I'm Back At READCON!

A couple of days ago I had the privilege of participating in READCON 2024, an annual (except when pre-empted by random global pandemics) book-centric pop culture festival organized by Vancouver, WA-based teacher/librarian/Jedi Master Paul Warner.

This was not my first rodeo, er, READCON; long-time readers of this blog may remember that I participated back in 2016 and also in 2018. Back then it was held at Shahala Middle School, but this year it was at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, where Master Warner is now employed.

Like in those previous years, this year's festival also helped to support Autism Empowerment, which is always a good thing. Here I am with John Krejcha (who blog readers will recognize as one of Autism Empowerment's cofounders).

Another cool thing this year was that there was a fellow author there! Jace Schwartz launched his debut novel, The Caverns of Cracklemore, last December, and it was fun chatting with him and sharing my experiences as a grizzled veteran of the publishing industry.

One not-so-cool thing was that unfortunately, this may be the last year READCON takes place, due to staffing shortages. Hopefully the situation changes for the better, because the event was really popular and successful, and it would be great to see it continue!

A Nerd's List Of Things To Look Forward To

Hello there! I'm Art, filling in this week for Brian while he works on some film project called "Hold My Beer." It's been a while since I've done this, but if you're a long-term follower of this blog, you might remember me from a series of posts titled "A Nerd's List of Reasons to Keep On Going," last seen in (gasp) May 2021.

Since then, the series has been rebranded as "A Nerd's List of Things to Look Forward To," in order to give it a more uplifting spin. Because, really, through the practice of gratitude, you can always find reasons to keep on going, no matter how hard things may seem at the time.

Anyway, if you're a fan of pop culture like I am, here are some fun things coming up within the next few months (although of course, if you are such a fan, you probably already know most or all of this).

May

Tales of the Empire (May 4th)

Doctor Who Season 14 (BBC-copyrighted picture above, May 11th)

Furiosa (May 24th)

More filming dates for Hold My Beer (Brian asked me to include this)

June

The Acolyte (June 4th)

July

Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26th)

Filming on Hold My Beer wraps (again, Brian asked me to include this)

I'm sure I've missed a few - or maybe a lot - of things. Let me know in the comments!

-- Art

(Editor's note: you can read more of Art's wisdom in the Joel Suzuki series, all seven volumes of which are currently available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)

Real-Life Side Quests

If you've been following this blog, you probably know that I harbor a belief that we might be living in a simulation; i.e., a big, complicated video game. And, like in a video game a la The Legend of Zelda series, life seems to have both main story quests along with side quests/adventures.

For me, while my current main story quest is "Production of the Hold My Beer Film Project," I also recently completed a side quest called "Blender Replacement," which ended up being structured so much like a Zelda-style side quest that I found it quite uncanny.

It all started when, one day, I was informed by a company I had purchased a blender from that my particular model had a defect that could cause potentially severe injuries, and that I should destroy the unit (by taking it apart and cutting up a washer-style plastic ring, pictured above) and request a replacement part.

So I did. Quest complete? Not even close. During the replacement request process, I discovered that the replacement part could only be sent to a street address, not a P.O. box, despite the original unit having been delivered to my P.O. box. The problem with that is, due to various interdimensional vagaries*, I'm unable to receive mail at my street address unless certain specific conditions are met.

* the actual explanation is much more mundane and boring; I won't go into it here

So, I informed the blender company about this, and they assured me that the specific conditions would be met, so there shouldn't be any issues. Quest complete? Not even close.

As it turned out, the conditions were not met, and the replacement part ended up in a form of postal purgatory that required me to drive to a location several miles away and fill out a bunch of paperwork. I was told that doing so would lead to the replacement part being returned to the location and that I should come back in several days to pick it up.

Quest complete? Not even close.

I returned to the location several miles away several days later, but there was no replacement part to be found. As it turned out, filling out the paperwork did not result in the part being returned to the location; instead, it had been returned to the blender company.

So, I contacted the blender company and told them what had happened. After some back-and-forth, they told me that while they still could not re-send the replacement part to a P.O. box, they could send it to an alternate destination that would work for both of us. I agreed to this, and the delivery was finally, successfully received.

