I can’t believe that I haven’t written since Friday. I have a good excuse though: when I wasn’t at the Star Trek convention, I was playing NetHack. Can you believe that I’ve played nethack for over 10 years, and I still haven’t found the goddamn amulet of Yendor? I even play pocket rogue on my handspring, and I haven’t beaten that, yet.
It’s truly sad.
Anyway, it’s been a cool few days, and I’ll do a quick recap here:
Thursday, we did another studio run through of my show, for G4. I’m not allowed to get into specifics, or G4 will send their hired goons after me, but I will say that I am extremely excited about my show. I think it’s going to be one of the best ones on the network.
Sometimes, when I’m working on something, I’ll get this “oh my god this is going to suck” feeling. It can take a few days, or even as long as a few weeks to settle in, but once it’s there, it doesn’t go away, and there is nothing worse for me than working on something that I know is going to end up sucking.
Fortunately, I do not have this feeling about “Arena”. Matter of fact, I am extremely proud of what we’re doing, and I can already see stuff that’s going to get cooler with time.
Friday, I went to the Creation Grand Slam convention in Pasadena. It was a good time. I got to meet lots of fans, and many of them told me how they read my lame website, and that they really liked it.
I even got to meet a WWDN reader, named Mike, who came all the way from Swizterland! He was wearing a WWDN T-shirt!!!! I took a picture of him, but I’m lazy, and I’ll post it later on.
I was so excited to hear from so many people that they read my site. I mean, I can look at the stats, and see that I get lots of traffic, but it’s something completely different to actually meet real people, and have them tell me how much they like it. I heard from people, over and over again, that they thought my site was funny, insightful, and unlike any other “celebrity” site on the net, to which I would respond, “That’s because it’s not a celebrity site. It’s WWDN!” Hey, it was funny at the time.
Friday night, I did the J. Keith vanStraaten show at ACME, and there were TEN people in the theatre (which only seats 99 people) who were WWDN readers!! And get this: 6 of them were girls! Hot girls!
YES! Uncle Willie’s still got it!
*metal fist*
*devil horns*
Oh, speaking of the metal fist, I was listening to System of a Down on the way to the show, and I had this thought: Toxcicity really reminds me of Metallica, circa “…And Justice for All”. I’m down for SoD, because they’re hometown boys, from Glendale.
Rock.
Anyway, the show went really well. I felt like Keith and I were really in synch with each other, and we were able to give up lots of the funny.
The next show is on April 12th. Make reservations now!
Saturday was also really cool at the convention. I got to meet many more people, had the time to actually sit and talk with some guys who I always see, but never get a chance to visit with, and play a practical joke on my friend Aron, who played Nog on DS9.
I also ran into Jonathan back stage, and he says to me, “Do you know who got your part?”
I told him no, I didn’t.
“Jeremy Piven,” he tells me.
He tells me that I did a great job, and he really wanted me to have the role, but they needed to go older.
I tell him that I sot of knew, when I walked in and saw that I was easily 10 years younger than everyone else, that I wasn’t the guy.
“Well, I thought you were the guy. And I really appreciate you coming in and reading for me. You shouldn’t have to do that.”
He then tells me that he was having a really hard time finding an actor for the role, and his wife said to him, “Why don’t you bring in Wil?”
So, he tells me, that I need to give all the credit to his wife.
While I’m talking to Johnathan, WILLIAM FUCKING SHATNER goes on stage, and I listen to him for a few minutes. He does a really great job with the fans, you know? As I was watching him, I was thinking to myself, “Goddamn, man. That guy is 70 years old.”
I went back, and signed some more autographs for people. I gave lots of trading cards away to little kids, and I met some really interesting people: I met a guy who is working on a linux distro which he swears will take over the desktop. I met a guy who is called “Red Shirt” by all his friends, because he was killed by Worf in the 7th season of TNG. I also met his girlfriend (I think) who is, get ready…a full-on porn star. Only at a Star Trek convention could you meet someone who is going to change the world, and a porn star within minutes of each other.
Saturday night, I had hoped to go out and see the closing of Paul Frank’s show here in LA, but I ended up going to sleep at 9:30.
On Sunday, the convention was winding down, so I spent most of the time wandering around, looking at stuff in the dealer’s room (where, for the first time in hundreds of conventions, I didn’t buy a single thing! My wife was so happy). I did get to see this guy I know named Gabriel, who I know from way back when. He was that kid in Trekkies, and he’s also on Beat The Geeks from time to time. Gabe is a really, really good guy, and, like me, he has left that 14 year-old weenie behind, and, like me, people still give him shit about it.
But we had fun joking with each other, and we even traded autographed pictures.
The only thing that I didn’t like about the convention was the talk I gave on Sunday. There were only 20 or so people there, because they’d booked me into the little room, against Ricardo Freakin’ Montalban in the big room. Now, honestly, who are you going to go see? Mr. Rourke, or TV’s Wil Wheaton?
Duh.
Because there weren’t a lot of people in the room, there wasn’t a lot of energy in the room for me to draw on, and I just sucked. I think I was able to get a few good stories out, but I left feeling very let down. Fortunately, I don’t think that the crowd felt let down, but I didn’t meet the standards I’ve set for myself, at all.
Luckily, the whole weekend, I didn’t meet a single weirdo, or anyone who needed to tell me how much they hated me. I’m looking forward to the next show.
One last thing: Last night, the family and I gathered around the old TV to watch “The Simpsons”, which is a Sunday night ritual in our house…only to find that FOX was running Independance day. We couldn’t figure out why, until Anne and I remembered that last night was the Oscars.
Duh again.
So we watched just a little bit of it, and I must say that watching Halle Berry accept her Oscar made me cry like a little sissy bitch.
See, The Academy is dominated by old white guys, and women of color have been marginalized for 74 years in the awards.
Watching Halle Berry win, and then Denzel Washington, was not insignificant, at all.
Here’s what Halle Berry said, which is our Thought for Today:

