Again!?! Fucking Again?

There's been another shooting bursting into the news.

This fucker maybe a sociopath. But he's guilty. Our justice system is innocent until proven guilty. Well, if you are caught with literal smoking guns and body armor, you are fucking guilty. It would be interesting if he pleaded guilty. Not do the whole bullshit dance of "Not guilty by reason of insanity."

He had full body armor and booby trapped his apartment. He was not planning to come back. Maybe at some point the thought of "suicide by cop" left him, but he did it.

When I hear of situations like this, I think "what would I do in this situation?" It may sound nuts, but I would try to do something to stop this fucker. I don't carry a gun, but I know weapons from shooting and handling them. I would get on the ground and wait until he had to reload. Then I would rush the fucker. It would be the last thing he would expect. And seriously if you think you are going to die, go out fighting! Fuck him. Pull  his gas mask off and shove your elbow thru his face. Put your knee thru his groin to his coccyx bone. Gouge his eyes out! This will stop him. Then take his gun and shoot him in the fucking head. Body armor my help with bullets, but blunt force trauma from close up in-fight will still hurt and disable.

Fuck.

Now the news will dismantle everything about the gunman. His possible motives, his life, his family. ABC news reported that the mother of the gunman heard about the shooting and thought it might be him without ever hearing his name mentioned. EXCUSE ME?!?!?! You have a family member that you suspect might be a sociopath and you don't try to do something about it? How many crazy people have to go on murdering sprees before a family does something right?

Fuck!

Comic Con, Day 4

Now for me the con was pretty much over. I didn't have anywhere in particular to be nor was there anything I was dying to see.

I went by Comic Con Film School to say thanks to Sean and bye to the panelists. They are an awesome bunch. I hope we get to do it again next year.

I caught up with Zack in the dealers hall. It was even more crowded than the previous day. All the people who were not able to get tickets for any other day came on Sunday. We decided to leave and go across the street to see what the SEGA gaming people had at their booth. They have a new game, Colonial Marines from Aliens vs. Aliens in a first person shooter mutli-player game. But it also looked like you could be an Alien! That was pretty cool. They had a life sized model of the Alien Queen from the movie. There was a sign that said it was an actual movie prop, but I believe that to be a lie. In the movie the queen was an articulated puppet since it was 1986 and before CGI, which can do anything.

We went to the Hard Rock Hotel looking for the video game Hawken. Zack is writing the novelization for the game. We missed it by a day but while looking around we did find another video game he did write. The creator of the game did the script and Zack did a pass to punch it up. We got VIP treatment when they showed the demo. It looks really cool, but also very hard. Zack said it was hard to write because the player has to make every decision for the characters. They turn to the screen and ask, "What do you want to do, Commander?" I gave one of the developers a business card. I do VO after all and video games require lots of voices. Maybe they will call me for an audition. (That would be awesome...)

It was around 2 pm. I needed to get on the road back to LA. I said good-bye to Zack and Joanna and went across the street to see one last thing. In front of the Hilton were all the Batmobiles from 1966 thru 2012. Too cool to let that opportunity to go by even though I was starving.

I took the trolley to get to my car. $2.50 was a good price to save me another couple miles. Comic Con is a lot of walking. A lot. I got on the road to LA. I took the 15 north because I know the 5 would be packed with people leaving. There was only one accident that caused me delays on the 15. There were 3 or 4 on the 5.

I got home and unpacked. It was only 3 nights and 4 days, but it was tiring. As it should be...

Comic Con, Day 3. My Panel

I'm lucky enough to be a part of Comic Con Film School which is run by Sean Rourke. He brings a bunch of filmmakers and actors down every year and we tell people how to make low to no budget movies. He has a video roll before we come to the stage of  clips of our work on small films. This year I was able to change the clip from the one he had been using since he started the film school. It was my 3 deaths from Pizza and Bullets. I had never seen the clip before so having it on the big screen was nerve wracking.