Quest complete.

Now, if you've played a Zelda game before, I'm sure you've encountered quests like this, where you do one thing that you think completes the quest, but instead, it leads you to having to do something else, which leads to something else, and so on. I find that thinking of these real-life adventures in that way makes the whole process more enjoyable than annoying (mostly, anyway). It's like a fun challenge. So, the next time you encounter a situation like this in your own life, hopefully this blog post will encourage you to view it in a similar, positive light.

P.S. To their credit, the blender company was very professional and responsive, and I ended up with a brand-new unit rather than just a replacement part. So, everything worked out for the best.

Kitty In The Window

The next filming day for Hold My Beer is scheduled for early May. In the meantime, I will be editing the Day One footage, planning out shot lists, and working on general production tasks. While I'm doing that, please enjoy this picture of a cat in a window.

Yup, he's enjoying a sunny Spring day!

Bringing A Film To Life

The life cycle of a film, in pictures:

The Script

This is when it goes from an idea in the writer's head to words on a page.

The Storyboard

This is when the writer, who in this particular case has very limited artistic skills, draws a stick figure picture to illustrate the image that they see in their head, based on the script they wrote.

The Workprint

This is a rough demo of the film where the writers are playing the parts of the characters, just to get an idea of what the scene might look like.

The Actual Footage

This is when the real actors are being filmed actually performing the scene.

Filmmaking! Fun, huh?

Day One Of Filming Is A Wrap!

A fun and successful day of shooting two scenes (plus part of a montage) for Hold My Beer was had this past Sunday!

(That's me on the right side of the picture, practicing my "film-bending" moves.)

Thanks to our talented cast and crew, everything went smoothly (despite a few Living In Oblivion-type moments) and we were able to wrap an hour-and-a-half earlier than expected. We were also treated to a delicious lunch! Day Two is scheduled for early May, so in the meantime, I'll be holed up in the editing bay...

More updates to come!

Exclusive Sneak Peek: Props For Hold My Beer

That's right, dear readers - as followers of this blog, you are being treated to an exclusive sneak peek at props for Hold My Beer (props as in objects for use in a film, not props as in "respect," or whatever the kids say. Do kids still use "props" in that way? I'm guessing not, but who knows, I'm old).

Here is a book titled "So You Want to Brew Beer?" by the esteemed and award-winning homebrewing expert Elyk Treblig. Unusual name; I think he's from somewhere in Eastern Europe? Actually, no, this is not a "real" book. It's a fake jacket over a hardcover book that, while real, has nothing whatsoever to do with beer.

And here is a fake homebrewing kit that is basically a poster made from a picture of my stovetop slapped on to the front of a random cardboard box. Show business!

These props will be used in a few scenes of Hold My Beer that we're going to start shooting... this weekend?! Anyway, when the film comes out, you can say that you saw these here first!

TV Roundup, Episode Seven

Holy recaps, it's been about twenty months since the last episode of TV Roundup! Volumes Six and Seven of the Joel Suzuki series hadn't even come out yet. But don't worry, I've been watching lots of TV shows during that time. Here are some of the most recent (beware mild spoilers):

Resident Alien

Dear Show,

Where have you been all my life?* Now that we've met, I can't imagine being without you. You're witty and funny and you do a masterful job of balancing your wacky sci-fi plot with heartfelt human interest morals and side-stories. Your writing is sharp, your acting is impeccable, and your cameos are to die for ("Oh, my!"). Your title card gags are on par with the Simpsons couch gags and always make me laugh out loud. Even your occasional continuity errors are adorable. Also, I am super impressed by how you're able to juggle and intertwine so many different themes and threads - it's an alien invasion! it's a murder mystery! it's a family drama! - in such an effortless and engaging manner. Sometimes I imagine your writers playing a game where the writer of one episode will introduce a storyline and then hand it off to the writer of the next episode while saying "try to resolve this!" and the other writer says "challenge accepted!" Anyway, I hope you go on for a long, long, long time. Just, please, don't jump the shark.

