Monday, July 27, 2009

GHOST RAIDERS - SERIES 2 BEGINS

Episode 7 - "I-9"
The Ghost Raiders are about to embark on the ghost find of their careers. But they find much more than ghosts at their new location


Remember all of The Ghost Raiders Episodes can be found at http://www.theghostraiders.com/ or on our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/TheGhostRaiders

D-Bag of the Week: Jon Gosselin

I think I want to try and make this a regular feature. Honestly there are enough D-Bags out there, to warrant it. But the honor for the first is for the “Star” of Jon and Kate Plus 8:

Jon Gosselin

So how did Mr. G get this great honor? Let’s get started.

I am a long time former viewer of Jon and Kate Plus 8. Two summers ago, I was at a loss of what to watch on TV. Then I discovered “Babies” as my girlfriend and I referred to the show. It was a simple enough show, a Type-A mother, her put upon husband, 7 adorable kids and Hannah. It was set in suburbia, and there were a lot of shows about how to do normal things with 8 kids.

But then things changed and the normal things turned into moving into a million dollar house, free trips around the country and Emeril cooking at their house. But the thing that anchored the show, aside from my dislike of Hannah, was what a belittling, pain in the ass, Kate was.

I felt sorry for Jon. I mean in some episodes he could not even breathe correctly as far as Kate was concerned. (This is not hyperbole. There actually was a segment where Kate bitched about Jon breathing too loud.) So when he was photographed hanging out in bars with 22 year old girls, well… I won’t say I saw that coming. Let’s just say I was not surprised the “storybook” romance was over.

So what happened? How did I go from feeling bad for Jon to giving the honor of D-Bag of the week? Well since the uber-publicized split of the Jon and Kate, the news about what the two of them has been up to could not be more different.

Both of them have made pledges about doing what is right by their kids. So we see paparazzi photos Kate in a bikini at the beach and around their house with the eight kids. Even if the stories are about Kate beating the crap out of one (which I am sure the evil mastermind Hannah was truly behind anyway); at least the stories take place with her at with the kids.

But Jon… he is in New York getting a place at Trump. He is in France with his girlfriend talking about starting a clothing line. He is breaking up with a 22 year old because she doesn’t like the media attention. He “might” be dating some woman who quit her tabloid job. And now the kicker, in regard to being with his kids:

“I'm really looking forward to it – to turning my phone off, playing with my kids in the pool and being the dad.”

Well Jon… Don’t you think you could have been doing this all along?

Kate may not be June Cleaver. She may even be cheating with her bodyguard / personal trainer. But at least she is there. Where have you been? Well that is pretty easy to establish, you have seen to it that your get your picture taken in a designer T-shirt almost every day. But the answer to that question is “not with your kids”. If you enjoy “being a Dad” so much maybe you could cancel that next trip to the Hamptons to hang out with Michael Lohan.

Ya Douche Bag!

Jason

RANT: DID THE WARS END?!?

Apparently while I was sleeping last night, the economy got fixed, we ended the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and there is apparently peace on earth. That is all I can infer from the headline when I opened the homepage on my internet browser today:

Brad Pitt, Angelina Hit a McDonald's Drive-Thru

Sorry Brad, Angie, Knox, Pak, Z, Shiloh and the other one, but I am done. Totally done with your whole family. I’ll go see their movies if they look like they might be good, but beyond that, I am done.

I don’t care anymore. When Brad and Angie were interesting sure, I’d sneak a peek at an Us Weekly. Brad is cheating on Jen… Angelina likes knives… That stuff was cool. Not everyone gets to cheat on their spouses with the hottest person in the world. But you know who goes through the McDonalds drive thru… EVERYONE!

It’s not their fault. It’s the media... well if you can call the ass-clowns who stand around LA taking mundane pictures “the media”. And I understand a slow news day. But honestly! Its crap like this that makes me yearn for more Michael Jackson coverage.

And really what is newsworthy about this? What the fuck about this is even remotely interesting? Why would I or anyone want to know this? Here is a little tip if you are wondering if something is "News". If someone does something, which everyone does and you pretty assumed they did anyway… IT’S NOT NEWS.

And to MSN, Google, Yahoo and the like… just because an ass-clown rag like US Weekly thinks its News… ITS NOT. Please stop listing it as such. Same goes for the 5 stories underneath it about Jon from Jon and Kate Plus 8, hanging out with Lindsey Lohan’s father. Again a douche bag hanging out with a douche bag is not news. I pretty much guessed they did that anyway. Who else WOULD hang out with a douche bag?

So come back when someone has died, cheated or committed career suicide.

Until then I have to go. There is breaking news.

