Universal Studios StarWay
Bunny Moon Gets a Logo
Today my friend Sarah created a logo for Bunny Moon Press from a couple of sketches. What I thought was difficult she pulled together as a cohesive image in almost no time at all. I love it!
TV Obsession
Supernatural Pilot
Supernatural S1:E1 Pilot
I am really late to this party. Supernatural has been on the air for six and a half years. I just power watched seasons 1-6 in less than two weeks. No TV show has had me this obsessed since The X-Files. Could there be a better way to hook me into this show than to have Dean reference Mulder and Scully in the pilot? I don’t think so. It’s creepy and funny with monsters and good-looking guys. Though I have to admit, Sam and Dean are so young in the first season that I feel a little purvey. The music is also quite excellent; mostly classic rock sprinkled with some other indie stuff and then the occasional cheesy reference. I have put together a playlist from both the songs as I’ve identified them and the one’s listed on Heard on TV and Supernatural Wiki.
So anyway, after a flash back to the night Mary Winchester died pinned to the ceiling, bleeding from the belly and being engulfed in flames over Sam’s crib in Lawrence, KS, on November 2, 1983, the Pilot has Dean finding Sam at Stanford after two years apart and hooking him back into the family business of killing bad things that go bump in the night. They’re looking for their dad who has devoted his life to hunting for the thing that killed his wife. Along the way Sam and Dean track down and dispense with a ghost, a Woman in White, in the fictional town of Jerico, CA. Poor young sensitive Sammy wants to go back to his apple pie life with Jessica and the law school interview. That is until Sam flops down on the bed and opens his eyes to find Jess pinned to the ceiling and bleeding from the belly. There was, of course, blood dripping on his forehead. Then the flames erupt around her. Dean bursts in and drags Sam out. Did they mention it’s November 2, 2005? No, but they will. And this puts Sam on board with dropping out of school and pairing up with Dean to find their dad and hunt evil along the way.
We are also introduced to the Impala, Dean’s baby. I love muscle cars and this 1967 Chevy is a thing of beauty: a massive hunk of metal painted black with four doors, a big block V8 engine, and a trunk big enough for a couple of dead bodies or an armory of weapons. I learned to drive in a 1972 Chevy Malibu with similar specs, only it was white with blue interior. I miss that car. I cried the day Dad sold it for $400.
Once other quick thing: We get a glimpse of Azazel in the pilot. More on him later.
Quotes
Dean: “So what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal apple pie life? Is that it?”
Sam: “No. Not normal. Safe.”
Sam: “It's the greatest hits of mullet rock.” (In reference to Dean’s collection of cassette tapes including Motörhead, Black Sabbath, and Metallica.)
Dean: “No chick-flick moments.”
Sam: “All right. Jerk.”
Dean: “Bitch.”
Aliases Used
Dean: Ted Nugent
Playlist Additions
AC/DC – Back in Black
Allman Brothers Band – Ramblin’ Man
Loveless – A Gift to the World
Capital Records Building
The lights are up on the Capital Records building.
They're not on yet. Too much to hope for.
Probably next Friday.
Or December 1st.Can't wait!
Can't wait!
CAN'T WAIT!
Space Stories
My dear friend, Diana, is involved in the Book Fair for her daughter’s elementary school in Burbank. As part of the week long event, they held a writing contest. Students at Walt Disney Elementary (K-5) wrote stories with an outer space theme and Diana asked if I would read and judge the stores picking a winner for each class. I was thrilled to be a part of it!
There were entries obviously turned in because the teacher made this a class project and students fulfilled the assignment by writing six lines. A couple of stories featured broken down space ships, several dramatized invasions and one even had a space-owl whose mother saves the day. Much mention was made of pizza and many protagonists were named Bob. Most classes had a dozen or more submissions and had me tied up in knots to select the “best.”
Some students wrote reports: “There are nine planets in the solar system...” They were well written, but they weren’t stories.
One second grade class had tons of entries and most of them were both well written and interesting. But there were three that astounded me. I had the hardest time trying to pick a winner. They were that good. From second graders! Simply wonderful to read imaginative stories full of details and dialog from such young minds.
The other class that impressed me with their stories and made for a difficult decision were the fifth graders. One story particularly stayed with me. It was 8-10 brief lines written in the voice and from the perspective of Hillbilly Bob talking about stories told by his grandpappy that completely turned on end what the other kids had written. I thought it was a little slice of pre-teen genius. Unfortunately, another story had to win. It didn’t follow the contest guidelines. There was no mention of outer space beyond Hillbilly Bob living next to Mars. Which could simply mean that he lived on Earth. It was so hard to set it aside.
The only bad thing about the fifth grade stories was the spelling. It wasn’t just bad, it was atrocious. It wasn’t just a few words, they were in every sentence. It wasn’t one or two stories, it was all of them. It was like the spelling didn’t matter. But that made several of the stories difficult to read and understand because I couldn’t figure out what a sentence meant because the spelling was so butchered. At least one I disqualified for that reason. I couldn’t figure out what this kid was saying! It wasn’t a case of using texting abbreviations either, though I also would have found that disturbing. This was just plain old fashioned not giving a flying fig about the spelling.
Overall, this was a great experience. I loved reading all of the stories. The creativity of these kids amazes me. Such a joy.
P.S.
I should mention that I know exactly one student at this school. While I did read the submissions from Cate’s class, her printing is indistinguishable (to me) from the other second graders and the names were covered with sticky notes so I couldn’t see them.
Eytan and the Fountain
I spent yesterday morning with my good friend Danielle and her son Eytan.
She and I shared the first Pumpkin Spice Lattes of the season and
some cinnamon bread.
The whole time Eytan had his eye on the fountain.
Finally, Danielle turned him loose.
She had to get Eytan into the spirit of things.
Then there was no stopping him!
What a wonderful morning!
