Thunderbolt

Believe it or not, I had every intention of writing a post on the artistry of Paul Giamati today, but then I got the news that an old friend had passed away and Paul got placed on the backburner. I bring up Giamati because friend, Jeff Dillon, was very much like the characters Giamati has become famous for playing. A little sad. Funny. Sometimes trying to hard. But generally a good egg to be around and someone who will be missed. Jeff (or Dill as we called him) was a guy I met in Boy Scouts back when I was in 5th Grade. We got along fine back then, but it was in high school that we became friends. And then, after high school, while working on the NOHS summer paint crew, Jeff and I became compadres. The two of us could really get under the other's skin. Probably because we had similar sensibilities, but I remember many occasions when he or I would storm away from each other, ready to kill each other. It would only take 15-20 minutes before we realized how damn stupid we we...

Have to give a shout out to one of my favorite sites out there, Jefitoblog, a phenomenal music website that provides some excellent selections of music for readers. I was first introduced to the site some time last year when EW online mentioned Jeff’s “Idiot’s Guide to Hall and Oates”. I thought it was a joke at first. I mean, who would devote more than a couple of sentences to Daryl and John? As I read his breakdown of each of their albums, I realized that Jeff wasn’t making fun of Philly’s sons, but offering a real criticism of their catalog. This is something that would never happen at Rolling Stone or any of the other BIG music sources. As I came back to the site every day, I discovered that here was a guy who loves music. He GETS music. And that’s what he’s writing about. It’s not about who is the most appreciated and deserves the accolades. Sure, he covers Springsteen and the like, but it’s also about the gut and the heart. That’s why groups like Styx, Toto. Bruce Hor...

And so I return. Another great weekend. The pool has turned out to be a fantastic idea. Did I tell you we got a pool? I was so resistant to the idea. I love that lawn. But the joy that water brings to our kids is better than any patch of grass in the world. Seann came for dinner tonight. It was good to see him again. The kids will likely not see him for a month or so. I had Sophie pretty much guilt him into driving up for some hamburgers. God bless him, he’s a good uncle and can’t say “no” to his niece and nephew. Speaking of Jake, man, I felt like the lowest of low yesterday. While Sophie and Jules were at a party, I took Jake to see the new “Garfield” movie. We get about 500 yards from the theater (and 15 minutes from start time) and I realized I didn’t have the damn enzymes. We had to drive all the way home and back again. Wouldn’t you know it, the line to buy tickets was ridiculously long (it WAS 100 degrees… so everyone was at the movies) and we missed the first 10 mi...

I've been gone a month and this is the best I could come up with? Actaully, the man has been working on a scrennplay. I finished it last week and when all is said and done, the tone of the script owes a lot to my (now cancelled) favorite drama, "Everwood" Television still seems to get a bad rap among people I know. Probably because so much of it is disposable and forgotten soon after the set is switched off. But the emergence of “The Sopranos” as one of the most significant works of art in the last 10 years has really made a lot of folks reconsider the craftsmanship that goes into television. I’m a TV junkie. I grew up on it, rarely going to the movies. That I chose to become a screenwriter had more to do with watching movies on a VCR than actually getting into the theater. I would love to someday have my own series, primarily because I enjoy GOOD television. And since we started subscribing to TiVo, well, I ONLY watch good television. This past week "Everw...

My heart is breaking right now. I can't help thinking about Matt's final day and his struggle with his bulemia and whatever other disorders he was suffering from. After my converation with Elliott last night, it feels like he wanted it to end. I'll never know for certain, but Elliott mentioned this. And if he was in pain, so much pain, from starving, from depression, from his body breaking down, from needles, it is likely that he may have given in. And this is the saddest fact that I am having to accept. That a man who was so full of life had become complacent and ready to give up. But I will never know. I said once that I thought he was slowly discommunicating himself with all of the people he loved. but Elliott insists that he still talked about our friendship. Maybe it's guilt I'm feeling. The grayness the skies this morning and the dim lighting in the office have put me in a mood. And I've begun haning posters for the CF walk, seeking donations. I ...

I logged on tonight thinking I would just give a brief update of where the hell I've been all month. My three or four readers have been desperate to know my whereabouts (thanking you for writing Ken in Witchita). Before I could get online, though, I spoke with Matt's brother, Elliott (who will no longer be identified as Matt's brother and will simply be known as Elliott). Whenever Elliott calls, I know it's going to be emotional. That's fine with me, because Elliott slowly reveals more about my deceased friend that I didn't know, nor would I have ever known if Elliott didn't want to include me in his life. It started as a fun call, bullshitting about the Twilight Zone (still one of the most influential shows in my life) and evolved into an intense discussion about our relationships with Matt. Then Elliott did something truly heart warming and unexpected. He changed the course and asked me about Jacob and what he has to go through. He wanted to know ab...

I hereby nominate "The Sure Thing" as one of the best movies of the 80's and one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. I am one of the few who actually saw it in the theater (with my church group, no less) and I've loved it ever since. When I worked at American Video my last year of high school, I some how came to purchase the store's copy. We must have watched that movie a hundred times during the paint crew summers. Steve and I had so many lines memorized. Besides Boon and Otter from "Animal House," we wanted to be John Cusack's Walter "Gib" Gibson. While those "Animal house" guys were someone we aspired to be, but would never be cool enough to be, Gib was like us. He was one of us. He was a failure in love, but an optimist. And then my copy got lost. I believe it was Dillon, a guy we worked with, who borrowed it after one of the Malchus parties (one of the bigger one's). Though he claims to have never had ...