“This moment is so much bigger than me. It’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. I am so honored, I’m so honored, and I thank the Academy for choosing me to be the vessel from which this blessing might flow.”

I really like my dog.

I read this in the soapbox, and thought I’d post it here, because it put a huge smile on my face:
12 February 2002
Official! Wil Wheaton Now Coolest Person in the Cosmos
Yes, I realize that I’m a bit late to the party, seeing as how it’s a month out of date…but it made me giggle, regardless.
So how was your weekend?
Mine rocked. I spent the entire day on Saturday with my brother, at the race track.
Well, it was more like at the micro brew festival, which was in the infield at the race track, but the important thing is, we tied several onions to our belts, which was the style on Saturday, and we had a great time. Then I got to go out to dinner with my wife, and I made her watch “Go”, which I really enjoyed in the theatre. I described it at the time as “Pulp Fiction for 20 year-olds.”
Sunday was spent cleaning up the house, which is something that I always enjoy doing. I love getting rid of stuff, and taking control of the house back from the piles of laundry and dishes in my kitchen.
Yeah, Anne and I were working so much last week we didn’t have time to do laundry. The good part of this is that when I went to vaccuum my bedroom, there really wasn’t any dirt on the floor…thanks to the laundry covering it.
Har.
We had a HUGE storm last night, which absolutely covered the mountains behind my house with snow, and made it look like we’re having winter again. Which means that this weekend it’ll be right back into the 90s again. Weird.
Did anyone else see “The Simpsons” last night? I love it when they do parodies and “Simpson’s versions” of well-known stories, like The Odyssey, as they did last night. Something that’s always impressed me about the Simpsons is that their writers reward smart, well-read people, without alienating average folk who just want to watch funny pictures..like George W. Bush, for example. I bet FOX, with it’s current catering-to-the-lowest-common-denominator (Temptation Island, When [X] Attacks!, Celebrity Boxing) is the single more popular network in the white house.
Until Ashcroft comes over. Then it’s time for TBN!
Last night, on KLOS, they played the entire Midnight Oil album, Diesel and Dust. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time, and was my one of my earliest exposures to music as activism, outside of “Freedom Rock” (“Hey! Turn it up, man!”)
I bring this up because they’re playing concerts in LA this week: at House of Blues in Anaheim Tomorrow, and in Hollywood Thursday, and SoCal residents may want to go see them, and the tall bald man. 🙂
Our Thought For Today comes from Halle Selassie:

“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior, and another inferior, is finally, and permanently discredited and abandoned….until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes…there will be war.”

