The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh of March

That was a strange weekend. Each of its three days (and I'm counting Friday because I work at a university) contained large slab-like portions that were stunningly sunny, morosely cloudy, and Memorial-Day-1987-like-rainy. If I were a higher-level combination meteorologist/climatologist (you know, the kind that receives generous research grants co-sponsored by non-profit foundations, governmental agencies, and for-profit corporations), and I could have planned the local weather for my annual Los Angeles-based strategic planning retreat, then 3/5-7/10 would have been perfect.

Other things I learned this weekend:

 -Strange car noises don't magically go away. In fact, they can mutate into something scarier when left untreated.

 -I didn't disagree with any of the Oscar winners. In fact, anytime a James Cameron film goes, for the most part, un-awarded, is cause for great celebration. And I say this despite the fact that he seems like a completely genuine, thoroughly humble, and all-around nice guy (based on his recent interview on Fresh Air). I also say this despite never having seen a James Cameron film. Yes, I'm aware of his involvement with Terminator and Titanic. Besides, I may have wanted Quentin/Basterds to win and I may not have seen The Hurt Locker but Kathryn Bigelow deserves the Oscar for her direction of the awesome Strange Days back in 1995.

 -Though it works just fine as a play, someone still needs to make a film version of Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July. And no the 1982 made-for-TV movie doesn't count. And yes of course Parker Posey should be involved somehow. And yes my sentence construction in this blog post has been rather unwieldy.

 -It's difficult not to laugh when the waitress says "Sorry. We can't serve alcohol until we pay our taxes." 

 -I need a louder alarm.

 -In researching the accuracy of my never-seen-a-James Cameron-film statement above, I came across an interesting fact. Cameron wrote Strange Days. And I, as a screenwriter, consider screenwriting to be as important as, if not more important than, "directing." So I need to revise my statement to read: ..."never having seen a James Cameron-directed film."


 -Oh wait. I might have seen most of Aliens in a Baltimore hotel room in 1995. Or was that Alien? Does it make a difference? I'm told that it does make a difference. Okay: change it to: "never having seen a James Cameron-directed film on the big screen."

 - I also said that Cameron seemed "humble" and "all-around nice." According to my Wiki-research, he's also been described as "dictatorial" and liable "to use a nail gun to nail the film crew's cell phones to a wall above an exit door in retaliation to unwanted ringing during film production." Huh? Asshole. Just delete the entire Cameron-related entry. It's easier that way.