entertainment

That One Time I Married Special Agent Dana Scully

My favorite X-File comes from Season 10. It’s called “Marriage.” In this freaky episode, two harmless citizens dedicate the rest of their lives to each other until they die. The man and woman follow one another all across the world, leaving friends and family behind, and even if they aren’t always happy, they stick together and see through it. Quickly dispatched are Agents Mulder and Scully who investigate this unexplained phenomena.

Scully, the scientist, suggests brain trauma. Mulder, the dreamer, hypothesizes anew.

MULDER: What if they’re in love, Scully?

SCULLY: In love?

MULDER: Ancient Irish folklore suggests the idea of ‘love’ as early…

I Want to Believe

I’m just gonna come right out and say it. I’m a huge X-Files fan. Right? That little outdated show from the ‘90s is my TV bread and butter. It’s on Netflix now, which means I get to drag my wife through the entire series.

The X-Files means a lot to me. It’s the salient reason I ever started writing. As a child, I loved the idea of exploring different pockets of the country and each week discovering a different monster. Pushing boundaries and all. I began writing short stories in elementary school because of it.

My wife, she’s an awesome wife, got me a book for my birthday called The Philosophy of The X-Files. Nerdy? A little. You know your wife loves you when she encourages you to nerd-out.

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Media-thon Monday (5)

I haven’t been doing these Media-thons as much as I’d like to. Sorry. The wife and I have been laboriously preparing for our move to Rochester, spending time in North Idaho’s lake water, and/or trying to sell my guitar amp on Craigslist.

So sue me. (Please don’t sue me).

Here it is! Your fifth installment of Media-thon Monday:

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Pacific Rim

I know this mention is a little late (and enough has probably been said about how great this movie is), but if you haven’t seen it yet then please go see it. Pacific Rim is wonderful.

If you’re like me, then the previews looked dumb to you too. Transformers meets Battleship. No thanks.

Admitting I’m wrong is not the easiest thing for me to do. So instead, I’m blaming the advertising.

Go see it! Pacific Rim is refreshingly original—as in, not based on an 80’s movie, comic book, or board game—has heart, tremendous acting and casting, as well as giant and effective action sequences that should fire Michael Bay from any current or future film project.

The film is not without its faults, but after Man of Steel (which I hated), Pacific Rim wins my award for best Summer blockbuster.

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Risky Business

I played my first game of Risk last night. I’m not sure how I got through nearly 27 years of life without playing it. I just don’t. Risk is a wonderful game of patience and strategy. During the game, my friend Tyler showed me a video that I thought was pretty great. If you’ve never played the game then it might not make much sense.

Or maybe it will. Risk it.

Why Millennials are Leaving the Church

If you follow Rachel Held Evans (here’s a blog I wrote after I saw her speak) then you have undoubtedly already seen this wonderful essay she wrote for the CNN Belief Blog. As usual, she hit the nail on the head. I relate to just about everything she said. I hope I can someday capture people in my writings the way she does.

Any way, check out the short essay here: Why Millennials are Leaving the Church

Stephen King & The First Line of a Book

I’ve been reading tons of the King lately. He’s a master story teller. What I’ve come to appreciate is how efficient he is at crafting unique characters. Just this morning, I came across a great interview he recently conducted with The Atlantic about the “voice” of his characters.

In it, he also talks about the time he spends crafting—working and re-working—the first sentence of his books. Whether you’re a fan of his or not, it’s worth checking out. I found it to be a super interesting read.

Why Stephen King spends ‘Months and Even Years’ Writing Opening Sentences

Did you see Pacific Rim? What did you think? Check out the last installment of Media-thon Monday here.

Short Story: Reality Ace
A prologue to a short story I’m writing. Happy Short Story Saturday!!! (I just made that up). Warning: Rough language.

Prologue: Reality Ace

There’s no such thing as reality. Reality TV, that is. Viewers assume—we want them to; if not, we’d be on welfare—cameramen show up and start following strangers, like assholes.

No, no, honey. There’s contracts and lighting, and scripts. Have you ever seen a producer without a script? Me neither. When a producer’s involved you can bet there’s going to be a script. It’s going to be fake; that’s what you pay for—entertainment. It’s an industry, baby, and we don’t leave shit to chance.

A jungle, a deserted island, a cooking contest, it doesn’t matter. Reality TV is no better, no different than professional wrestling (sometimes, wrestlers wear more clothes); we know the winner (you know we do), and we know the outcome (you’ve got to know).

That’s what I do. Ace Jordan. I produce outcomes.

CBS, I started there. Every two years some new hotshot out of UCLA film studies guns for your job. So I ended up at NBC, but what did they know? Nothing, it turns out. A year later I moved on to basic cable with two offers: “Heels on the Hills,” (for lovers of rich, white suburban wife drama), and “Ghost Walk,” a run of the mill ghost hunters program.

I chose “Heels” for the paycheck, but it cancelled after three episodes. Pulling some strings, I found myself on the set of “Ghost Walk” as a location scout.