John Goodman Farted

Jason

Friday, July 24, 2009

EVERYTHING OLD IS... OLDER...

My morning started off as normal as any other. Dragging out of bed, and then dragging into the shower. While in the shower I couldn’t get “Into the Flesh” from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, out of my head. Not sure why. I don’t usually sing in the shower. Singing requires joy, and there is no joy to be had for me in the mornings.

This led to a small anal retentive quest, to put The Wall on my Ipod for my commute to work. I also, for fun and because I don’t remember seeing all of it, ordered the movie on Netflix. While ordering the DVD, something caught my eye, the year the album The Wall came out, 1979. Yes, Pink Floyd’s The Wall is 30 YEARS OLD.

Thirty years. I know people who are not even or barely that old. I know people who have children and are NOT EVEN that old. Man I feel old. It just sort of put things in perspective. The things I know, the things I grew up on, they are OLD. When I read about movies being made about cartoons I watched as a kid or movies getting remade, I am always like “Why? That movie is only a couple years old.” And its not. Its twenty years…thirty years old.

It didn’t used to be this way, Used to be, old things we old. Sure remake Father of the Bride. That is an OLD movie with Spencer Tracy. Its in black and white, for God sakes. But Friday the 13th? That movie came out in 1980, it is only… OH MY GOD!

Wanna feel old? Batman with Jack Nicholson as The Joker, came out twenty years ago. Ghostbusters 25 years ago and Ghostbusters 2, twenty years ago. Goonies came out 24 years ago. Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit came out 18 years ago. Home Alone, 19 years ago. That is right little Macaulay Culkin, next year, will turn 30.

Even new stuff is old. The first Harry Potter book came out 12 years ago, and the actor who plays Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliff, just turned 20. The Matrix, Sixth Sense, and The Phantom Menace are all ten years old. And the final episode of Seinfeld was on May 14, 1998, 11 years ago.

It seems like just yesterday that Britney Spears first single came out. But it wasn’t. It was ten years ago. Back when if you even had a computer, it was a desktop, and if you had the internet, it was dial up. If you had an e-mail account it was most likely an America Online one. You had never heard of blogs, bloggers, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube or Twitter.

How did all of this oldness sneak up on us? Just happens, I guess. While we were watching our flat screens, texting on our cell phones and ordering our Netflix, The President became younger than most of our parents. It give it two, maybe three more presidents before he or she is younger than most of us.

Perhaps the only silver lining, is that when that happens we can adopt that righteous indignation all of those old people seemed to have we when we younger. You remember those “Old People”. The ones in their late 30’s.

Nothing we can do to stop it. Its gonna happen. And worse than that, one day some child will utter this phrase...

Grandma Britney

Jason

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Deep Dark Secrets Revealed: I Make Lists

Wikipedia defines Obsessive–Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) as a personality disorder which involves an obsession with perfection, rules, and organization. People with OCPD may feel anxious when they perceive that things are not right. This can lead to routines and rules for ways of doing things, whether for themselves or their families.

My name is Jason and I make lists. Not “ To-Do” list, or grocery lists or Christmas lists, but nonsense lists. Lists of no particular importance other than "Wow, this is bugging me, I need to make a list of all of these items / things.” It drives me nuts until I have done it.

Example, Saturday my girlfriend and I are driving to see the new Harry Potter, and as we passed one movie theater, I mentioned that I saw Harry Potter 4 there. That is when the switch went off and I had to then name all the movie theaters where I saw other Harry Potter movies. For the record its:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – Webster Theater, Chicago IL
Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets – Syracuse, New York
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Davis Theater, Chicago IL
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Western Theater, Chicago and Crown Village 18, Skokie IL (I saw it twice)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – AMC 21, Chicago IL
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – Western, Chicago IL

I do this crap all the time. There is usually no warning. Nothing usually triggers it. Someone brings up something, and then I get this overwhelming compulsion to do nothing else than to make a list all of the things involved. And the worst part is, it’s always nothing of any importance. Its stupid things like the Baldwin brothers:

Alec, Billy, Daniel, Stephen

Or the Jacksons:

Randy, Jackie, Marlon, Tito, Michael, Jermaine, Rebbie, Janet, Latoya

Or Vice Presidents going back to World War 2:

Biden, Cheney, Gore, Quayle, Bush, Mondale, Rockefeller, Ford, Agnew, Humphrey, Johnson, Nixon, Barkley, Truman

IT SUCKS! Why couldn’t I get an OCPD that was useful? How about the obsession to keep the kitchen clean? How about the obsession to save money? How about being obsessed with only eating green food? Those would be awesome. You know what is not awesome? Stopping work to make a list of the albums that came out in 2009, that I have on iTunes:

Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
Away We Go Soundtrack
Tori Amos - Abnormally Addicted to Sin
Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRight
Wilco – Wilco (the Album
U2 - No Line on the Horizon
Lonely Island - Incredibad
Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
The Fray - The Fray.


