There Will Be Blood.

That One Day Oscar Came to Town

OSCARS tonight and I am so freaking thrilled, more excited than ever before (mainly because I have become gradually more and more obsessed with movies as the year has gone on). So, I thought I would hop on here before the show tonight and throw out some predictions.

Actor in a Leading Role: This one is far too easy. Since this movie was put into production, he was a guaranteed winner. They have been talking about this performance for over a year and have called it the best performance in 10 years (still can't believe I haven't seen it). The oscar goes to Daniel Day-Lewis.

Actor in a Supporting Role: This category may be a little harder to peg (at least for me because I have only seen "No Country" and "Charlie Wilson"). I would put my money on either Javier Bardem or Phillip Seymour Hoffman (who is incredible in Wilson), though I am worried because I think "Michael Clayton" is going to steal some back door wins. Still, gotta go with the best from the best movie of the year. The oscar goes to Javier Bardem.

Actress in a Leading Role: I'm just going to come out and say I have no idea. The only movie I saw in this category was "Juno" and if Ellen Page wins I will kill someone. Most talked about is either Julie Christie in "Away from Her" or Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth." And the oscar goes to Julie Christie.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Here's another difficult one that I think could go to anyone. I hear good things about Amy Ryan from "Gone Baby Gone." Saoirse Ronan gives one of the best young performances I've seen to date in "Atonement," so I'm glad she gets a nod, but I doubt she wins. And the oscar goes to Cate Blanchett for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."

Cinematography: Both "No Country" and "Atonement" have terrific cinematography. "Atonement" has one of the best segments I've seen next to "Children of Men." And the oscar goes to Atonement.

Directing: In my opinion, I would love to see the Coen brothers nab this one, but I am afraid they won't even though they made the best movie. Paul Thomas Anderson is a genius, so he could get it, but I think there might be too much focus on Day-Lewis for people to pay attention to the rest of the film. The oscar goes to Joel and Ethan Coen just cause I want them to win.

Music (Score): Jeez, "The Kite Runner" was such a terrific movie and the music is so beautiful and melodic, but I'm afraid this is an easy pick in the other direction. And the oscar goes to Atonement.

Best Picture: The biggie in a year of pretty good movies. Aside from the horrible nomination of "Juno," this is a stacked category. The top three are "Atonement," "Michael Clayton" and "No Country for Old Men." In my opinion, no other movie could eclipse the brothers' latest social commentary. And the oscar goes to No Country for Old Men.

Visual Effects: No movie has ever come close to the ridiculousness of "Transformers." It is hands down the greatest display of visual effects ever created. There was no need to even nominate anything else. Michael Bay is incredible. And the oscar goes to Transformers.

Adapted Screenplay: Honestly, I thought you knew me by now, why are you still reading. Because I have no clue, I'm going to give it to my favorite. And the oscar goes to No Country for Old Men.

Original Screenplay: The outcome of this category could lead me to forever hate the Academy. If "Juno" wins I will never watch the Awards again. I like "The Savages" for this.

But the oscar goes to Michael Clayton (please oh please do this for me Academy).

There it is. Relish on it and watch the Awards show tonight at 8/7c p.m. And watch "No Country for Old Men" because it is so very good.

I win.

The Truman Show

I popped in "The Truman Show" the other evening as it's one of my all time favorites and I was definitely not disappointed.

There is so much about this movie that I absolutely love. It really is one of the better movies of the past 10 years. This is really Jim Carrey's breakthrough role to another level previously unseen.

The movie focuses on the life of Truman Burbank (Carrey) and his day to day rituals. All of America tunes in to watch Truman live his life, but the jokes on him for he has no idea he is in a false world.

The producers of "The Truman Show" built the largest set ever constructed for TV to house the world of Sea Haven and Truman Burbank. Truman lives his entire life in this falsified existence with no hint of contact from the outside world.

