Speed Chess was called skittles games back then.  Probably still is. I remember those that were better than me would play for quarters here.  Inflation has set in, and I’m sure it’s dollars by now.

Would be interesting to take your wife or girlfriend, or, you can take mine for that matter for a nice long walk on the beach, and ‘accidentally’ come upon a game, and take it down for a lot of cash. All you have to do, is sac the first game. If you can afford that, you’re golden.

Santa Monica International Chess Park – About – Google+.

If only that were the case. I received an email from the fine folks who press the word, that I’ve been doin’ this for six years. So, HB to me!!!

My problem is, are, was, were, not even grammatically correct. Damn!! Time to go back to English 10AB w/Fred Doucette.

Was @Castle recently, and started playing Fizzbin with random guests, just to pass the time. I have to create a new act that I can film and submit to the entertainment committee in order to qualify to maybe perform Close-up magic @ some point in the distant future, in the only place I truly ever want to perform it.

Life is either performance art, or a broadway musical. Make your choice, and then stick to it. Use stick ‘em if you have to. I told my Executive Producer this once. Two years ago. Well, maybe more than that at this point, as the fine folks in the land of 168 have changed the dates since.

I should hold Chip Chalmers personally responsible for my meltdown this season. He was the last director I asked to direct me, before I resigned to doing it myself. But Chip’s a good guy, so, I would never do that.

Others in the land of granola that may or may not be called out during this not so random rant include but are not limited to, the 1st AD, and the 2nd Unit Director.

We lost 3 hours because of this duo, that propagated throughout the rest of the project.

We had a full post production sound facility ready for us at 9a the day before turn in. We didn’t get there ’til noon. Hard out at ten pm, therefore, well, I’ve already done the math for you.   Sol7 did incredible work under the strangest of conditions. Special thanks to them above and beyond the credits they shall receive somewhere. Well, on the finished product itself. Which may be a film, motion picture, or movie.

Wow.  Artificial word count reached!!! You should all know what that means by now.

Well, if you don’t, it means I can type faster. Like this…. Except when getting a phone call from the fine folks @ the E3 after party I just confirmed attendance. For myself, and two guests. You should know who you are, however, if you don’t, then well, it’s not you.

The thoughts in the previous paragraph may be in the proper order, if not the words. Take this into account when you post your comments.

I know I’m missing something this weekend, however, I do have the capability of walking into the LA Wine Fest with my press pass from the fine folks @Soak Magazine. I should give them special thanks, too.

So, have a lost weekend, then play video games? I wonder if that’s how Ray Milland started….

A random closing phrase here, then the directives. If this were a song, it would probably be in four part harmony.

I’ve gone so far off topic in this one….

That’s my story. Hope You Enjoyed It™

Ucreate Comics.

Okay, not what I was originally going to write, so, I’ll have to come up with something more relevant. 

In a weird mood today. I have a ‘friend’ stringing me along with the hopes of an investment into my production company, however, I’ve tripped him up and got him to practically admit he was never serious about it. I’ve written about this guy before, therefore it’s your mission to find out where I did that, as it’s on another site that I wholly own.

At My 168 Project, I’m attempting to decide what my next post there will be. It should be this post, however, I’m keeping with the need to rant randomly here.  I’ll probably write about the need to raise ten times as much money this time around, as over at The 168 Project they’ve upped their game. Now I have to up mine, and you should up yours

Yes, I know I’ve done that one before, however, you may not have heard it there first.

Because we’re here. Well, I’m here, you’re there. You could write the same thing. The stream of consciousness is flowing up today. Downwind of upstream. Just like the salmon.

I guess these are in fact, morning pages. As opposed to mourning pages. Write a page every morning, and a sonnet in the afternoon. At night a screenplay, then start the process again. I guess those are my rules for writing.

Unless you’re a reader, at which point, the rules change. Unless they don’t. Just discovered something depressing, so I won’t elaborate. It would appear that I can’t search my previous content while posting. Damn you, WordPress!!!

That’s right, three exclamation points. Count them, three. Each means something different, and if you stop at 2, you must proceed to three, just like when you prepare to toss the Holy Hand Grenade.

That’s probably enough bloviation for today, so, until next time, stay sane. So I don’t have to.

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.

Yes. Or, no. It depends on the scope of your 1st Amendment rights. But that’s not what brings us here today.  It’s because it’s the day before the green tree ceremony that you celebrate in your state/country.