After the video roll we went onstage and took our seats. Sean started the class in his normal fashion and we would chime in with comments or he would ask us questions. It went well like it has in the past and we had a good time with each other. My favorite part of the class is when he asks us for a horror story from one of the low budget things we worked on. Because shooting low budget stuff sometimes has crazy things going on. Susan almost got shot in the foot while a cast member practiced a quick draw from a holster with a loaded gun! Firstly, middle, and lastly, the gun should not have been loaded. They needed someone who knew how to handle a freaking weapon! Most of the other horror stories I had heard before. Mine was a succinct redo of one I have used for years on this panel.

After the panel we hung out and chatted for 30-40 minutes answering questions.

Now the other thing I had on my plate for the day was to see a panel someone I was friends with almost 3 years ago was speaking on. Something had happened and we drifted apart. She took over as the hardest working person in show business after James Brown died. The panel was for Disney Cartoons which she voices a character in. I was nervous. What happened and what would her reaction be seeing me?

After the panel I approached the stage to say hello. A friend of hers got there just before me and she was focused on her. The friend noticed me silently waiting. When I was noticed she smiled and gave me a hug. We chatted for a bit. I told her how my panel went. But in my head, I was wondering what happened. I thought she hated me. She hadn't answered an email, text, or call in over 2 years. I went with hates me.

She got hustled away to go sign autographs. I walked along side her for a few moment and we chatted some more. Sometime in the next 4 months we'll do lunch. Fantastic.

I caught up with Zack and Joanna again. This time a friend of ours was there too. We walked around the hall  looking at stuff. At a booth we met a sexy Asian woman dressed in basically a fur bikini and leggings. She was Hobacca. It was a funny parody. She had a blinged out Gucci bag bandolier and small bowcaster. She was very funny and bright, and an over achieving Asian. (teaching herself the violin!)

We left Hobacca and went looking for food after the hall closed. A huge cargo train was going down the tracks directly across from the convention center which means the thousands of attendees were trapped. San Diego should really make 2 bridges which go over the street and train and trolly tracks. Waiting for stop lights is crazy when it's thousands of people waiting.

Food was at Old Town. Some Mexican place Zack loves. By this time it was after 8 pm. I'm starving the demons are grumpy which makes me an unpleasant dickhead. The hostess said the wait was an hour. Fuck! We were given a beeper and went shopping. It only turned out to be 40 minutes, but I only had a Mrs. Fields cookie in the past 8 hours.

Food came, we ate. I didn't really care if it was good, I just needed it to be food. We finished dinner after 10 :30 pm and the night needed to be called. I got dropped back at my hotel. I chatted with the people in the room and went to bed.

Comic Con, Day 2

I woke before everyone else. I quickly showered and shaved and went down to the breakfast buffet the hotel has. It was basic breakfast fare, but a lot of it. In 3 days I think I ate a pound of bacon. I went back to the room and changed into my costume for the day. I created a Steampunk Spiderman to wear at the con. I've never seen one before and it looked cool. I walked from the hotel to the convention center. People I  passed said, "Steampunk Spiderman," or "cool costume."

This thrilled me because I was afraid no one would get who I was or think it was a stupid idea. It's a derivation on the theme of Spiderman. One that most would not think of. I tried to keep the costume simple and practical and thought about "how would you fight in it?" If it was covered with a crazy amount of metal and brass and tubes, you're going to get hurt in a fight. I think it's called Steampunk because your goggles steam up and lessen your vision.

I walked around a bit before going to the  Film School room. My friend Jack knew about the costume so when I walked in and sat in the back he nudged 2 others I know and pointed me out. I chatted with them after the panel was over for 30 minutes and then ventured back out into the crowds.

Back in the late 90's I went with my friend Terry to Dragon Con in Atlanta. While we were in costumes there we  became Paparazzi Whores. That's  when you have your picture taken constantly. It's kind of cool getting that attention in costume, because it's like being a celebrity but when the costume comes off you can go places without people knowing you were such and such costume. The paths I walked in this costume took me past the largest number of people I could find because I wanted to be a paparazzi whore. It worked and it was fun. Whoredom was achieved.

