Nouning: SiLA Drama Writing

This one, too, will receive positive and negative feedback because there is just too much to be said both ways.
All I know is that I'm glad it's over.

Positive (SiLA Drama) People:
1. Rachel: Awesome (outspoken) Friend
2. Eric: Awesome (Morgan Freeman-loving) Friend
3. Jack: Awesome (non-Charles) Instructor
4. Astride: Awesome (full-bellied) laughter
5. Rebecca: Awesome (Jim) facial expressions
6. Diablo Cody: Awesome (crazy) WGA Speaker
7. Raleigh Studios Parking Facility Guys: Awesome (Funny) Start to my morning

Positive (SiLA Drama) Places:
1. WGA West Building: Awesome (Free!) Lecture Facility
2. AstroBurger: Awesome (Post-class) Hangout
3. Raleigh Studios: Awesome (Classroom) Facility

Positive (SiLA Drama) Things:
1. Without a Trace Spec: Awesome (not-so-awesome) first attempt at a first draft of a TV spec
2. Feedback: Awesome (20-scripts worth) notes on the spec
3. Connections: Awesome (friends and lecturers) expansion of my people-base out here

Negative (SiLA Drama) People:
1. C.M.: Ookie (Creepy and arrogant) classmate
2. C.H.: Ookie (Disrespectful and tardy) instructor
3. T.S.: Ookie (obnoxious lump) classmate
4. L.D.: Ookie (worthless) showrunner giving me "feedback"

Negative (SiLA Drama) Places:
1. Hollywood: Ookie (dirty) town
2. Raleigh's Bathrooms: Ookie (small and cramped) potties
3. Palms Thai: Ookie (bad pad thai with tofu) class dinner

Negative (SiLA Drama) Things:
1. 3-hour days: Ookie (short and worthless) class times
2. One week off: Ookie (lack of learning) break in our $10,000 schedule
3. Communication breakdown: Ookie (typical of Columbia) bane of this program's existence
4. Copier: Ookie (Murphey's Law Loving) Breakdown Beast

So there it is. In all, I met good people, but the lack of classtime and respect from one of the instructors was very disappointing. Here's to producing next week!

Can anybody find me... good pad thai?

No one in Los Angeles seems to understand how to make tofu pad thai. The tofu is disgusting. This county is 0 for 3 in terms of Pad Thai.
I miss Thai Spoon on Harrison and Wabash in Chicago. It may not have been the very best Thai ever, but it was cheap and delicious. The tofu was always perfect--dried before frying. $6.06 plus the $1.35 for a bottle of Coke in the film building was my favorite lunch. Not even AstroBurger can compare. And I never had to pay for parking.
Point is, for being a diverse, desegregated city in comparison to Chicago, Los Angeles has not provided any good ethnic food. It's frustrating. I cannot live on burgers forever.

Toyotas and Tofu: The Bane of Los Angeles.
I need to get out of the area for awhile. I've been here six consecutive weeks. I haven't stayed in a city this long in about three years. Perhaps I will drive down to San Diego some weekend.

After an Evening without Internet

Last night, the internet in my home ceased to work. Today on the lot, the internet for my building was down. I was 30% cutoff from the world. Instead of panicking, like I do, I worked on my spec, uninterrupted.
Needless to say, my brain hurts. Spending that much time with a television show is not pleasant, and I have no idea how one could write for television as a career. My realization that I am not meant for the world of TV Drama is now complete. While I would not turn down a job in television, I am not going to pursue one with any sort of fervor.
Fervor is a dirty little word, isn't it?

I will be so relieved when I am back in film classes. It is a shame, though, that saying good-bye to my taste of television means saying good-bye to a few of my classmates. Rachel, in particular, will be missed. Without her around, I will probably get fat from a lack of hiking or mobility in general. She also forced wit out of me on a few occasions, and it was nice to have to be sharp and have to pick up on sarcasm.

Alas, I have distracted myself long enough now that my internet has returned. There are still pages to be written and edits to be made. This episode of Without a Trace may kill me before tomorrow. While I enjoy the show immensely, I want to be writing other things in such a bad way.
Whatever. The sooner I start, the sooner I can finish, and the sooner I can get back to my cop and my koala.

This Sunday's Nouning: A Recap of The SiLA TV Drama Writing Program. Lucky you.

Dear Toyota, I Hate Your Stinking Guts.

I drive a Pontiac with a Toyota engine. Most days, I feel I drive it rather well. However, for all intents and purposes, I do not drive a Toyota vehicle. In Los Angeles, that fact alone makes me a better driver than about 10% of the Los Angeles area.
Toyota drivers are the worst. Especially if they drive a Prius. This is pretty easily explained when you think about the ideology behind buying a Toyota:
-Folks who buy Toyotas are usually middle-class people who want good gas mileage and a decent safety rating. They don't appreciate well-engineered cars that hold the road, nor do they seem to understand the need for windows in a vehicle.
Having just purchased a car, and having considered purchasing several of Toyota's models, I can safely say that these things are riddled with blind spots. All of them. Especially the Prius. They are also not designed to hold the road. Now, my car is no German wonder or anything, but I can see, and I know that when it rains or snows, I'm golden. In fact, I've driven it through a snow storm. I've also driven Toyotas in flurries to find myself a little scared.
So they are soley worried about money. They drive too fast; they drive to work. They double park to ensure a lack of contact. They're cold and angry people.
-Folks who buy the Prius are morons. It gets only 10 miles a gallon better to the gallon than most fuel-efficient non-Hybrid cars, and they all meet emissions standards. However, when you examine the cost of owning and maintaining a Prius versus the amount saved in gasoline, the numbers do not add up unless you plan on owning the car for more than seven years. These cold, money-saving bastards are screwing themselves out of their own almighty dollar. Eventually they must realize this and their conscious suddenly feels conflicted. They will not hold onto a car to the point that it becomes ugly or outdated. They're angry and dissatisfied. And a danger to others on the road.
I think everyone must agree, then, that Toyotas are responsible for more evil than good in this world. Car accidents, road rage, a lack of moral conscience and proactive environmentalism have made these cars the bane of my driving existence.
Ban the Toyota. Buy anything else. Buy Pontiac, Mitsubishi. If you can, buy German. Or buy a damned Honda.