There is a competition which I’ve entered every year since 2008, that has significantly changed the parameters of itself since its inception in 2003.  Those that know I’m talking about The 168 Project, may skip a paragraph or two.

My first year in this competition wherein teams get a week to create an eleven minute short film based on a Bible verse, I was on the team that won Best Picture, plus four other awards. I have very high standards as a result. I’ve been attempting to duplicate this feat ever since.

My site, My 168 Project, has been dedicated to creating at least one 168 Project film a year since its founding in May of 2010.  Tax deductible donations always accepted there, as I can’t post a Paypal button here. Well, I could, but it wouldn’t show up.

So as you know, we survived the end of the Mayan calendar. What you may not know is that everyone that thought we wouldn’t chose not to sign over all their property to me starting two days ago.

So, I sit here, the day before Christmas, contemplating what I want to post, and where. Well, I’ve already chosen here, and you’re reading roughly the thoughts I came up with during my morning walk. In the rain. In LA. Okay, it’s LA County, but you get the idea.

I had a crush on Dale Bozzio in the 80′s. Don’t tell my wife.

The last 5 years of The 168 Project, we would have verse selection in and around the beginning of February, as well as the production week. The festival would take place the end of March. 

That’s all changed this year. A company to be named later has taken upon itself to offer up some sort of wait for it, million dollar prize to the winner of best picture this season. How many people remember The Million Dollar Movie? Anyways, as a result, they moved the dates back to May like in 2005. So instead of disappointing my wife on our Anniversary as I usually have, now, I get to disappoint her on her birthday instead, as the 13th is the evening of verse selection for Southern CA teams, of which I am again, Team 33.

The team you may already be on

What this means for the unwashed masses is that instead of roughly 80-100 entries, they’re expecting about a thousand. That’s a 1 with three, count them three zeroes after it. Now, I’d like to believe that I know what I’m doing, and I’ve already spoken elsewhere about the changes that will come about in my life as a result.

The question is, how does this affect you? If you know, leave a comment. 

I was going to say something pithy here like, “I’ve upped my game. Now up yours,” However, I fear I’ve used that at least one previous time, and I don’t like repeating myself. After all, I’m not Little Sir Echo.

I’d like to believe it’s 72 and sunny in Redondo Beach, however, a simple check of weather.com, and the fact that I took a morning walk, belies this.

Adjust your expectations accordingly.

I’ve always been partial to Superman, The Movie myself. For my money, being in a love triangle with yourself is the way to go, I would think.  Batman in ’89 had the opportunity to explore this as well, but it went in a different direction.

A wrong direction if you ask me. While Alfred is family, it wasn’t his secret to share. Taking Vicki Vale to the Batcave? Seriously??? Bruce should’ve done that.

The rule, law, meme, whatever you want to call it is, disclosed classified information whenever a need to know exists. Alfred didn’t have clearance to share this secret with Vicki. It’s that simple. I’m sure that Burton did this as some sort of time saving device.

That’s basically a mini rant, as it’s all I’ve got in me today. I’m amped about other stuff, however, that’s going to remain in the family for now, and quite possibly none of you that read this site are family. At least that I know of.

Stay sane, so I don’t have to.

Birth of Mennonite movement (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Or, is it more of a guideline, than a rule? Here’s what I know, and not necessarily, when I knew it. The Law of Unintended Consequences exists in all endeavors, simply because you can’t plan for the unknown. The reason should be obvious, however, for the Amish among you, if you could plan for it, it would be known, and of course, not unknown.

What this means is, nobody knows anything. All we have are facts. The facts may lead you to a conclusion, however, your conclusion may be erroneous. Simply because some outside factor that you can’t possibly plan for because you don’t know that it exists, will take place, and then you’re hosed. Or screwed. Or, scrod in the future pluperfect tense.

I realize that I’ve buried the lead, but I can do that, as this isn’t news, it’s an opinion column, that is mine, as I do have one, but thusly, The Law of Unintended Consequences states that no matter what precautions you take, something unexpected will take place, and you’ll be at a point where maybe, things have gone horribly wrong. At which point, you may have to start over, accept the unintended consequences, or bail altogether.

For instance, you’re reading this after the election in the US, and I’m writing it beforehand. Therefore, you know who’s won, and I don’t. The media thinks they know, but they may be wrong. Hey, it could happen. According to those in the know, it already has, but I digress….

