Second City Training and lotsa stuff

way too much has happened recently to blog it all. Biggest news is that I completed Improv training and Sketch Writing at Second City in Chicago! woo

Met a ton of excellent people and got to know Adam and Andi better. Very interesting trip.
bit of my sketch writing (draft)
yesterday in writing we did an exercise where we deconstructed a fairy tale and then wrote a sequel. Mine was Goldilocks and the sequel was this ten point thing

1. Goldi’s mother Ravenlocks hears about the slaughter of her daughter

2. RL finds a gunsmith and test fires weapons

3. Bazookas were too loud

4. Lasers were too bright

5. chooses a M1A1 rifle with 30 round banana clip and M203 grenade launcher

6. finds cabin and kicks in door like she’s Chuck Norris

7. spray kitchen with all 30 rounds turning mama and baby bear into ground bear meat

8. drop rolls into living room and blast grenade at Papa bear. blows him to smitherines

9. fires up their grill

10. has bear bar b q

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went to see a cerazy number of acts while I was there. One highlight was Susan Messing and Frank Caliando. Amazing long form show at THE ANNOYANCE.
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I also wanted to add a link to my Headshot/resume. feel free to pass this on to anyone looking to hire a dedicated professional gifted actor and comic genius. (that would be me) Oh, did I mention modest? And a total team player. call me.

Lost my six jets, what a drag!

In the "life is crazy" category, I feel bad for the texas billionaire, Allen Something or other, who lost his six private jets, as the government is prosecuting him on a ponzi scheme.

He was complaining because he now has to go through security like most people. "I have to take my shoes off now" wah!

I am one of those odd people who actually likes to fly and don't mind the shoe thing too much. If I am flying it means I have something to do, and I have a budget to do it. That's the positive side of life.

Of course with that weird crash of the Air France jet, you have to wonder what is safe? I guess the odds are still in our favor flying, but when the engine in my Jeep fails, I can pull over to the side of the road.

Speaking of road, the road trip to Chicago and Second City is right around the corner. I'll be traveling with Andi and Adam, that should be interesting in its on right. I almost said it will be a trip. And it will, in all senses of the word.

Spending time back in Chicago. All of it is going to be amazing.

Oh, by the way, # yeah and $. I did a search on symbols in google and yahoo, and neither of those showed up. What does that mean?

blogosphere facebook twitter, et al

How much is too much? On Tuesday night my youngest daughter graduated from high school and one of the speeches was about how techical information was doubling every couple years now. Computers have gotten faster since you started reading this article. (barely joking there)

Social networking sites, online communication, tweet, twitter, faceSpace, MyBook, my other book, online articles, internet, brown paper tickets, online booking, my vacation –>priceline expedia cheap tickets. AAAAAHHHHHH!

Am I on overload yet? How the frack are we supposed to keep up with all this, or maybe should we even try? Twelve years ago I was on the cutting edge. I had an online blog, Chronological Disorder on GeoCities. Now I have blogs for four or five functions. Plus tracking SEO content, keywords, google ads, adwords, craigslist, freecycle. Wow the list just keeps on going.

Soon I am going to have to have a firewire jack into my skull. It’s coming, mark my words, it is coming. Do I want that? Maybe I should really learn how to type instead of this odd Mavis Beacon style of half knowing where keys are located. Hold on a second I have a text coming in on my phone. (full qwerty keyboard, not an option, a necessity) now I forward the text to Twitter, gotta keep my followers happy. They are hungry to hear of my latest non-event. Did I just cough? Better twit it.

Where are we all going with this? There is a split in the world with the online and the offline. I have events in my life that my younger brother never knows about, parties, shows, gigs…He’s of the off line group. He doesn’t want an on line life, and doesn’t see the need. My 80 year old mother has e-mail, my younger brother doesn’t. Huh?

I think we are nearly at the point where if you don’t have an internet connection you are going to be left behind. I will never give up my on line life, but sometimes I really wonder what would happen if I did.

Have I mentioned I am now involved in another business as a full partner? Coaching Tools and HR support material. Very rich package.

Slumdog Millionaire and the return of "The Amish Oracle"

Not really sure why I had two of the same posts and I don't know how to delete one, so I'll just post another bit of info.



Last night we finally watched Slumdog Millionaire and I have to say I was not really impressed. Why was this film the darling of the Oscars? I’m not saying I didn’t like it, but it was just OK. On the bright side, I didn’t pay for the rental. Steph and Zack had friends spend the night and one of Steph’s friends rented it. We just glommed on her rental. Hey it was just sitting around the house begging to be viewed again.