Night before last, I got home very late from work.
When I checked my messages, there was one from Jonathan Frakes, who said that he was casting a show, and there was “a wonderful acting opportunity for Wil Wheaton in it.”
I can’t tell you how excited I was. To have one of my friends call me, at home, to tell me that they’re casting something, and they wanted to put me in it…well, it was awesome.
Now, I’m my excitement is tempered, because the last time I was promised a role in a movie I got a whole bunch of nothing, but there’s something about Jonathan. He wouldn’t call me if he didn’t really think I could handle this role.
So yesterday, at 12:30, I get a call while I’m at work that they want to see me at 2PM for Jonathan’s project: The Twilight Zone.
That’s right, they’re doing it again! I love the Twilight Zone, the most. When I was a kid it scared the shit out of me, but in a good way. The first thing I ever wrote was an adaptation of one of the scariest episodes, when I was like 11.
So I get the call at 12:30, the sides arrive via FAX at 12:45, and I have 30 minutes to prepare 16 pages.
Somehow, I manage to get a handle on this character, a task made much easier by the high quality of the writing. It’s specific and clear, so I get an understanding of what the character is immediately, and I’m able to add my own shading and color to him really quickly.
When you look at a script, it usually tells you what the writer wants; what he’s going for. All the actors coming in should know that, and should be able to meet the demands of the material. In my experience, sitting on both sides of the table during auditions, the thing that makes the difference amongst all the actors who come in to read is that shading and color; that little extra understanding, or that ability to recall something from your real life is what’s going to make a difference, and get you the role.
Of course, 30 minutes is not exactly the best amount of time to create this complex character, but what’s great for me about not having all the extra time is I am forced to trust my instincts (which are almost always right on, but usually end up getting over analyzed. I can be a little too smart for my own good).
So I am thinking of all this stuff, all the various colors I can add to this character, and the experiences I’ve had in my own life which I can draw upon, while I’m driving over to the audition, which is in the middle of downtown LA, at a place called “LA Center Studios.” I’ve never been there before, but the place is really cool and creepy at the same time. It feels like the set of a 70s post-apocalypse movie. The floors are all marble and linoleum, the walls are all wood, with these strange metal accents, and the whole place is only about 20% occupied, so it really feels like, well, The Twilight Zone.
Oh, get this: on my way there? Totally got passed by a high speed chase, going the other way on the freeway. I gave the news choppers the finger. I don’t think they noticed.
So I get there, park my car in the mostly abandoned garage, and try to find the office where I’m reading. That post-apocalypse feeling is reinforced when I walk up 3 flights of turned-off escalators, which are lit by flourescent lights and covered with dust. I mean, I really did expect to come around a corner and see Charlton Heston screaming, “Soylent Green is people! It’s people!”
I finally got to the room where I was supposed to do my reading, and I saw Jonathan, who gave me a huge smile and a warm bearhug, and told me how happy he was to see me. He always has this twinkle in his eye, you know? It says, “I can’t believe I’m doing this! I’m totally getting away with it! Woo! This is so much fun!”
The casting director tells me that they only want me to read the first and last scenes, which is great because I can spend my 15 minutes waiting just focusing on those scenes, while they set up the room for auditions.
Now, I view warming up for an audition like being a relief pitcher: you don’t want to over-work yourself, so you’re tired, but you also don’t want to be warming up when you’re on the mound, either, so you have to know exactly when to get up in the bullpen. It also helps to know that you’re going to just need your curve ball working, and maybe a slider, so you focus on those, and trust that the fast ball will come when you need it.
Did I just lose everyone? I sometimes do that with extended metaphor.
Anyway, I work on those two scenes, and go in. Jonathan thanks me for coming and introduces me to the other producers. He says, “Wil and I know each other, you know.”
“Yeah, I knew him back when he was cool,” I say.
“See? He tells the same story,” he says to one of the producers.
“Well, your story checks out,” the producer says to me.
“That’s a relief. I thought that the 5 year photographic record wouldn’t be enough,” I reply.
We all laugh, and he tells me to begin when I’m ready.
Now, here’s something that I love about being an actor: I was just joking around, and now I get to totally switch gears, and play a guy who starts out honest and earnest, yet becomes corrupted by power. The two scenes show the beginning and ending of that transformation. I love that I can go from joking around, to becoming this character in a matter of seconds.
I do the first scene, and I can see Jonathan out of the corner of my eye, and he I can tell that he’s really into what I’m doing. It fills me with confidence, and I totally relax into this character. He tells me that it was a great job, and asks me to read the second scene. He gives me some direction, and tells me a bit about this character; stuff I already have figured out, but it really makes me feel confident, knowing that what they want is what I’ve already prepared.
I read the scene, and he asks me if I wouldn’t mind doing a third scene. This is a good sign, because he wouldn’t ask for it if he wasn’t happy with what I’d already done.
But I’ve had all of 30 minutes with the material, and I really haven’t prepared this scene, at all…I mean, I read it once, looked at it again when I was waiting, but I am not nearly as confident with it as I am with the others…but I do it anyway, and it feels really good.
I have really good instincts, as an actor. I know when I totally suck, and I know when I’ve done a good job. Again, to use the baseball metaphor: I know when I’ve hit it out, when I bounce back to the mound, and when I go down swinging. With the first scene, I hit it deep to center. With the second scene, I hit it out. I really need to get a stand up double on this third scene, now. So I read it, and that’s exactly what I do. If I’d had some more time with it, I would have gotten a triple, for sure, but I’ll take the double.
I finish, and put down my sides, and Jonathan says to the producers, “He is such a great actor.”
He turns to me and says, “You are such a wonderful actor. You still have it, W.”
Of course, it would be great to get this job, because I’d like to work with him, and I think the marketing opportunity for the studio is huge: Launch the new Twilight Zone with two guys from Star Trek.
But even if I don’t book the job, I will have Jonathan’s kindness and warmth to hold on to. It will be good balance for all the times I read for people who treat me like shit, and, as longtime readers know, it’s all about The Balance.
Updated at 1:03 PM
Just found out that I didn’t get it. Is there an award for coming in second?