It is always something inane. It’s like having the world’s stupidest super power aside from a green ring that does not work against anything yellow. (Sorry school bus full of kids about to go off that cliff) I have the super power to regurgitate trivia. Not photographic memory or the ability to speed read, or type really fast those would be good. All of those are useful. NO, I only have the ability to quickly make lists of all the Characters on M*A*S*H that left and who replaced them:

Trapper John was replaced by B.J. Hunnicutt
Colonel Blake was replaced by Colonel Potter

Frank Burns was replaced by Charles Emerson Winchester III.
(Radar left too and was replaced by Klinger, but Klinger doesn’t count because he was already on the show.)

SEE OF NO GOD DAMN USE TO ANYBODY!

Not even me! And don’t even get me started on my secret lists. Like my lists of all the DVD’s I have. Each list is on an excel spreadsheet, listed alphabetically with who is in it, and who directed it. And then my list of CDs, separated by store bought and ones I burned. Or my list of books. Or my list of Star Wars figures….

I HAVE A LIST OF MY LISTS!!

I guess I could have worse disorders, than trivial organization. And for the most part it does not affect my life, except for those moments between thinking up the list and then completing it. It's just stupid.

Anyway deep dark secret revealed. That and I like cheese.

Jason

Thursday, July 16, 2009

RANT: Jason's Day of Shameless Networking

I am ready for the next level.

Seriously, it is what I egotistically tell people all the time. You know that guy who sits and sees that "they" are making ViewMaster movie, and then wants to blow his brains out, because some dip-shit is getting his VIEWMASTER screenplay made into a movie, while "said guy" is toiling away at a crappy 9 to 5 job? That's me. I'm the one with the .357 in my mouth. Its nickel plated and tastes like flat 7-Up.

Without boring you with my writing credits, I have done a lot. I think a lot of it is pretty good. But I want more. Why? Because there is a dipshit getting a movie made about a fucking ViewMaster. And I, who have ideas that revolve around things OTHER than a 50 year old toy that makes things look like they are in 3-D, am not.

Its all who you know, isn't it? I went to a seminar of Saturday Night Live writers. Someone asked the question: "How you get on Saturday Night Live?"

They answered: "Do you know Tina Fey?"

"No."

"Get to know Tina Fey. We all got hired because we knew Tina Fey."

FUCKING GREAT.

Well I don't know Tina Fey. I don't know anybody. I just know you guys. You my fabulous readers. People who are kind enough to read my drivel I call writing. And I love each and every one of you desperately and truly appreciate all you have done and the time you have invested.

BUT YOU AREN'T TINA FEY, ARE YOU?

Or maybe you are. If so Tina, I love you work. I'd love to send you my 30 Rock Spec script.

But maybe you are just as good as Tina Fey. Maybe you are better. Mr. Spielberg, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull kicked ass! I have a Buck Rogers screenplay I think you should read.

Hell are you the ViewMaster guy? I love your work. I have a Slinky screenplay just up your alley.

Maybe you are not Tina or Steven or the ViewMaster guy. Maybe you know someone? Maybe you know someone who knows someone? Maybe your Dentist has another patient who delivers Thai food to David Lee Roth? Who knows, the world is weird like that.

So since I know you, I want to know who you know. If you know anybody or know anybody who knows anyone who knows of anybody... I want to know.

Got Comedy Central's address for new Talent? I want to know.
Got a buddy who works the mail room at William Morris? I want to know.
Got Tina or Steven or the ViewMaster guy's home address? I want to know
Lindsey Lohan's drug dealer, anything... I WANT TO KNOW.

If you have my e-mail address send it there. Facebook it to me. If not, leave something in the "comments" section with a way to contact you. We will talk.

Thank you very much.

Jason

Monday, July 13, 2009

Ghost Raiders - Cannonball Run Version

With Season One completed of Ghost Raiders, rather than do a clip show like Family Ties, I thought I'd cut together a blooper reel. Sort of an insight as to what its like shooting Ghost Raiders.

Enjoy





Remember all of The Ghost Raiders Episodes can be found at http://www.theghostraiders.com/ or on our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/TheGhostRaiders

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The Last Word on Michael Jackson & Sarah Palin (Hopefully)

Or at least I hope it is. Sarah Palin is beginning to get a lot like herpes. Just when you think she is gone, she flairs up again. And then there is this nagging feeling is she is going to be around for ever.