Love,

A Guy Who Writes Love Letters to TV Shows

* The bass player in my band recommended this show to me when it first came out back in 2021, but due to silliness/laziness on my part, I never got around to checking it out until the first two seasons recently dropped on Netflix. And thank the Alpha Draconians they did.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix Live-Action Version)

Look, I understand why some people didn't like it. But that's not a debate I'm going to get into here; there are plenty of other places on the internet for that. Suffice it to say that I, as a huge fan of the original animated show (watching this adaptation reminded me of just how huge an influence the original show was on the Joel Suzuki series), really enjoyed it. And thank you, Show, for the "my cabbages!" and "Pipinpadaloxicopolis" references. Looking forward to Seasons 2 and 3, which are apparently going to happen. Yay, Toph!

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

I'm a fan of romantic comedies. And James Bond movies (mostly the Daniel Craig era). So I figured I would like this show. And I did. Even though I haven't seen the original 2005 movie. Maybe I should. Also, Maya Erskine is hilarious and amazing.

Hazbin Hotel

An animated show about the princess of Hell running a rehab hotel for sinners that started as an indie production and is now on Amazon Prime? And it's a musical? Yes, please! Every time the characters broke out into song (with lyrics that usually included a fair amount of swear words), I always said out loud to my TV, "this show is delightful."

Star Trek: Prodigy

To me, this show started out more Star Wars than Star Trek, but then eventually became much more "trekky" as it went along - maybe even sometimes too much, with generous helpings of fan-service-y references to previous Trek series and a sense that it's almost a continuation of Voyager. But I still liked it anyway.

Until next time!

Hold My Beer Crew Meeting

In preparation for the start of filming next month (!), we held a Hold My Beer crew-only meeting this past Sunday.

When I was a production assistant on another film set last September, one thing I noticed was how seamlessly the crew there worked together. That was due in part to their experience, not only individually, but with each other. While our crew does have a few people with extensive filming experience, we've never worked together before, so the main purpose of the meeting was to go over our methodology and get on the same page.

One of the items we had to decide on was how we're going to, in filmmaking parlance, "call the roll," which is when people say cool things like "roll camera" and "scene one, take one," and "action." There are different ways to do this, but we settled on what is a pretty standard approach according to the research I did (which involved reading numerous websites as well as watching the movie Living In Oblivion).

We also went over the fact that, this being a low-budget production with limited resources, we're just going to have to do the very best we can with what we have. This means focusing on stuff that really matters, like sound, lighting, and performance, while possibly letting go of other things that would be nice to have but aren't completely crucial, like airtight continuity (after all, thanks to this experience, I now catch continuity errors in big-budget productions all the time).

Anyway, while we won't really be sure of how things are going to go until we actually get on set, I feel a little more prepared, and I'm really grateful for everyone's participation and support.

More updates to come!

February Nostalgia Post

"Natsukashii" in Japanese means nostalgia, mostly of the positive sort. Now, I'm not normally one for living in the past*, but every so often, when I have nothing else to blog about I'm feeling wistful during the waning days of winter**, I like to look back at what I was doing during the same time in prior years. Join me for the journey, won't you?

(pictured above: lucky penny from February 2022)

February 23, 2023

"Volume Seven Status Update: Can't Blog, Reading"

Wow, I was still working on Volume Seven? Feels like that book has already been out for a long time now. Maybe that's what happens when you switch from writing to filmmaking? Or, you know, time warp. Yeah, probably time warp.

February 24, 2022

"TV Roundup, Episode Five"

I guess Brews Brothers and As We See It weren't picked up for additional seasons? That's too bad, I liked those shows.

February 25, 2021

"Anime Roundup: Big Name Edition"

You know, I tried, but I just couldn't get into One Piece. Gasp, I know, right?

February 20, 2020

"Quickie Status Updates"

I love this part: "the band and I are making plans to start livestreaming portions of our Sunday afternoon practices on Facebook." Ha! Ha ha ha!

Okay, that's good enough.

