Wow. I found this via Pyramid at Steve Jackson Games.

Boy, what a day, yesterday. I sat here, all day, working on the old weblog entries, trying to get greymatter working again. I guess that when my site was on the old server, and the server kept having to be reset, because of the traffic and the load, one of the entries got massively corrupted, and was making GM spin whenever I tried to rebuild.
So, I got on the horn with Domesticat, who is currently maintaining GM, and we spent close to 4 hours tracking down this corruption, and fixing it. Thank you, Amy!! Without your help, I would have never been able to figure out the problem. I am in your debt.
Now, I have absolutely loved using GM, because without it, I don’t think that my website would be worth a damn. Well, maybe worth a damn, but not worth shit, that’s for sure. Having the ability to just login and write whatever was on my mind has been amazing, and it’s what I enjoy the most about having this website. It’s been nice that I can use blogger, but I’m afraid that blogger is going to have to start charging, because the economy is in such bad shape, especially the online economy. But I’m going to have to switch my journaling software to Moveable Type, because I think it will do all the things that I want it to do, and, more importantly, be able to handle the load that my site puts on the server. GM is amazing, but it just can’t handle the huge amount of comments we all make around here. While I was working on GM, talking to Amy, we spoke about journaling software…I realize that the vast majority of webloggers feel pretty passionate about the software they use, and loudly proclaim that anything else “sucks!”, but I would suggest this: the best journaling solution is the one that works best for you. When I was at the lame old page, Blogger worked best for me, then GM worked best for me, and now, I’m using Blogger again. Not that it’s a big deal, but it was an interesting conversation, and I thought I’d muse about it this morning.
I know what you’re thinking. I said “all day” and I’ve only accounted for 4 hours of it. Oh, here comes the fun. I followed MT’s extremely easy instructions for exporting GM entries, and importing them into MT, and everything was going beautifully, until we hit an error in one of the date headers. So I poked around for awhile, and figured out what was wrong, and I totally fixed it *beam*. So I restarted the import process, and I foolishly tried to do some other things while it was importing…I’m working on getting the soapbox back and running, so I was importing the databases, and that started to spin, then my brother wanted to try out his new netcam, so we tried to start a netmeeting, and that farkin’ netmeeting crashed my computer. 2 hours into the import. So I restarted my computer, which was an ordeal in itself, because there’s something wrong with my keyboard cable, and sometimes my system doesn’t see my keyboard. So I have to reach around back, unplug the keyboard, and plug it back in. Not that big a deal, right? Well, not unless you set yourself on fire while you do it.
That’s right. I set myself on fire. I keep this candle near my computer, because it smells good and I think the simplicity of fire balances out the complex technology of the computer…but when I leaned over the desk to mess with the cable, my shirt fell into the flame, and caught on fire. I’m sure that I looked very funny, trying to put it out. I should have remembered to “Stop, drop, and roll, Dick, roll!”
The fire extinguished, and computer restarted, I hopped onto my server and killed the runaway processes, and went into MT to restart the whole thing, and guess what? MT is corrupted now. Beautiful. I was trying to delete the entries that had been imported, so I could start over, and the goddamn thing spun, and now it’s completely borked. So I will have to do a complete re-install of MT, which I’m not going to have time to do right away. Dammit. Oh, and I can’t get the database to upload, either. I was so excited, too. The site was going to be so much closer to it’s original…uh..glory(?) The wait will have to continue…because I am about to get really busy…because I GOT A JOB!!!
That’s right. I got hired to be a host and writer for a new TV Network. It’s AWESOME. The network is called “G4” and it’s all about video games, and the people who play them. I am so excited. I get to work with my friend Travis, and, I get paid to write! I start on Monday.
This job is going to be awesome, and the people I’m working for are just amazing. I get to play games all day long, write commentary about video game culture, and, the best part is, when I get work in a movie or series, I can take that job, and write my stuff from home, or the set!! It’s so the best of all worlds.
So, back to my day. When I realized that this wasn’t going to work, I cursed loudly at my computer and the internet, and took Ferris to the pet store for food and treats. I love to take her there, because she gets so excited when we pull into the parking lot, and I let her go to the aisle with the bones, and I let her pick out one. It’s so funny to watch her sniff around, and finally settle on one. While we were there, I learned just how strong Ferris is, because she saw something that excited her, (she has two speeds: excited and asleep) and yanked me into a huge, heavy metal bin, filled with rawhide chewies. My foot smashed against the corner, and I have a huge bruise on it…but while I was regaining my balance, I saw this sign, off to the side of the bin:

Didn’t Find What Your Looking For? Call [something, something]

Read that again. This is a printed sign, in a nationally owned pet store, (PetSmart), and it says “Your” instead of “You’re”. So, I know that it’s probably pedantic, and anyone who reads this site knows that I am not the best speller, and if you were my high school English teacher, you know that I can’t write at all…but “Your” and “You’re” are BASIC FREAKING SEVENTH GRADE ENGLISH!!! Have people really gotten this stupid? Or lazy? Or disinterested?
So I mentioned it to the cashier when I was checking out, and she looks at me, so incredibly put out that I even brought it up (which was done very politely, with a great amount of self-deprecation), and she sighs, and asks me if she should get a manager. I told her that it really wasn’t the most important thing in the world…but I just thought that it made the company look foolish.
Ferris was really ready to go at that point, so I thanked her for indulging me, and we left, got some In-n-Out on the way home, and split the evening between Tony Hawk 3 and website stuff.
All in all, it was a good day. I didn’t even have to use my AK.
I’m off to ACME for the sample class. Remember that you can come and see me tonight in the ACME show.
I’ll leave you with a Thought For Today, from The Dalai Lama:

Our planet is blessed with vast natural treasures. If we use them wisely, beginning with the elimination of militarism and war, every human being will be able to live a healthy, prosperous existence”

A Great Disturbance in the Force

So I’m sure that, by now, everyone knows that George Lucas is putting the guys from *Nsync into the next Star Wars movie.
The resounding cry all over the ‘net has been something along the lines of, “Nooooooo! Bring us more Jar Jar! Bring us a whole army of Jar Jars! Put Wesley in it! Just don’t put *Nsync in there!”
Harry Knowles wrote a great piece at AICN (scroll down a few screens to read it), and there’s a discussion at FARK, and here’s my take on the whole thing, for what it’s worth:
I once met some of those ‘Nsync guys…and they were some of the nicest people I’ve ever spoken to.
They were so nice to my step-kids, who are completely nuts about them, and, even though I really don’t like their music, I have wanted them to be successful, because they seemed like nice people.
Now, putting on my cynical, “burned by Lucas in Episode 1” cloak, I will say this: This makes perfect sense to me, and anyone who doubted Lucas’ complete disregard for the long time, older Star Wars fans, in favor of the 13 year olds who loved Jar Jar need look no further.
Also, I’ve been asked countless times by countless people to suggest some books that they can read about acting and writing. Until I make a page here all about that (a fairly major undertaking), I’ve made a list at Amazon, of the books that I always suggest to people.

Workin’ for the weekend

Well, it’s official. I’ll be bringing my unique brand of comedy to the ACME Comedy Theatre this Saturday night, at 8 PM.
I just got the lineup, and I’m in a bunch of REALLY funny sketches, including 2 that I wrote: “Shut Up, Wesley!” and “Cold*eze”. Both sketches were very well reviewed the last time I did them, and the other material in the show is hilarious.
So if you haven’t made plans for Saturday night, yet, why not come see the funny at the ACME theatre? You’ll be glad you did.
Oh, important note: if you’re some freaky weirdo who would have to travel a thousand miles to come here, stay home.
Unless you’re a hot 19 year old cheerleader. That’s female cheerleader, dorkus.

Sugar Free Jazz

On my way home from getting my hair cut this afternoon, I drove right past the Rose Bowl, where a few people are watching this football game, that used to be played between the two teams with the best record…but something’s all farked up this year, I guess.
I’m sitting in some traffic, and I hear this awful, loud, angry, screaming, explosive sound, and I think that a tanker truck has crashed, or something. I start looking around to see what the source of this was, and there is this huge, firey explosion off to my right…and I realize that the noise is yet another squadron of fighter jets doing yet another fly over. The firey explosion was fire works inside the Rose Bowl.
Boy, my heart was pounding. I’m glad I don’t live near an airport.
When I got home, there was a rather strongly worded email from my friend Mark, who directed “Foreign Correspondents“. He was a little cheesed off at me for forgetting to mention that the film is now available, on DVD and VHS.
Sorry, Mark. Blame the holidays, and the F-18’s.
Lots of people have emailed, and asked when they can see ForCor, and Jane White. Well, you can get those DVD’s and VHS’s of ForCor here, and, if you live in Southern California, you can see a screening of Jane White! Information about our screenings is here.
Also, due to the overwhelming demand, I have put up a Toy Soldiers photo and the Star Trek lunch box on eBay. Have fun!