When did sleepovers become a part of American teen life? I know when I was a kid the only time there was a sleepover was if we were setting up a tent in the yard and building a fire and making smores and all that good stuff. And that was rare. I mean, I always heard about girls having slumber parties, but that was also not like a regular thing. Now it’s like my kids have someone over, or they are spending the night elsewhere, nearly every weekend. Funny how things change.

Back to Slumdog, I am still trying to figure out the popularity. The story was pretty good. **Spoiler alert** Spoiler alert even though probably everyone else has already seen this movie. I am usually last in line. Who doesn’t want to see someone who in enherently good win in the end? But wait. He wasn’t all that good. Stealing shoes, cheating tourists, in trouble with the law. The most crazy part was when he jumped into the shit and was covered head to toe with crap. I almost gagged. So yeah, coincidentally all the answers on the millionaire show tied right in with his odd life story. So if there would have been one question where he didn’t have a Colt shoved in his face, he might have missed that. The odds are so ridiculous, who could really believe it? And then the police are torturing him to find out how he’s cheating to win the game? Is that really even remotely possible?

I dunno. I’ll just let that go now.

On other fronts, we had a good rehearsal for Dutch Blitzkrieg yesterday. The new show is coming together nicely. You’ll see some old favorites like the Amish Oracle and The Dating Game, but there are also some new games like Four Square and Evil Twin. The show is going to be our best ever. Boy Wonder Productions are also coming back in July to film a documentary about us. Did I already mention that? That’ll all be after the Chicago trip which is going to be awesome.

Filming Documentary, and off to Chicago on Scholarship

Latest news is that I got a scholarship to go to the Second City intensive training in Chicago. It's been about 21 years since I've been in Chicago, and am looking forward to my return. Second City is famous for the lineup of comedic stars that it has produced: John Belushi, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Tina Fey, Mike Meyers, Rachael Dresch, I could go on and on. And now me. I am attending for improv instruction and comedy writing. getting a scholarship was just icing on the cake. (also now I'll have money to eat and stuff - a bonus)

Our production company is also coming back to town to film us and produce a documentary which will be coming to the small screen in your living room. It's going to be a tool to spark interest in our reality show, which is still being shopped around the networks.

In other news, I am completing the 'how to start and run a paranormal investigation group' book. It started out as the handbook for Pennsylvania Paranormal, but is morphing into this other thing, which will be for sale within the month, hopefully.

I also just got back from a Navy Convention in Norfolk VA, part of my 'regular' job. Some of it was boring, but other things were of interest. Navy Crane Center put it on, and it was mostly about safety and crane application and construction. I've been running and teaching cranes for about 30 years now. God, that's a long time.

About all for now. Youngest daughter graduates in a few weeks, youngest son just turned 16 and is looking to get his driver's permit. Yikes.

Improv Weekend

it was a pretty cool weekend albeit extremely busy and lots of driving. Started out off from work friday because of the 'good friday' thing. That morning I was working on the pool. grr. I drove to Hellerstown to get a good deal on a used pump, saved about 200 bucks doing that. Then got home and installed it. Works.

Friday night we went to Philly to see the NCrowd. Good show. It gave us a few ideas for our shows. The next few rehearsals/practices will involve games from there. If we like, and do well, they could appear in new shows.

Saturday we again drove to Philly to see Comedy Sportz. Interesting concept of two teams competing in a friendly fashion to see who can get more laughs and be more creative. Also recommended. Same deal, sharing ideas and incorporating them soon into our presentations.

Then sunday down to Baltimore for Easter/family stuff. Deb's family actually, although I've been goign long enough that I know most folks there (at least recognize them. Names are gradually coming)

This week is busy busy. Practice with DB Monday and the rest of the week at rehearsals for Driving Miss Daisy. I'm working the sound effects for the opening weekend.

Paranormal

So the latest news in my paranormal world is that two members of our group have splintered and are forming their own group. I talked to one of them and they are looking to ramp things up and do it as more than just a hobby. So the question is, do we want to ramp it up as well? I already have a full schedule and one reality show in the works, do I really want to start working on another one? Does the world need or want another paranormal show? Those shows are personality driven and I have a great personality. (so I've been told) plus I have comfort in front of an audience. hmmm

On other fronts, hockey game this weekend. Last of the season for the Royals. Taking Zack and a few others, I guess. Deb and Steph are doing the Vagina Monologues this weekend, so another fun-filled weekend will fly by.

So with Paranormal and Vagina appearing in this post, how will it come up on search engines? only the paranormal vagina can tell. Oooooh, it's psychic, too. The psychic paranormal vagina, coming to a theater near you. Oops, I said coming. I didn't mean anything by that. The coming paranormal psychic vagina. sounds like a reality show to me. : P