Seven things I am grateful for today:

1. Going to Fry’s with my brother, who I haven’t seen in over a month, and him helping me pick out a new computer.
2. My brother telling me, in his way, that he missed me, and would like to hear from me more often.
3. Ferris and Sketch (my cat) sleeping in identical positions on their backs in the middle of my living room.
4. The freedom to loudly criticize my government without fear of being “disappeared”. Yet.
5. A November day, around 1995, when I went with my friend Dave to the beach, and we stood on the end of the pier, watching the huge, storm-driven waves crash against the bottom of the pier, getting our feet wet, and not being afraid.
6. Nolan showing me a sign-up sheet for a summer science program that he wants to attend, proudly proclaiming, “I wasn’t into science last year, Wil, but this year I totally am!”
7. The fact that my wife notices that I curl the tip of my tongue when I laugh really hard. Something I was not even aware of myself.

Our Thought for Today is more of a meditation, than a thought, and it comes from the Tao Te Ching:

“Weapons are the tools of violence;
all decent men detest them.
Weapons are the tools of fear;
a decent man will avoid them
except in the direst necessity
and, if compelled, will use them
only with the utmost restraint.
Peace is his highest value.
If the peace has been shattered,
how can he be content?
His enemies are not demons,
but human beings like himself.
He doesn’t wish them personal harm.
Nor does he rejoice in victory.
How could he rejoice in victory
and delight in the slaughter of men?
He enters a battle gravely,
with sorrow and great compassion,
as if he were attending a funeral.”