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!

Holiday Filler Post

This is a week in which not much is happening SPS-Verse-wise due to it being the holiday season. Also, I'm too lazy to write anything of any substance. So instead, I present you with this random picture of cheap pasta:

Things will ramp back up next week, I promise. In the meantime, Happy Holidays!

More Hold My Beer Updates

The Hold My Beer production train keeps rolling along!

On December 10th, we shot test footage at Bader Beer & Wine Supply, a brewing supply shop here in Vancouver where one of the scenes will take place. Big thanks to owner Quintin Murchison and the Bader staff for their support! (we'll be back...)

Then on December 17th, we had our first meeting with film industry veteran and all-around cool person Jennie Greb (at Loowit, naturally), who will be the sound mixer on set and will also help with post-production. We're so grateful to have her as part of our crew!

Lastly (for now), we made our first official purchase with our grant funds from Vancouver's Culture, Arts, and Heritage Commission: a clapperboard (aka slate).

That's right, things are getting real. Stay tuned for more updates!

Hold My Beer Casting Announcement!

In my recent Thanksgiving post, I mentioned in passing that the cast for Hold My Beer was complete. But unless you follow Second Player Score and/or Autism Empowerment on Facebook (or are on my personal friends list), that is all you would have known! So, I'm rectifying that this week...

There are nine primary speaking roles, filled by the awesome and talented people listed in the picture. Here are more details:

Andrew York - Val (the lead character)

Ian Engelsman - Jess (Val's friend)

Ethan Blackwelder - Sky (Val's friend)

Lydia Pearl Pentz - Shannon (a commercial loan officer)

Rich Ray - Doug (Val's biological father)

Karen Krejcha - Ellen (Val's biological mother)

Kevin Coy - Carl (Val's stepdad)

Eric Holmes - Roger (owner of a brewing supply shop)

Anne McEnerny-Ogle - Amber (an investment banker and Shannon's mother)

Also, in case you didn't know, Anne McEnerny-Ogle is the mayor of Vancouver, and Eric Holmes is the city manager! All of us in the production team are so grateful to have them and everyone else on board.

More to come!

Author Talk

My recent mini-resurgence in doing live Joel Suzuki-related events came to a close this past Tuesday with a presentation for the Washington State University Vancouver Creative Writing Club. As I was walking to the room where the event was to take place, I witnessed this awesome bit of signage:

And not once, but twice! (I didn't take a picture of the second sign because I was too busy admiring the beautiful WSU-V campus.)

Anyway, I had a great time meeting and speaking with the club members, passing on what I've learned from my twelve-ish years of being involved in the publishing industry. Big thanks to Andrew York (the lead actor of Hold My Beer) for setting it all up!

Neighborhood Toy Store Month

November is Neighborhood Toy Store Month! And yes, while today is the last day of November, our wonderful neighborhood toy store Kazoodles Toys is holding a bonus event this Saturday, December 2nd, called "Celebrate Local."

The day - or, more accurately, the five hours between 11am and 4pm - will feature brands with local (the Vancouver, WA area) ties, including Marmals, Earth Grown KidDoughs, Mukikim, Mirus Toys, eeBoo, Tonies, and yours truly, the author of the Joel Suzuki series.

So if you're in the area, stop on by and get your holiday shopping done!

Thanksgiving Gratitude Post, Kumoricon Edition

I'm grateful for so many things (including the now-complete cast and crew of Hold My Beer), but I figured that just to be different, I'll list a bunch of stuff related to my attendance this past Saturday of Kumoricon 2023, the massive anime convention held in Portland, OR.

- The fact that Kumoricon is back and I was able to attend. The last time I went was in the before-times, in 2019.

- Even though the registration line took almost three hours to navigate (I really don't remember it being quite as long four years ago), I was still able to make it in time to get a couple of autographs that my son really wanted.

- I made it all the way to the "late night dance party" (pictured above) without needing a nap.

- The grilled chicken sandwich from one of the vendors, despite being naturally overpriced, was actually pretty good.

- The couple of panels I attended (Q&A with Anime Animators; Manga vs. Comics) were entertaining and informative.

- Even though the parking lot in the convention center was full (of course), I was able to find an alternate parking location that had lots of open stalls, was reasonably priced (yes, $20 is reasonable under the circumstances), had friendly attendants, and was good until midnight (handy, since I stayed for the aforementioned late night dance party).

Looking forward to next year!