* The past, present, and future are all the same, anyway. Time is an illusion

** Alliteration score: 7/10

Random Cat Picture Placeholder Post

This is a cat hiding under a sweater jacket.

"Heh, heh! They'll never find me under here!"

Hold My Beer Update

Time for another Hold My Beer update!

The latest news is that our workprint (basically, a rough draft of the film) is just about complete. All the raw footage has been shot, and post-production (editing, etc.) should be done by next week. It's not great, mind you, and no one but our cast and crew will ever see it (unless we decide to include snippets of it in the eventual "making of" video), but it was a great rehearsal for the real deal, and we learned a lot by doing it (brief moments here and there are actually, believe it or not, pretty darn good).

Next up: a crew-only meeting to help us get on the same page, and then *gasp* actual filming begins in March!

Stay tuned for more updates...

Most Exclusive Restaurants in Science Fiction

I recently finished watching Fermat's Cuisine on Netflix, the latest in a long line of Japanese live-action dramedies that I've been consuming (mostly all from TBS; keep them coming, Netflix). It was about a young math prodigy who, upon discovering that he isn't the best mathematician in the country, makes an unintended pivot to becoming a chef, where his math skills come in handy in the kitchen, like with creating recipes and such.

He's discovered by the head chef at an exclusive French-Asian cuisine restaurant, who then begins grooming him to become his eventual successor. Now, I'm no hardcore foodie, but I am a fan of these kinds of story settings, as I've always had a sort of fascination with food service culture, despite never having worked in the industry myself (I have watched Food Wars and Iron Chef, however. I've also tried to get into The Bear, but for some reason Hulu kicks me out of the show every few minutes or so, so I got frustrated and gave up after grinding my way through the first episode, which I really liked despite the interruptions. It's weird, because I can watch other Hulu programming with no issues. What, Hulu, is your award-winning crown jewel too exclusive for me?) (see what I did there)

Anyway, this got me thinking about other fictional exclusive restaurants, mainly in science fiction. Here are the top three that came to mind (warning: mild spoilers):

1. Milliways

Or, as it's otherwise known, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, from Douglas Adams' The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, the second book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy." Despite being a popular five-star eatery, you can actually get a table quite easily via time travel.

2. Unnamed Restaurant on Darillium

From the Doctor Who episode The Husbands of River Song, this place has a four-year waiting list that the Doctor circumvented by using - what else - time travel. I'm guessing it was inspired by Milliways. The balcony seating has a great view of the Singing Towers of Darillium (pictured above), where one night lasts 24 years. That's a lot of desserts.

3. Trilligan's

From Joel Suzuki, Volume Seven: Vision of the Virtuoso, this is a restaurant so exclusive, the wife of the most powerful being in the multiverse still has to make a reservation. I swear the use of double-Ls in the name (like "Milliways" or "Darillium") is a coincidence. Or maybe something subliminal. Anyway, their specialty is sauteed space slug. Delicious.

Are there any that I missed? Let me know in the comments!

Table Read For Hold My Beer

The table read for Hold My Beer was a great success!

Huge thanks and shout-outs go to our amazing cast and crew: Andrew York, Ian Engelsman, Ethan Blackwelder, Lydia Pearl Pentz, Rich Ray, Karen Krejcha, Kevin Coy, Eric Holmes, Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Jennie Greb (in absentia), Karen York, Heidi Blackwelder, John Krejcha, Torin Tashima, Ryan Krejcha, Justine Krejcha, Elizabeth Holmes, Andy Lockhart, and Beth Harrington. The guys in SPS and I are so happy and grateful to be working with such a talented bunch of people.

Thanks also to Stephen's Place for hosting us, Autism Empowerment for the food and co-production, and, of course, the Vancouver Culture, Arts, and Heritage Commission for the generous grant that is helping to make this project possible.

More to come!

Find Princess Zelda: Complete

After eight months and what were probably hundreds of gameplay hours, I finally finished Tears of the Kingdom. Or, at least, the main story quest part of it (along with a whole bunch of side quests and adventures that I completed along the way).

