Today should be interesting. I turned 39 today and what I thought were my solid birthday plans to spend the day (and weekend) with the girls just changed...as in last night. A friend is working on my car, which wasn't an issue since I was planning on taking Amtrak to the bay for my visit. Now I'm without a plan and without a car.

There are many movies I want to see, so I have that to look forward to. I've never taked light rail up to Folsom, so I think that will be the plan. I may spend a good part of the day theater hopping. I'm used to seeing movies alone and don't mind it.

Birthdays have always been important to me. This one is no different. I'm just finding myself caught off guard by the change in plans.

 

What horrible creature would you like to see in my next installment of "Watch Me Draw"?

Been a while since I've been here. Hope you all are well (all three of you!).

Let's see, I've had a career change since I've last been posting here. Let me clarify, my day job has changed. Nice to be employed!

I just wrapped a short film for the Sacramento Music and Film Festival's 10 x 10 Filmmaker Challenge. (say that three times fast!). It lived up to it's name in the challenge department. I was kicked out of two different parking garages, filmed late on nights I had to wake up at 6 am, fought computer issues, and edited and scored the short in one long day.

I'm not allowed to post the short before the screening at the festival, so if you're in Sacramento, why not come and check out not only what I made, but everyone else's too. The screening is Saturday August 1st at The Crest Theater. Check out www.sacfilm.com for more details.

This whole thing has been a bit weird for me. It's definitely taken me outside of my comfort zone. I was basically dared by my friend Brian to enter the contest. Once I found out he was enterting as well, I agreed, if only for the friendly competition of it all. I usually don't go for local film events, and now that's starting to change.

I walked into the first meeting thinking this was going to be easy, since I have plenty of short horror scripts I could use. The idea of the 10 x 10 contest is to make a short film in 10 days that's under 10 minutes. Easy right? Not so fast...I soon found out that we all had to use their theme (Milestones and Markers) and a randomly selected prop. Mine was a mexican wrestling mask.

You'll have to wait to see what I decided to do with it, but not for long.

I just read in Mr. Lobo's blog about Bob Wilkins' health decline and that he'll be passing soon. It's strange to say goodbye to someone I didn't know personally, but there are connections to Bob that have reached far back into my childhood and some recent projects that made that connection much more close.

As some of you may remember, I was closely involved with the Creature Features documentary "Watch Horror Films, Keep America Strong". By closely involved I mean it was my baby. Thanks to my friend Chuck Jarman, I was brought into the fold, and brought the idea to life, working with Tom Wyrsch and Michael Monahan to make the project special and global. I wanted the world to see how special Bob was (and is) and to show why such a straight-laced guy became a phenomenon in the San Francisco bay area and Sacramento during a pretty wild time. I was on fire with the project, and had already lined up some great things for it, and it grew fast. Long story short, the project turned into a power struggle filled with micro-managing and limits which I think were due to fears of how big I wanted to go with it. Chuck left the project and I did soon after.

I was furious. Hell, I think in some ways, I still am. The project did go on without me, which is good, because it's a story that needed to be told. However, it's a candle flame compared to the raging inferno of cool I had planned. Bob was and is that important to me.

I believed in the project for so many personal reasons. Here was a chance to share my adoration of my childhood hero, and he was suffering from Alzheimers and I wanted to address that. My Grandma suffered from a progressive dementia and since I was her caregiver, I knew personally how horrible that was to the loved ones and to the person afflicted. I worked on the project for free, I wanted 100 percent of the proceeds to go directly to Bob's care, and to Alzheimer's research.

So while the news of Bob close to the end isn't unexpected, it doesn't make it hurt any less. I know very well the finality of death, but I also know that Bob's legacy is large. Large is an understatement actually. He touched many lives, providing entertainment and inspiration to not only the viewers, but to people who ended up going into the entertainment industry.

If anything, it's an end to suffering to a unique, smart and often hilarious man who did something exceptional with his life. Knowing the story of how that all came about, I believe that there were some happy accidents at work, and Bob did what he did for a reason.

Now...although a door may be closing, there are others opening. I wish you well Bob.