The continuing adventures of a bipolar husband, father of five, podcaster, film buff, the founder of The Church of Ed Wood, bad movie historian, former retail manager, hyperactive professional children's storyteller, and a prrrrrrretty nice guy, all things considered.
Blogging randomly since 2002!
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It's almost 2pm. My Church-less movie is over and I'm waiting for my kids to come back from Jesusville to watch the second part of my double feature. I'm watching the rain with my dogs and cats, drinking coffee, singing Jesus Christ Superstar songs, waiting for my family and listening to the sound of the rain hit the roof of my white tin porch.
Everything's beautiful right now.
Now the kids are back and we're making a movie. My niece Deinna, she's the half of my two and a half daughters, wrote the script. It's a romantic comedy. We're finishing filming and then I have to edit it together using the computer.
"Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1973, Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the rock opera of the same name, based on the last weeks before the crucifixion of Jesus. The film was directed by Norman Jewison. Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson were nominated for two 1974 Golden Globe Award for their portrayals of Jesus and Judas, respectively.
During the filming of Fiddler on the Roof, Barry Dennen (who played Pilate on the concept album) suggested to Norman Jewison that he should direct Jesus Christ Superstar as a film. After hearing the album, Jewison agreed to do it. The film was shot in Israel (primarily at the ruins of Avdat) and other Middle Eastern locations in 1972. The cast consisted mostly of actors from the Broadway show, with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson starring as Jesus and Judas. Neeley had played a reporter and a leper in the Broadway version, and understudied the role of Jesus. Along with Dennen, Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene), and Bob Bingham (Caiaphas) reprised their Broadway roles in the film. Originally, Jewison had wanted Ian Gillan to reprise his role as Jesus, but Gillan turned down the offer, deciding that he would please fans more by touring with Deep Purple. Like the stage show, the film gave rise to controversy even with the changes to the script.
The film begins with a group of actors arriving in a bus and preparing for the filming of Jesus Christ Superstar during the overture. In this scene only the actor portraying Christ is not seen leaving the bus. Jesus seems to appear in the midst of the dancing cast. This is echoed at the end when he is not seen entering the bus to depart. The show gets underway, and we see Judas sitting on a hill watching Jesus surrounded by followers. Judas is worried about Jesus' popularity — he is being hailed as a God, but Judas feels he is just a man, and fears the consequences of their growing movement ...
The film as well as the musical were criticized by religious groups. Tim Rice said Jesus was seen through Judas' eyes as a mere human being. Some Christians found this remark, as well as the fact that the musical did not show the resurrection, to be blasphemous. Some found Judas too sympathetic (in the movie it states that he wants to give to the poor, although the Bible leaves out his ulterior motives). Also, in the film Judas is played by an African-American actor rather than a Jew or Caucasian. Biblical purists pointed out a small number of deviations from biblical text as additional concerns; for example, Pilate himself having the dream instead of his wife.
According to the commentary, all the windy shots in the film was all natural. No wind machines were used. 'King Herod's Song' is actually a number from 'King Richard', a failed Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Tim Rice had to write new lyrics for this number so that it could be added to 'Jesus Christ Superstar'; originally, the number was called 'Those Saladin Days'. Actors were required to 'hydrate' every twenty minutes while on location in the desert. Huge, 'multicolored' blocks of ice were brought in from Tel Aviv for this process.The '39 Lashes' scene in Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) was so realistic that Ted Neeley's Mother walked out on it. Mrs. Neeley had never laid a hand on young Ted in an anything but affectionate manner, and could not bear the sight of her son being whipped and tortured by anyone else, even though she knew it was just acting."
Miniature Valentine's Day Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Undeniable Horniness
This is one of my all time DREAM musicals I wish to be in before I die.
The list:
Jesus Christ Superstar Pippin Sweeney Todd Plan 9 from Outer Space: The Musical
There are probably more musicals that I can't remember.
Plus, big ups to my old catholic school friend Alex Zamora. We both loved this damn musical. In fact, we went downtown and saw THE Jesus and Judas from the movie do a stage version of this in like 1991 or 1992. It was memorable because 1) the lead singer from the band Styx was Pontius Pilate (which even back then I thought was kind of silly) and because 2) Jesus fell off the stage during Roll On Up Jerusalem when Jesus trashes the temple. Jesus Christ fell right off the fucking stage. He was rushing on stage to fucking kick the moneylending jews asses and he slipped and face planted right into the orchestra pit. And man, it doesn't matter that whores and moneylenders are doing drugs and fucking and shit - if Jesus falls off a stage, even the biggest sinner will help him get up. I know that now, thanks to Alex Zamora.
I guess I probably could spin that into some sort of deep philosophical thing if I was only a bit smarter.