After 5-6 hours in costume I went back to my hotel to change and have lunch. Then I went back to the convention to catch up with Zack and his wife Joanna. He had been in meetings all day and was looking to walk around the dealers room. We closed out the dealers hall at 7 pm then went for Chinese food. After dinner we went for Ghiradelli ice cream in old town.

It was late so I went back to my hotel and crashed. My panel was the next morning and I wanted to get some sleep.

Comic Con: Sidebar: Religion

A few years back the Westboro Baptist church showed up and tried to convert the heathen idol worshipping fans. It didn't work. The fans made their own signs and went across the street to harass them. The SD police had to protect them. They left after a day. I'm thinking they went to Sea World.

This year there was 5-7 people quietly holding signs with the usual REPENT type of message. They were not confrontational so the crowd didn't gang up on them. They just turned the 2 sided signs around and stayed out of the way of the 150,000 people passing.

My friend observed a guy on a bike ask 2 of the sign holders a question. It went something like this.

Bike guy: Your unshakeable belief in the bible makes god real?
Sign guy: Yes.
Bike guy: I unshakably believe I am a god. So that makes me a god.
Sign guy: It doesn't work like that.
Bike guy: You just said it did.
Bike guy rides away.

I stopped and asked one of them if the bible was the WORD OF GOD  to be followed without question.
Sign guy: Yes. It's the word of god.
Me: The old testament says I can have slaves, sell my daughter into slavery, stone my children to death for disobeying me, and kill him for wearing a t-shirt made of 2 fibers.(cotton and polyester blends will kill you).
Sign guy: That's not the way it works.
Me: But you said it was the Word of God which should be followed.
I walked away.

I don't understand why they would think they could change the views of fans. The fans probably have a belief system of some kind and it gets them thru the universe. Not once did someone drop to their knees and convert.

Comic Con, Day 1

The drive down to San Diego was a drive. The parking at the hotel was ridiculous. They wanted $30 a night for parking on a room that was 300% of what it goes for on an average summer weekday that is not Comic con. But because it's a huge convention it's okay to gouge your patrons. So I did the almost impossible. I found free street parking with no restrictions for all 4 days 2 blocks from my hotel. Fight power and hooray for my parking karma.

I got to the convention center and got my badge. The room wouldn't be ready until 4 pm so I wandered around the dealers hall a bit. I went and found my friend Larry at the Artists Alley and said hello. We chatted a bit and then I struck out again into the throngs of people to see what was around to look at and purchase. I had a mission. 2 people who couldn't make it wanted something from a couple booths. Exclusives for the con. Now I wasn't sure anything would be left. The "preview night" on Wednesday is not much of a preview if 10,000 people are running thru the dealers room looking for the exclusive things to buy so they can then turn around ans ell them on eBay. I found the booths easily. They were seriously right next to each other. That was convenient. But I had a question for each person. I tried to check my email for clarification. Nothing would go thru. The dealers room is a big concrete and steel box. That leads to lousy reception not to mention the fact that thousands of people are all trying to use the same bandwidth at the same time. I had to leave the hall and go outside to get any service. Then when someone called me back the call went straight to voice mail; without a caller id # I had to call someone else and they messaged the person I was trying to reach on FB. Annoying but it worked. I got the 2 items and went back to my car to put them in the trunk.

I was able to check into the room early so I dragged my bags and costumes to the hotel then trekked back about a mile to the convention center. If you ever go to Comic con be sensible and were comfortable shoes. Your feet will thank you later. I called my friend Zack and we hung out for a bit. He's comic book writer and was taking a bunch of meetings everyday to pitch ideas for work.  Like an actor, he'll do practically any gig that comes along.

I had a mixer for Comic Con Film School in the evening. I went to the Marriott and hung out there with the gentleman who puts me on the panel every year and some of the other panelists. I hung out and gorged myself on small food. that took the edge off the demons which had awoken in my stomach. I bid adieu to the people at the mixer and went to catch up with Zack at some eating establishment which for the life of me I can't remember. Wait! it was a mexican place. Baja something. I ate a little bit of chips and salsa and nachos but wasn't really hungry.