So, what this means is, you know more than I do by the time you read this. But I don’t know what you know. I may think I know, but I don’t. Because of the aforementioned law, which may only be a rule, or a guideline. If we are to define insanity, as some would, by doing the same thing and expecting to achieve different results, it follows that a definition of sanity would be the obverse, or, doing different things to achieve the same result.

The problem is, due to The Law, we don’t know what that result actually is. And, it may not be what you were originally going for. Sure, when walking forward, you may reasonably assume that at some point, you may get to where you’re going. However, to travel from here to there, you first have to take half the distance to get from there back to here. And, you must repeat the process ad nauseam, until you almost get to where you’re going.

Almost anything can happen during the time you’re traversing half the distance. Or to put more succinctly, you have a choice to make. If you make either one of two or possibly three choices as we’ve previously discussed, you can feel confident in the fact that you’ve made a choice, but not that you know how that choice is going to turn out.

For instance, when you come to a fork in the road, as we’ve previously discussed, and for sake of illustration, you can go either left or right. Now, you would think you have two possible outcomes with the choice you’re making, however, there’s actually four, as you must accept the fact that you didn’t make the other choice. How does this make you feel? You can’t know, because, It’s the LAW!!!

Disclaimer:  As described above, I wrote this before the 2008 elections, and it was published after we knew who won. I’ve left it intact, as the same rule applies to the repost. I haven’t added any links, and I’d like to hope I’m 4 years wiser.

Related articles

• The Law of Unintended Consequences (davidcroberts.co.uk)
• The law of unintended consequences (whysoangry.ca)
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• The Law of Unintended Consequences Video (capitalogix.typepad.com)

Reblogged from chinafilmbiz 中国电影业务:

Follow me on Twitter @robcain or Sina Weibo @robcain, or connect with me on LinkedIn.By Robert Cain for China Film Biz

November 5, 2012

With the American Film Market going on this week, Chinese buyers are in town in L.A., haggling with non-Chinese producers over prices for their films and reportedly making record-breaking offers. As the non-Chinese producers enter into these deals, one thing that is sure to be on their minds is the concern as to whether Chinese distributors will pay them their fair, contractually negotiated share of box office receipts.

Read more… 1,140 more words

It seems that in the entertainment industry, in which I may or may not be involved, depending on who reads this, there is a high turnover rate. At the highest levels, in fact. So much so, that Executive Vice Presidents in charge of oh, let’s say Television, would have a job one day, and it would vanish the next. In today’s society, with networking and golden parachutes, the individual in question would be ok, however, he would observe the change of guard, and even shake the hands of his eventual replacement.

This individual in question, let’s call him Tom, gets fired from his cushy job at the network, and at his going away party, meets his eventual replacement, Dick. (aside: punctuation counts.) Tom and Dick share a drink or two or three, and then finally, Dick asks Tom if he has any advice.

Tom simply says, “I’ve prepared two envelopes in my upper right hand desk drawer. When you get your first crisis that you can’t handle on your own, open the first envelope, and when you get to the second, open that one.” With that, Tom walks away, never to be seen again. At least, at that network.

Dick starts his job the next day, thinking nothing of it, and for another six months, everything is fine. Until one day, Unresolvable Crisis #1 occurs. Dick reaches into his desk drawer, and pulls out the appropriately labeled envelope, and opens it. The paper inside simply reads, “Blame the previous guy.”

Which Dick does, allowing him to fight again another day. This time, three months go by, at which point, Dick again faces the no win situation, and opens envelope #2. This time, the paper inside reads, “Prepare Two Envelopes.”

What does this story have to do with anything relevant to something that you may be concerned about? It’s simple. If you’re an American, you’re voting in the election coming up shortly. At least, I hope you are. If you choose not to, then you have only yourself to blame, when the wrong guy gets in office, and that’s my point. No matter who wins, no matter who you vote for, or whatever party you affiliate with, Republican, Democrat or Independent, the winning candidate will already have used Envelope #1 to get elected.

Knowing that, what should we conclude? In baseball, you usually get three strikes. Football gives you four downs. In basketball, you can break the rules six times before you foul out. Hockey sits you down for only two minutes before you get back into the game. However, the ejection process of the Presidential game takes four years minus how ever long to his first unsolvable crisis.