Eventually, Truman sees several signs that something is not quite right in his world. When he cannot escape the town, he knows he must find a way to discover the truth. He winds up facing his fears and attacking the high seas to find his answers.

This movie presents a true tragedy of a man that is lied to his entire life. He finds the means for escape to find the true reality that we live in.

It poses many questions about how we live our reality. "We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented." This is so true. It makes you wonder if we live in the real reality or one fabricated for other's viewing pleasure. How do we know what is real? Who do we look to for guidance? Great questions from a great movie.

This is truly my favorite subject material and a fantastic presentation in this medium. Carrey is so great in the end and makes it work so well. Find it, love it, live it...

Production for "Dig"

Goodness. It has been so long since I have jumped on here and it disappoints me greatly. The last couple weeks have been really busy and exciting, but I wish I could have kept up with the posts.

For a while, I thought I had slipped into a trance of writer's block. It was awful. I tried to log on several times and even wrote entire posts, but I was at a point where I felt that every writing needed to be better than the previous one, so I deleted the posts.

Anyway, I'm back now and I am not going to kill myself if my writings are not the best ever, every time.

The last two weeks have been incredibly crazy and amazing. My roommates and I had been working on a short film script for the past couple of months. The movie finally came to fruition over the weekend of Feb. 8 and 9.

It was an incredible process that I will surely never forget. We loaded up in Brad's two 4-runners (and looked totally ridiculous driving around in near identical vehicles) and drove to the salt plains in Jet, Okla. early Saturday morning.

We couldn't figure out the directions, but eventually we got on the right track. We came across the perfect gas station for filming our station sequence. This took us a couple hours, so we had to load up and book it to the salt plains (we hadn't planned on the station).

We found the state park and shot the scene of the two characters walking across the sign with their shovels (they were going to dig for crystals). We got in the cars and headed to the dig site only to find it closed for the season. Apparently, there is a certain season in which you can dig for crystals. We got on the flats anyway to shoot our film.

This place was absolutely incredible and wonderfully majestic. I was blown away by the sheer vastness and total whiteness. We hurried through our scenes (and they were really hastily and crappily made).

Hopped in the car and sprinted to the Gloss Mountains (pronounced "glass") to shoot our scene of the guys going off the cliff on their homemade hang glider. We got there just in time; I was afraid we were running out of daylight. We shot our scenes incredibly quickly and finished just as the sun set.

We hit a diner in Longdale on the way home (it was the best meal of my life, maybe because I hadn't eaten all day). We wrapped that evening and got back to Stillwater at 10:30. It was a long freaking day and we planned on starting even earlier on Sunday so we could get everything done.

Left Stillwater at about 8 a.m. Sunday to shoot our opening scene and various drive shots around Stillwater. We limited our filming to Stillwater and Guthrie. The first scene went great and may be our best of the film.

The drive shots were good and then we luckily got into a junkyard for our scene with the two characters and the homeless "Marshmallow." We had to severely jerry-rig our hang glider and barely got it to work.

Then, we proceeded to drive around Stillwater looking for a broken mailbox for one of our scenes, and we eventually found one. We shot that quickly and filmed our final scene inside a gas station as the sun disappeared over the horizon.

Wow! What an incredible weekend of shooting. I have never experience something quite like that. The process was so fast-paced and exhilarating. It was incredible. We all seemed so professional. We had a sound bag filled with everything we needed to adjust the recording of sound. We had a camera, tripod, two professional lights and umbrellas to diffuse them. I also built a homemade dolly on a scooter that kind of worked (I guess). We looked incredible!

Our appearance seemed legit enough for an amateur production, but our quality was not the best. Basically, the first movie is an experiment and now we know what we can do differently. We know how to fix our problems and the best approach for certain shots. It was great experience just getting out there and doing it.

Had the time of my life and could easily see myself getting into this kind of business. It would be incredible to make movies either as an amateur or professional in Hollywood. I would love that so much. I need to figure out a way to do that for the rest of my life. Such a great joy.