After dinner we walked to Petco park. Rob Zombie was having a party or something there which was free. We walked in and there was a DJ on a stage playing heavy metal. A huge video wall behind him was playing weird and kind of disturbing images and videos which had nothing to do with the music. It was like a goth club, but no one was dancing. they were just sitting on the grass.So like a goth club for fat listless goths. Off in the distance we saw a car on a stage. What was it? It was the car the Munsters drove in the TV series and Rob Zombie used in video or something. Next to the stage was a group of people behind a barricade in front of a large fenced off area. We watched them for a moment and tried to discern why they were there. I asked someone what was going on. "Zombie run," was the reply. So basically these people paid money to do a run, like a mini marathon, thru the tunnels and walkways of Petco park. And be chased by zombies while doing it. I looked where the zombies were on the side of this large fence. I couldn't really see them because of the covering on the fence, but there were a bunch in a cage with their arms raised, moaning and shambling about. A siren went off, the gates swung back and the runners went passed thru the gate. It closed again and then the zombies were let out of the cage. I heard moaning and screaming, and I never saw the runners emerge from any other part of the structure nor did I see them ever again. I guess the zombies won.

After that it was late. I walked back to my hotel and crashed.

Street Preacher vs. Atheist

I was walking around Burbank near some movie theatres and saw a street preacher standing on a bench. He had a small sound system set up and he had free Bibles to give away. There was a skinny 20 something guy on a bike talking into the mic. They were debating. I stopped to listen.

The guy on the bike was an admitted atheist. The street preacher was trying to convince the guy that he would be going to Hell unless he started believing in the bible and stuff like that there. And the preacher wouldn't wish going to Hell on anyone. The atheist demanded proof that God exists. (If you don't believe in God, you don't, therefore, believe in Hell.) The street preacher would reply with chapter and verse. This, of course, is his proof. The atheist wasn't buying it. "When I ask for proof you say, "in the Bible..." was the atheist's reply. It was really the preacher's only answer.

The street preacher didn't really see the flaw in his proof or couldn't argue something other than one way. He did ask the atheist if he believed in the Big Bang. "Yes." was his reply. "Prove it." was the street preacher's retort. "Well, science has proven there is background radiation left over fromt he Big Bang from 15 billion years ago." Atheist replied. "Prove that." Street preacher said. "It's science. It's been observed and tested." "But is can't be repeated," was the preacher's thrust. "Something doesn't need to be proven twice in a lab experiment to be true." Was the atheist's reposte.

The street preacher contested this as only theory and derided science. It was at this time I got bored. Neither person was going to win.One cannot change the opinion of a rock. The atheist would need to get bored because you can't really argue with people set on denying science. Now some would say that atheists are treating their belief in science as blindly as a religion. That's bollocks. Science changes it's view when shown other evidence. Religion ignores all science to hold onto a belief.

And the whirlygig of time spins on...

Janus

In Greek Mythology Janus is a god with two faces. It's a duality thing. It doesn't necessarily mean what being two faced does now days.

Now, I noticed something recently. Something I've probably been doing for many years. When I look at myself in the mirror, I normally look in my left eye.  I don't know if other people look more at one side of their face than the other, but I seem to prefer the left side. And women probably look at the whole face since they have make up to apply. It might just be a guy thing or a me thing.

I have a theory or 3 why I might look more at one side than the other.
1. The light from the bathroom window adds to the bathroom light on that side of my face. The right side is darker to look at. The eye automatically goes to something that is in more light. 
2. My face, like most people, is not symetrical. (People with symetrical faces seem better looking in a preternatural way.) My left eye is slightly more open than my right eye giving me a more friendly look.
3. Uh, I guess I had only 2...

When actors get headshots eventually some photog will say one side is your "good side." I don't remember which one is my good side, but I think it's the left side of my face. I generally have favored it in prior headshot sessions.

So, do you favor one side of your face more than the other? And would you have ever noticed it?

I probably just messed up how you look at your face...