Oh, and by the way, today might be a double feature. I actually bought a NEW dvd with my pile of used vhs. It's a movie featuring more giant monsters than you could shake a stick of dynamite at. But the kids want to see it, too, so I might have to wait for them and see just whatever b-movie shit I have here as a double feature instead. Either way, there might just be TWO church-less movies this week.
I'm obsessing with my Church-less Movie of the Week. It's become the high point of my week. It's what I look forward to. All week busting my ass off at my job and dealing with screaming daughters at home, I deeply look forward to the small time that I get alone every sunday while they go to church. All week I think about what movie I should see, what foods I should snack on, what I should blog about when I blog about the film. I've been buying up used vhs videos by the truck full. It's an obsession, my own private Jesus-less film fest. And I fucking love it.
For tomorrow I've got chips, ice cream, and one of my favorite musicals from junior high. I can't fucking wait.
This week's Jesus-less feature film takes us back to our big green roots. Ladies and gentlemen, in this, our 1,001 blog post since 2002, I bring you the REAL reason the twin towers were knocked down ...
Godzilla vs. Megalon has attracted the ire of many Godzilla and kaiju fans in the decades since its original release. The film is largely responsible for the reputation of Godzilla films in the United States as cheap children's entertainment that should not be taken seriously. It's been described as 'incredibly, undeniably, mind-numbingly bad' and one of the 'poorer moments' in the history of kaiju films. In particular, the special effects of the film have been heavily criticized. One review described the Godzilla costume as appearing to be 'crossed with Kermit the Frog.'
In the audio book for the Daily Show's America : A Citizen's Guide to Inaction, Jon Stewart discusses Godzilla vs. Megalon as a US Supreme Court case, finding in favor of Megalon, deciding that the 'emission of lighting from its horn-like appendage did not constitute a violation of Godzilla's civil rights.'"
Steve's Snacks Of The Week:
Coffee (large amounts to keep me awake during this schlockfest)
Pills
Grapes
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies That Kids At Storytime Made Me
Gatorade
Reheated Chinese Food Leftovers
Any Piece Of Candy I Can Find
And here is what's considered to be on of the WORST fights ever ...
-I'm on the computer watching youtube videos about the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I really miss that place and my thoughts stray to my old friend Michael Burns who could somehow afford random trips to Disneyland whenever he wanted to. I struggle with bills and I survive paycheck to paycheck. I don't have money for myself. I wish I could be Michael Burns sometimes.
-My daughter Isabela is playing Lego Star Wars. That's all she wants to do lately. It's a great game and all that but having to play it and help her with it ALL DAY is grating on my nerves.
-Emerald just came home from school. She got her report card. All A's. We're very proud of her. Now she's playing Star Wars with Bela and the two of them are at each others throats, yelling at each other about who should go where and do whatever.
-My wife is currently locked up in the bedroom taking sexy (and possibly nude) pictures of a female friend of ours that I think is very attractive. And that's really sexy and exciting and all that but I'm not allowed to watch or be involved with what they're doing at all. So I'm being shut out of the photo shoot. It's frustrating. I'm so frustrated sexually right now my pants could explode.
-Lauren and Duane's dog Penny is here, too, and he's a hyperactive little yappy-type dog who's running around like a super crazy mad crackhead. It's driving me mad.
-I called in sick for work. Always feel guilty about that. I wanted to get some rest today because I haven't been sleeping a lot, my energy levels throughout the day have been lowering, I've been exhausted constantly and I'm starting to get rings around my eyes. But instead of resting I took care of Bela and fucked around on the computer. That's it. Totally wasted day.
-We have a ton of money. A ton of it. And it's ALL going to bills. So we have money. But we're broke. It's frustrating as fuck and when I think about our family's financial situation I just can't help but think that I am a horrible father and a horrible provider. My mind is trying to bring me down. And it's kinda working.
-My iPod is trying to play over all of this. Hyperactive rock, mellow lounge, sad moody songs, crazy Japanese pop, mad punk covers, Sinatra. The song styles are changing faster than my mind's moods.
-My head, my brain, it feels like it's on fire. I can't explain it. My brain feels like it's about to explode. I want to get a rusty fork and just scoop my brain out. either that or slam my head into a wall until all the noise and screaming stops.
Anyway, there you go. That is my life. Sometimes it drives me absolutely batshit insane and sometimes it's great. Today is somewhere in-between. I'm right on the verge of having an anxiety attack right now and screaming on the top of my lungs. But I'm not there yet, so as long as I'm not in the red then everything's ok.
Here's some music for your punk ass courtesy of the Wind Clan ...
Last saturday my parents came to see me at storytime. Afterwards they drove me to Grocery Outlet and bought me $250 in groceries, toiletries and various toys for my daughters. It couldn't have come at a better time because we have been wrestling with money like a roller coaster. Sure my wife's last trip brought back over a grand but we have been so dangerously in the hole with bills that a grant only puts a dent in our bills. So food had been pretty scarce for us. Now we're good and it's because my parents really came thru for me and my family.