Not happy to be quiet for longer than 2 weeks after going toe to toe against Letterman, Sarah Palin is quitting her job as Alaska Governor. BUT she didn’t quit the day she has announced, she is quitting next month. Oh but she isn’t quitting, she is a “fighter”, looking at “other avenues to make effective change”. Nope Sarah, when you resign you have quit. It’s okay to quit. I quit Freshman Football in high school, but when I quit it, I said I quit. I didn’t say I am looking at other venues to pursue team contact sports.

I don’t like Sarah Palin. And the reason I don’t like her is not because she is a Republican or a Conservative or because she seems to have an exaggerated sense of self importance. (Although all of those are certainly good reasons to start). I don’t like her because when she speaks she doesn’t make any sense. I watched her 6 minute QUITTING speech. It rambled on with one political catch phrase followed by a series of prepositional phrases usually never followed by a direct or indirect object, and then back to another political catch phrase again. (And a saying from a magnet from her parents refrigerator) She actually said nothing. I think we may all just be inferring she is quitting. She may not be. With Sarah it is hard to say, well at the very least hard to understand.

She is so weird. Most people who enjoy the sound of their own voice seem to say something. It seems like Sarah, like a toddler who has just learned to scream, only likes the sound her voice makes.

So hopefully we have heard enough from Sarah for a while. Probably not, she has a book coming out. But a boy can dream.

That brings us to Michael Jackson. I secretly think Sarah Palin only resigned because she was upset about all the media coverage he was getting.

Michael Jackson dying is sad. Yes, I have taken a lot of shots at Michael Jackson, and certainly spent a fair amount of time making fun of him. Regardless of where you stand on liking his music or thinking he was over rated, or if he was weird or if he really did the things he was accused of, all of that is kind of irrelevant. At the end of the day, 2 parents lost a son, 5 brothers and 3 sisters lost a brother, and 3 children lost a father. If Michael Jackson were a bus driver, that would still be sad.

And yes the coverage has been too much. A report on one the channels called “Is There Too Much Media Coverage of Michael Jackson?” That sort of made me laugh. But is the coverage just the result of a slow news month or it is actually the product of actually talking about what is going on. It not like there is 24 hour coverage and there is no one on the streets of LA, New York, Tokyo, Gary Indiana, or wherever, crying and grieving. There are hundreds, maybe thousands in each place. If a thousand people get together, isn’t that news worthy? So I don’t know, it could be a little of both.

I watched the memorial. I saw a story on CNN where someone “reviewed” it. That struck me as odd. If your grandmother dies no one from the local paper comes to review it. Yet Michael Jackson’s memorial gets a “review”.

I get bothered by memorials. I seem to think that the people who speak should be people who knew the deceased relatively well. But sometimes people make other’s deaths about themselves, and not the deceased. So a lot of times you get people speaking at memorials who hardly knew the person that died. I find it tacky.

I started to think that about Brooke Shields, who I thought gave one of the better speeches. I was like “Brooke Shields?” and then I remembered that she went to Grammys with him and Emanuel Lewis. (Then I shook my head). But I really liked what she had to say. Most of the speakers talked about Michael Jackson’s accomplishments, but hers involved actually what it was like to sort of hang out with Michael Jackson. Of course "hanging out with Michael Jackson" involved sneaking into Liz Taylor’s room, while she was asleep, and making fun of his glitter glove. It's not something most people can say they did too. But going someplace you should not with a good friend is. I wish more of the speakers had told those kinds of stories.

Some other things stuck me as unintentionally funny. Jermaine saying he did not have the words, while Jesse Jackson inched his way to the microphone. Or when Marlon came up to speak and all I could do was flashback to the miniseries on the Jacksons where young Marlon was one who kept messing up the dance moves, and making the brothers miss playing outside. Then his daughter cries and its hard to remain a cynic.

As much as Michael and Sarah have permeated pop culture, I am kind of hoping that we can get a break from them. Sure there will still be hoopla around Michael Jackson’s will, autopsy, etc, for months and years to come. It will be a circus, sure, but I think the big part of it is over and hopefully he and we can all get a rest.

I don’t think the same can be said for Sarah. I am sure the metaphoric Valtrex will where off and she will flair up. She will realize that no one has mentioned her in the press and do something. Her book is still coming, which if she writes the way she talks, then God help us all. At least Michael will be spared.

Jason

Monday, July 6, 2009

GHOST RAIDERS NEW EPISODE NOW ONLINE!!

Episode 6 - "Return To Pooh Corner"
With members of the team quitting left and right, it falls to Gary alone, to come up with a plan to keep the everyone together and to take The Ghost Raiders to the next level.


Remember all of The Ghost Raiders Episodes can be found at http://www.theghostraiders.com/ or on our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/TheGhostRaiders