Where I'd rather be..

Sigh. There are places I find more exciting than where I’m at now. Las Vegas. Seattle. San Diego. Chicago. Dallas. San Antonio. But not Los Angeles (and the surrounding areas). Granted, I love the Getty, MOCA, select areas of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Downtown. But, as a whole, I can’t stand LA. When I was in San Diego last weekend, it just felt so much more tolerable. More… entertaining. More, peaceful (even in a clubby, downtowny place like the Gaslamp district) even. And when I was in Dallas or San Antonio, those cities just rocked. My favourite though is Chicago.

See, if I wanted to, I could just pick up and leave. I have enough money to move my ass half-way across the country, find an apartment, and live for three months looking for a job. I’m sure I could find something in that period of time.

But..

I don’t. And I don’t know why I don’t. Well, I do, kinda. There’s the fear factor, which of course plays a big role in my daily decision making activities. Then there’s the website that’s being developed for the entertainment publication I produce. If that were to become successful, there’s no telling where I can go.

In downtown San Diego, the Hard Rock is building a hotel and condos. I’d love to live in one of those condos. I’m not saying that the website will make me millions, but I’m hoping that it will generate something worth the hell that I’ve put myself through for the last year.

Anyway, just a few more months. And then we’ll see what happens. I’m sooo close. Hell, I even got a screening DVD from NBC for a new show that’s coming this fall. It screened at Comic Con but how many people can say they have a copy IN HAND? Not many. Only a handful of people got to see it this thing, which by the way kicks ass. It should be NBC’s LOST. And, I request copies of movies that HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN RELEASED IN THE THEATRE yet and I get them. How cool is that?

Anyway, I digress. It isn’t about what I do anyway. It’s about where I want to be. And how much longer do I have to be here before I can move on to there. Day by day, that’s what they say. And who’s “They” anyway?

San Diego, man. San Diego. (on a side note – they’re building some cool condos in Vegas, too…!)

COMIC CON 2006

If I had to describe, in one word, Comic-Con - it would be OVERWHELMING. For the next four days, Downtown San Diego will be filled to the brim with geeks, nerds, comic book nuts and Sci-Fi guru's from around the world. Comic-Con is the largest Comic book convention on the West Coast, but it isn't just about comic books. It's also a haven for movie and television studios to launch their new releases.
One thing that ALL the studios have realised is that the comic book fanbase is HUGE. And so they're catering to this fanbase by sending in their big guns to do press, show pilots, sign autographs and woo bigtime to try and harvest the boatload of money that is within this demographic.
Besides the costume-draped kids in their Naruto and Wonder Woman costumes, the Star Trekkers and Battlestar Galacticans, you'll find a plethora of comic books for sale, software that will catalogue comics, software that will create comics and, yes, toys based off comics. But, you'll find more than that.
You'll find Lions Gate, Miramax, Sony, WB, IFC, and a host of other movie studios there to push their latest (albeit comic-related) movies. Booths to see while there - pretty much the aforementioned.
Upstairs, above the convention hall, you will find exhibit rooms showing new fare from the likes of the Sci-Fi Channel, NBC, ABC and anyone else coming out with a Sci-Fi story. Look for a show called HEROS from NBC. Looks to be a hit. But that's just my opinion. Also, from Sci-Fi Channel, EUREKA.
I hit the exhibit rooms to see the director of Azumi, Ryuhei Kitamura, talk about his influences and the filming of Azumi. Before that, I hit a discussion by David Arquette (and others) about his new movie The Tripper. There was supposed to be a film clip, but he lost it, so he pretty much told the whole plot of the movie, including the ending. Due to respect and the fact that he asked - I will not spoil it for my readers.
The highlights of the first day was the screening of RENAISSANCE. A Noirish story baed in the distant future, this ALL COMPUTER-DRAWN film is the shit. I will post up a review later. I was pretty captivated by this. Think SIN CITY meets ..hell, I don't know what else to compare it to. Completely realistic, right down to the movement of the eyes. It's black and white. And I mean, just black and just white.
But the gem was a 10.15p screening of THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED by Kirby Dick. If there is but one documentary you need to see, it would be this one. It will be released September 1st and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you see it. It is the story of the MPAA and how their control over the ratings system make or break films and their success in the box office. A group of directors speak on film about their feelings of the MPAA and how they censor, ruin or even kill movies being made today. On a side note, the MPAA gave this film an NC-17 rating. It's something you HAVE to watch if you are even remotely a fan of going to see movies. Review will be posted later.
Well, I must sleep as the next day for Comic Con is soon coming up.

Things I miss

• Bicycling down the Strand from Redondo Beach to Hermosa and Manhattan. Then ending up in Santa Monica.
• Working a job without actually working (Disneyland).
• Having lots of people to go to Vegas with.
• Being 25
• Sitting at a bar in Wellington NZ and getting piss drunk off my ass. Then walking back to my friend's flat.
• My mum.
• Driving just to drive, with a bunch of friend's crammed in the car.
• Hanging out at coffee shops.
• Being in a band.
• Not worrying whether I'll be poor or worthless or a failure.
• Not worrying that I've gotten too old.
• The touch of a woman's soft skin against my own.
• Tender kisses.
• The anxiety of seeing a girl's tits for the first time.
• Chinese food on prom night.
• Childhood friends.
• Only 7 channels on television.
• 25 cent coin op games
• Snow cones.
• The feeling I got when I watched Xanadu for the first time.
• 1982.
• Waking up next to someone I love.
• Not throwing up after drinking all night.
• Staying out late on a school night.
• Gecko's on Wednesday Nights.
• Live Bait on Thursday Nights.
• The Lighthouse on any night.

There are so many things I miss. Sometimes I wish I could relive just a few.