Now, I’m not one to predict the future, and I’m also not one to tell you how to vote. What I will do, is tell you another story, this one science fiction, about a world that knew it was doomed to extinction, but didn’t know why. What they did was, and I find this truly unique, solve the time travel problem. Of course, I didn’t realize we had one, however, before they became extinct, they figured that time traveling to the future would allow them to find out how they wound their way down to oblivion, then return to their present, and avoid and/or fix the problem.

Now, I’m a lover of irony, so, the end of this story is thus: The fact that they had discovered time travel, is what led to the end in the first place. We don’t have any such luxuries this election. There is no undo. Command-Z won’t cut it. That’s Ctrl-Z for the Mac deprived.

So, to review: There is one envelope in the upper right hand desk drawer in the oval office, and inside, it reads, “Prepare two Envelopes.” All that we have left to determine, is, who is going to read it, and why.

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.

Standard Disclaimer.

New Disclaimer: I originally wrote this for the 2008 election. Turns out it’s still relevant less than 3 weeks to go before this one. Who knew?!?

So, to continue, you’re playing a game. Unfortunately, when you were born, you weren’t handed instructions on how to play. Fortunately for most of you, you had two parents that helped you along in this area, for the most part. For the next 18-20 years depending on how sick you are of your parents, you accept these rules growing up.

Then, reality sets in. That’s right, I said it. You realize that maybe your parents whom you worshipped, didn’t necessary know everything. Or, if they did, they didn’t tell you. Of course, no one said, the game was fair. If they did, they were lying. Most likely, through their teeth.

This is the real reality, not the virtual reality you see everyday in computers, or TV, or, that’s right, the ‘net. At some point, you’re going to get to, you’ll come to the realization that you have some choices to make, all on your own. We’ve discussed this before. Well, I have, I don’t know if you were here then. In order to make your choice, you’re going to want to make an informed decision, and weigh all your options, therefore, you’ll take these instructions, lists, rules, etc. Whatever your parents called them, and use them or ignore them at your discretion or peril.

After you decide to decide, you may reap the benefits of your informed choice, unless of course, you chose badly, or incorrectly, or some other such word as to pad my word count. I’ve always believed that why use one word, when five will suffice, is a good axiom to follow. You may choose to use or lose if you so desire.

Now, everyone’s circumstance is different. A correct choice for you, may be an incorrect choice for me. However, since I don’t make them, you might decide to follow a similar tract as I do. And you should remember to do as I say, not as I do.

When navigating the stream of consciousness, it is necessary to take an eddy every once in awhile. Where were we? Well, I’m in Redondo Beach, and as previously stated, I don’t know where you are.

To continue, you’ll come to a point where you’ll want to know all the rules to the game. Or the instructions, or, whatever else you can call them in your neck of the woods. And of course, they’re all governed by, The Law!!! I knew I could make my incessant ramblings coherent if given the opportunity.

Ok, to review, no rules to the game of life. Not to be confused with The Game of Life™ a Milton Bradley company. Simply because, those rules are simple, and The Law!!! does not come into play.

According to Shakespeare’s As You Like It, All the world’s a stage, the men and women merely players, each have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his act being of seven ages. Act II, Scene VII. And yes, I did do that from memory. I could look up the rest, but that would simply be padding my word count at this point, which I don’t need to do….

So, to continue; or proceed, or whichever you’d like to do….

You’ve lived most of your life adhering to some set of rules or another, depending on whom you listen to, which god you worship, or even if you don’t have one to call your own. You’ve boiled that down to some such subset, say that three times fast, that you don’t have to think about as you move throughout your life.

Here’s the kicker. You knew there’d be one, right? What if, everything you learned is just plain flat out wrong? And when I say everything, I do mean everything. Not a subset of everything, but, everything. The only thing you know, is, The Law!!! What would you do? What would you do?? Seriously?!?

Pause for effect.

Now I’m no expert, although, others would claim that I am, and not The Others from LOST, either. Other others. Here’s what I did. Instead of attempting to find a new rule book, instruction set, or yet another self help book, I simply plunged in, and started writing my own. It’s amazing that it took me this long to figure that one out. So, to keep you interested until next time, I leave you with the following rhetorical question: When you work out of your home, how do you call in sick?

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.

Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Original Disclaimer: Mike may or may not be having a midlife crisis, depending on how old you think he is.

Current Disclaimer: I originally wrote this at the beginning of 2009 for the Idea Masters™ site, and it was never published. Until now. Most if not all is still relevant.