The show’s main producer, Jerry, told me the first season was filmed entirely in a studio. By season two the network asked him to branch out. 

“A real circus act,” says Jerry and it’s true. We’ve filmed in abandoned state hospitals and creaky old cabins—the locations, I find them all. It’s a shit job, but it’s mine, and I take it seriously. That’s the only way to get ahead: take your shit-job seriously.

Our indomitable hosts, Michael, Brad, and Aisla, are as good as any I’ve seen. On TV they’re touched, thrown down, and spoken to by entities. People ask me if I ever get scared while filming on location. I tell them that, often, we retake cuts due to crew laughter. Everything’s staged.

And honestly? Brad deserves an Oscar.

Tomorrow we head to Upstate New York, a little town outside of Rochester. (The worst part of canceling “Heels” and gaining “Walk” was the move from Los Angeles to New York. I’ve got a mouse-hole for an apartment, costing me what a three bedroom in the Valley did). There’s this old abandoned house in Pittsford I found—empty for nearly thirty years, the city is tearing it down—it’s perfect. We’re claiming it as the site of a 1942 family murder in Pennsylvania (that never happened) and interviewing fake neighbors for hire.

Ghosts are as fake as a Food Network cooking contest and I know the winner, the outcome. All I need is a paycheck and a way out, a way back to the Emmys.

Just give me a way out.

Media-Thon Monday (4)

Well, I know I promised I’d try this every week. I think every-other week will do.

So here it is, your moment of Media-thon Monday zen.

Chicago Airport_Fotor

Littering is SO 2012

This guy started a campaign on Instagram to rid the world of litter. It’s stuff like this that gets me excited about the potential positive impact of social media in the world. But be warned. This campaign carries a high-user side-effect of “humble brag.” It is hard, though, to argue against cleaning up the streets.

Like any super power, social media should be used wisely. I’m interested to see if this campaign really catches on.

I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business

The band I Can Make A Mess—side band of the lead singer of The Early November—just released a new album. I haven’t quite heard the whole thing, though I’ve been quite obsessed with the new song, “Lions.”

Check it out, what do you think? Catchy as a virus?

One Step Closer to Harry Potter

Yes, I haven’t even started my first semester and I’m already bragging on the University of Rochester. Check out this great video, and link to an article about it here, on invisible cloaking devices.

Pretty dang cool, if I’d say so myself (which I just did).

Prancersise, yes it’s real

Don’t forget your ankle weights!

What do you think, are you ready to Prancersise?

Well, that’s it for now! Check out the previous edition of Media-thon Monday HERE.

Media-Thon Monday (3)
Welcome to the third edition of Media-thon Monday. This is where I share my favorite pop culture finds from the week with you lucky folk. Checky checky it out.

The Call of the Wild

I came across this great little surf video of Big Sur/CA 1 called, “The Call of the Wild.” It’s majestic. It’s inspiring. It’s thirty minutes away.

Why am I leaving here?

For poetry lovers, you’ll hear Robert William Service’s poem of the same name recited throughout the film. Great stuff. Originally spotted this video on the great blog, Arcsurf.

Arrested Development

It’s back! Netflix held true to its word and premiered 15 new episodes of the formerly cancelled groundbreaking Fox sitcom. (Despite posters, trailers, and guarantees, I still never thought it would happen). Only a few episodes in, I must say it’s not exactly what I expected. The first couple episodes are quite slow and hard to follow.

I am, however, still pleased with what they’ve made. The writers (& team) manage to surprise viewers at every turn; this is, generally, my most sought after attribute for film and TV. The AD team has recaptured some of the energy of the original, all the while harnessing new.

A great post from AD’s twitter:

Check out the new season now on Netflix. If you never got into this show, now is a good time.

Green Lincoln, Amazon Mp3

Amazon MP3 is increasingly becoming the only way I purchase music. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my vinyl records and hope to have a Jimmy Page sized collection some day. Until then, I’ll have to settle for Amazon. In case you didn’t know, Amazon features 100 albums for $5 every month.

Yes, we’re almost into a new month. Go buy Radiohead’s Kid A for $5, then check back in another week for a whole new set of albums that will only cost you a green Lincoln. The current list is HERE.

Temple Run 2

TempleRun2-1

I’m not a huge “gamer.” I own a PS3 but use it mostly for Netflix and updating things. Once, maybe twice a year I’ll buy a game and get really into it for a week or so. A real moderate.

That said, I’m completely obsessed with Temple Run 2. There’s just something about adventure, the Indiana Jones/Uncharted theme, that I really, really like. It’s a game built for the iPhone (I think Andriod as well); so yes, I’m finally making good use of my phone. Here’s what you do. You run, duck, slide, turn and collect coins. Sometimes a giant monkey thing chases you. It’s awesome.

Yes, he’s a red head. All the better.

Your Guess is as Good as Mine

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Have you watched the new Arrested Development season yet? Your thoughts? Any good albums on the $5 list you’d recommend?