mumblings...

Netflix is ripping me off…no not really but from this article I wouldn’t be surprised if I was suspect. I am a movie fanatic and love watching them all the time. I have been more limited in how much I watch though. Ken has a new look, and Viginia Madsen outed him as gay…only in a post Brokeback Mountain would this be safe to laugh at. And last but not least, I got reamed for showing up 15 min. late for a meeting I planned. Honestly, I completely forgot about it but I used my kid as cover and told everyone that he was sick. Nice, huh! I am one twisted dad.

Viva Portugal!

I went and visited my family for the weekend because my little brother came home from living in Portugal for two years on his mission. He has been proselytizing for so long he was a little freaked out by all the worldly ways and about America in general. I know what he’s feeling considering I spent two years in Russia, and coming back to America was way more of a culture shock that going to Russia. I must say though that Russia is a little more sober after I left, either because of my preaching or they’re just running out of alcohol. But anyways, he’s home safe now and brought cute cultural staples like the ones pictured. I had fun playing games, eating, watching the super bowl and of course going to the Train Museum with my eldest son. He’s officially obsessed. We got a new inter-company memo from the president explaining why they sold off the book publishing division, even though they had great returns. Lots of changes to a media conglomerate.

Nominate Narcissism

The Oscar nominations came out yesterday, and despite the applause everyone has lauded on these pictures; it proved to me something that I have been harping on for some time – “Hollywood is out of sync with the rest of the world.” I found a great article that explains more people have seen March of the Penguins than any of the films nominated for best picture. True, the Picture nominees are great films, but what has happened to the grand epics and sweeping love stories that capture the minds of millions, rather than a select target audience. A polite name for these artsy so-so’s is Niche films, or “films that didn’t do near the business we wanted them to so we will tell everyone it was for a specific group of people” It’s the same tactic used when distributors say they are advertising by “word of mouth”. It is sort of fun watching all these executives smile and accept the nominations with pride and honor while inwardly cursing their shortsightedness in mass appeal. True they may say they are happy backing such artistic endeavors, but I’m sure they and their shareholders would be happier if it had been a success. I know I’m ranting, and probably saying a lot of un-PC things, but it seems that the voters are roped into nominating films for PC reasons. Little tyke Brokeback Mountain received a nomination in all of the main categories, whereas behemoth juggernaut the Passion of the Christ last year did not receive a single one in the same categories. People might blame artistic differences, critical acclaim or what have you but the truth of the matter is: Hollywood’s morals are not embraced by most of America, and America’s mainstream morals are not embraced by Hollywood. Hence decline in movies addressing America’s morals, hence decline in ticket sales, hence an upswing of Hollywood patting itself on the back because that is the only way they will get recognition (and hopefully draw more of the mainstream America on whom they despise and rely on) into the theatres! I’m proud to be a part of it.

Merger

So this morning, all the employees at our studio got a memo saying they were merging our Network with a rival one. Now, to me this sounds like an excuse to fire a lot of people but here…decide for yourselves:

“Today we announced, in conjunction with CBS Corporation, that we are launching a fifth broadcast network, “The CW” in September 2006. This new network is a joint venture between Warner Bros. and CBS. As a result, at the end of this current season, we and CBS are ceasing to operate The WB and UPN, respectively, to create a dynamic new enterprise. Press release

This was not an easy decision to make. While we are extremely excited about this new opportunity, it is a bittersweet moment as we conclude the 11 year run of The WB.”

True that is only part of it, but it seems that other people have picked up on the same sentiment (Here and Here). Not only is our resolve being tested on the professional front, but my wife is being tested on the home front. Anyone that can hold down a full time job, raise two kids and do most of the housekeeping should be gilded and have a month named after her, or at least a season. Maybe a good trip to Hawaii would be reward enough though, sometime in the…future.

and because the idea is so very, very funny: Narnia Rap Battle

Not That Famous

Job hunting just isn’t what it used to be. Here, nobody calls you back. Everything moves at such a slow pace. I went to the La Brea tar pits and tried climbing a statue of a sloth and my wife took a picture. It came out looking like I was trying to hump the thing. To break the slothful cycle of the never ending job search I have decided to throw caution to the wind and outright ask people for a break. One such attempt was for a semi-famous actor who started his own production company. Since I am distantly related to his brother’s family, I wrote an e-mail congratulating them and asked about employment possibilities. Well, the wife of the brother of the somewhat famous person got very upset that I had her e-mail address and was scared I was going to forward it on and cause a lot of problems for her privacy….Hmmm. Number one, we live close by, talk every now and then so I am not a stranger. #2 we’re distantly related (by marriage) so I’m not going to forward on a relatives e-mail address for the world to use. And lastly, she’s not that famous. Sure, related to a semi-famous celebrity, but I doubt anyone would be clamoring to get her autograph. I’ll probably get in trouble for writing this but hey, I wanted to let you see how Hollywood works. It's not who you know, it's who you know that's willing to help.

Rose Parade

So rather than go to the actual parade in Pasedena, we went around 10pm the night before to see all the floats. There was very little rain and we felt bad for all the suckas who got drenched, haha. Anyway, the floats were amazing, everything covered in organic material. Leaves, flowers, beans, corn, fruit…you name it. My personal favorite was adobe made out of cinnamon oatmeal. It smelled great. Here is a picture of just one of the floats. We were able to get up really close so it was well worth it. And by the way, I did pick Texas to win…I’m a fan of the Big 12.

Starting Back Up

So I promise that this will not become a once a month thing. I am now back at work in the old corporate offices of the major movie studio (hint: #1 this year in Box Office Draw). Besides my job, a lot of things have started up this past few weeks. My wife’s job, my job search, and even my son started a pre-school. After looking around forever, we found one right across the street which we like. It was pretty funny the first day to see my little Mormon boy, going to a conservative Jewish day care, with Armenian teachers and the Rabbi rockin’ out to snoop dog in the office. My wife was a little concerned that he would be getting some religious training, but the pre-school doesn’t teach religion. Also, I explained to her that I grew up learning about the Maccabees, and getting off school for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, so her fears about possibly providing a future Bar Mitzvah were eased. Work has started slowly for me luckily, which gives me time to focus on finding another job…opps! Did I say that out loud?