Nouning: The Academy Awards

I just returned home from Hollywood where a group from class watched The Oscars from behind the Kodak Theater. It was a cool night, albeit a little not full of surprises.
This week's will include positives and negatives.

Positive (Oscar) People:
1. Sean Penn: Awesome (Commie, Homo-loving) Best Actor
2. James Franco and Seth Rogan and Janusz Kaminski: Awesome (Comedy) Presenters.
3. Jack Black and Jennifer Aniston: Awesome (Animation) Duo.
4. John Legend: Awesome (Peter Gabriel Replacement) Performance
5. Kate Winslet: Awesome (Best Actress) Acceptance Speech.
6. Dustin Lance Black: Awesome (Kind and Compassionate) Acceptance Speech.
7. Danny Boyle's Daughters: Awesome (Keep an eye on the camera) Oscar Hair.
8. Hugh Jackman: Awesome (Talented) Host

Positive (Oscar) Places:
1. The Kodak Theater: Awesome (Incredibly Close) Re-vamped Theater.
2. India: Awesome (Slumdog) Country
3. Japan: Awesome (two winners) Country
4. Germany: Awesome (Holocaust Film) Backdrop

Positive (Oscar) Things:
1. Natalie Portman's Dress: Awesome (Pink) Deviation from the Champagne Nastiness.
2. Homage to the Movie-Musical: Awesome (Baz Lurman-coordinated) Routine.
3. Hugh Jackman's Opener: Awesome (Hilarious) Kick-off
4. Best Supporting and Lead Actor/Actress Presentation: Awesome (New) Oscar Gimmick.
5. Amy Adams' Necklace: Awesome(Non-Diamond Boringness) Jewelry.
6. The Documentary Guys: Awesome (Magical Shout-Out to Herzog) Prolonged Thank-you.
7. Danny Elfman's Score: Awesome(Overlooked) Nominee.

Negative (Oscar) People:
1. Sophia Loren: Ookie (Old) Presenter.
2. A.R. Rahman: Ookie (Boring Thank-You) Winner.
3. Daniel Day Lewis: Ookie (Absent) Presenter

Negative (Oscar) Places:
1. Japan: Ookie (Beat Israel) Winner for Best Foreign Film.
2. Highland Ave.: Ookie (Closed) Main Road.

Negative (Oscar) Things:
1. Slumdog's Score: Ookie (Elfman-Beating) Score Winner.
2. Champagne-Colored Dresses: Ookie (Boring, Not-for-White-Women) Color of the Season.
3. Predictability: Ookie (Hope-crushing) Trend.
4. Disney-Channel Stars: Ookie (I know they're people but not really) Vanessa, Zac, and Miley.

And that's that.
Also under negatives but not fitting the format: lack of Hellboy 2, Iron Man, and James Franco nominations.

Socks to be me. Ding dong the mouse is dead.

This week has been ridiculous, but tonight I received the saddest ego-boost ever.
Where to begin: my car has a stalker. We've established this.
Yesterday, before a job interview, a mouse ran across my foot and my bedroom floor. He stayed in there for a bit, my roommate locked him in, and then I had to drive her to work. I came home and opened my door. Then I went and bought a trap. This morning, a mouse, perhaps the same one, was dead in the kitchen. I slept on a pull-out couch. So unpleasant.
Also yesterday, I went to a friend's house to hide from the mouse. We ended up playing pool in Beverly Hills, then going on a Garden State-meets-Pineapple Express adventure into Bel Air.
Today, toured Paramount. Bay may or may not have been there. I wish I could have seen him.
Later today, I called Christine because I received a beautiful pair of custom-made socks in the mail. That makes two packages and one letter this week. Anyway, the point is, I realized that I took so many of my friends for granted while I was in Chicago. It's a strange realization, especially because I love them so much. But I never realized until they were so far away how vital all of them were to my development as a person. While sitting along the pool today, I discussed with Rachel how certain people are in your life for a time, and perhaps they leave, but the change they make in you is forever. While I believe I will see Christine, Jordan, Andy, Mike, Cody, Paul, Nick, Connor, Sabrina, Jim, and the others again, if I don't, at least I will always have the person I am today and the person I will become, which is infinitely happier and more fulfilled, compassionate, and loved than I would be otherwise. I only hope they can say the same of me. After tonight, talking with Christine, I think there's hope of that.
And damn it, I'm a sucker for hope.

Here's to a better couple of days!

My Car is Being Stalked

Apparently, my car has a stalker or two.
This morning, around 5 a.m., my roommate Georgie came knocking on my door. Having just seen The Omen two days ago, I was scared and it took me a second to respond. Apparently, two people were outside starting my my car. They set off my other roommate's car alarm. Not wanting to go outside, and not sure where these car stalkers had gotten to, Georgie called the police. When the officer came over, he said there were no scratches or signs of forced entry on my car, but that perhaps it was tree branches that set off the car alarm. But I don't think Georgie would mistake tree branches for people. Oddly enough, though, there were also no footprints. I'm totally puzzled. My car has a ghost-stalker. Maybe it's the exotic appeal of my Illinois license plate or the total soccer-momishness of the hatchback. I dig it, so it's no wonder two mysterious strangers would find it appealing as well.
But honestly. Weird as hell.