Thank you guys. I love you guys very much. Thank you so much for helping us out.
WWE Pay-Per-View in June. WWE presents Night Of Champions, the big ppv where all the champions fight each other. It's a big one. Huge. And, get this, it's June 28th at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California.
HOLY SHIT!!! I have to go! Me and Em, side by side, the pyro and the music, me and my daughter holding up signs and rocking our asses off and having a buttload of fun.
Anyway, my ultimate fantasy dream is to have the kick ass $250 seats on the floor by ringside. Those are special steel folding chairs with the promotional poster of the pay-per-view on the chair AND you get to keep it.
But, you know, tickets go on sale this friday. And tickets are as cheap at only $15.00 each. A-A-A-AND my birthday's coming up next month ...
(wink, wink)
Here's a ton of free wrestling music for your punk ass ...
... this week's Church-less movie of the week will NOT be seen this week on account of me having to take the damn kids to damn church because my usually very church-ey wife is too busy vomiting.
Shit, now I'm going to have to look around the house and see if I can find my fake church face.
Jesus can totally kick Spider-Man's punk fucking ass! Hell yeah, bitches!
God I hate going to church. My Ed Wood tattoo always itches when I go there.
It's like I told my mom and dad yesterday ...
I think it's really important that my kids go to church. Keeps them innocent and naive and makes sure they stay kids. I think them going to church is almost as important as me NOT going to church.
'Nuff said.
This has been post #995. We're nearing a loneliness milestone here so stay tuned, invisible friends!
This is me typing on the laptop while sitting on the steps of our house while the girls play outside during the Super Bowl halftime. I'm wearing a World's Greatest Dad hat and Captain Book's cape. The girls are (hopefully) working off their steam and energy because they're full of way too much of it.
I'm really watching the Super Bowl for the commercials. I'm that type of person. Plus I'm lonely with just a house full of crazy little girls. Watching a shared experience almost makes me feel like I'm not lonely.
These five girls I'm babysitting are driving me absolutely batshit insane. They're screaming and running around and playing and going crazy. It's absolutely trying my patience. I'm trying to be good dad and fun uncle but these girls are a giant ball of shut the hell up.
I'm trying. It's just hard.
We went back inside. It got dark quick. Natasha's not here. She came home from church, hung out with me for about twenty minutes, but the got a phone call and just took off. She said she was going to have some food and then buy a bra. That was around noon or one and now it's pitch dark outside.
I know she doesn't purposefully take off every day I have off. I know she doesn't mean to leave when I'm home. But I'm hungry and lonely and fragile and on a shitload of medication. I'm struggling to stay sober and I cut myself, although I;m trying to stop. I'm suddenly a fragile, paranoid, 30something guy. It's hard not to think that she's ditching me. But I know she's not.
She's leaving town for "work" for the lest few days. I hope it's a success and we get some cash. Hopefully. Because we're starving. And I'll try not to get lonely, to cut myself, and to freak out and get all paranoid and shit. I'll try.
You know, sometimes I worry that I'm too honest in my blog. But that's just how it is. It's who I am.
Wish me luck on my next few wife-less, computer-less days.
I am REALLY excited about this week's church-less movie because, hell, it's almost like actually being at church ...
Yoinked from Wikipedia:
"Left Behind: The Movie is a film released to theaters, VHS, and DVD in 2000, starring Kirk Cameron, Brad Johnson and Clarence Gilyard. It was directed by Vic Sarin. Left Behind is touted by its creators as the biggest and most ambitious Christian film ever made. It is based on the Left Behind series of books. In the words of star Janaya Stephens, 'Left Behind is not the story about those who were called to Heaven, it's about those who were left behind.'
The film was widely criticized and received only a 12% positive rating among reviewers on the Rotten Tomatoes website. The Washington Post's Desson Howe, described it as '...a blundering cringefest, thanks to unintentionally laughable dialogue, hackneyed writing and uninspired direction. The more this movie tries, the worse it gets. Its sincerity ends up becoming a bulging bull's-eye for rotten-tomato throwers.'
One of the authors of the book series, Tim LaHaye (who along with Jerry B. Jenkins, refused to attach their names to the film) was outraged over this, as claimed he was promised a movie version on a $40 million budget and a two-hour adaptation, and sued Namesake and Cloud Ten for $10 million. Jerry Jenkins, however, refused to join as a plaintiff in the lawsuit and LaHaye's claims were eventually dismissed by the trial court. After an appeal by LaHaye reinstated some of the claims, the parties finally settled the case in July 2008. LaHaye dropped all claims against Namesake and Cloud Ten in exchange for an option to remake the films based on the first two books in the series."