The funny part is that, while I feel the usual sense of accomplishment, I also feel a little lost, like my purpose in life is now gone. Over the past eight months, I'd reserved a couple of hours here and there on weekend afternoons to play the game, and those hours felt like a welcome and relaxing escape (even though fighting Lynels or puzzling through difficult shrines were anything but relaxing). Yes, I have Hogwarts: Legacy now, having received it as a welcome Christmas present, but while it's fun, there's simply nothing - to me, anyway - like a Zelda game.

WARNING: Major spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to follow after the jump

Anime-Ish Roundup: Blue Eye Samurai

As you know if you've been following this blog, when it comes to Anime Roundup posts, I typically don't devote an entire post to a single show (unless that show is Attack on Titan). And I especially don't devote an entire post to a show that is animated and Asian-inspired but is technically not anime (a separate and extensive discussion that I may have touched on before but is not the subject of this post)*.

But then, I watched Netflix's Blue Eye Samurai.

Holy cow.

Netflix recommended it to me (with a "98% match") when it first came out in November, but at the time, I was heavily into light-hearted, live-action Japanese dramedies and not really in the mood for what looked like a pretty serious and potentially downbeat period drama. But as the weeks progressed, I began to see more and more recommendations for it pop up here and there, until finally I decided to give it a try.

And boy, am I glad I did.

If you haven't already watched it (go ahead and do that now, I'll wait), its basic story premise centers on a half-Japanese woman samurai in Edo-period Japan in search of revenge. But, like the aforementioned Attack on Titan, it is sooo much more than that. I won't get too deep into details or review-type comments (although some spoilers will follow) as you can find plenty of that elsewhere on the internet, but instead I will just bullet-point list a few things I wanted to express:

- I noticed a lot of similarities between this show and Glorified, the manga-style comic book series written and published by me and the guys in Second Player Score. They both feature a strong female protagonist, who is an excellent fighter capable of killing multiple opponents at once, on a single-minded quest; a sidekick-type character who wants to join up with the protagonist but is initially rebuffed, only to be reluctantly welcomed later; plot twists and questions about the protagonist's history; the protagonist slowly learning to let people in and accept help; themes of revenge and redemption; "daddy issues"; and more. The story and setting of Glorified is, of course, much different, and the strong-woman-warrior-bent-on-revenge trope is nothing new (see: Beatrix Kiddo, Furiosa, Ryuko from Kill la Kill, etc.), so while at first I thought, "Oh man, with this excellent show now out in the world, do we still even need Glorified?" I eventually figured that there can be room for both.

- I love how the show came up with a reason behind how the real-life Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 Japan started, which nobody actually really knows (there is a legend about it, but it's probably just as fictional as this show). Doctor Who does this a lot.

- The artwork, animation, and action sequences are absolutely stunning. Wait, I guess that's a review-type comment.

- A few nitpicky things: a couple of episodes contained a confusing edit, like when Mizu started fighting Boss Hamata's men outside of Madame Kaji's brothel, but the the next thing you know, she's inside, shepherding everyone into the cellar. And then there's the trope of the protagonist sustaining severe wounds and either being hobbled by them or healing right back up in practically no time at all, depending on what the plot calls for. Also, in the season finale, why were the soldiers with guns just standing around and not shooting after Mizu broke in? Anyway, I just point out these minor details because I care, and otherwise love this show so much.

- I am so glad that the flashbacks in episode 5 were real and not a dream (as confirmed by a behind-the-scenes video interview with the creators). It just makes Mizu's story that much darker.

- Can't wait for Season 2!

* Not that there's anything wrong with such shows; the non-James Cameron Avatar franchise (The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra) is one of my all-time favorites

New Year, New Logos!

As we move into 2024 and the production of Hold My Beer kicks into high gear, I and the guys in Second Player Score decided to commission the creation of new logos for our "film production division," aka Second Player Scenes. Check 'em out!

This is the "main" logo, based on our standard SPS logo. See what we did with the filmstrip and reel?

And this is the "alternate" logo, again riffing on the whole camera image thing.

More exciting developments to come soon. Happy New Year! Akemashite Omedetou! Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!