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!