I'm beginning to get a sense of déjà vu. Didn't I feel this way about 5 months ago?
Well kids, here it is: one week to go before the springtime insanity known as Script Frenzy ("Screnzy" for those really into it) commences. It's funny that up until 3 weeks ago I didn't even think about possibly doing this. I was just going to save myself for NaNoWriMo every November and leave it at that.
But, a funny thing happened when I was perusing my Twitter feed. After some arm bars and an attempted rear-naked choke, I was convinced to join in the madness that I'm about to embark on. Only one slight problem when I signed up back on March 2nd: I didn't know what in the bluest of blue hells I was going to write my script about. I was leaning towards a screenplay, but as for characters or plot, I had nothing. Then, I received my original spark of inspiration.
After viewing the Twitter feed of a friend that I follow, she provided me with the initial idea of writing a cheesy slasher script about a psychopathic job seeker who had enough of the tough employment market rejecting her entry into the workforce. I had my idea, and I had my main character. I even had a good tongue-in-cheek opening sequence that involved the main character getting revenge on an annoying car alarm that had woken her up prematurely. However, beyond that I had absolutely nothing. I was going to go blindly into this with just these three basic points and see where my imagination would take me on that wild roller coaster. Unfortunately, in the time between then and now, something came a-knockin' on my cranium's door. That something was real life.
The past 2 weeks have been full of mental and emotional anguish in my life with a decent helping of uncertainty thrown in for good measure. As I was dealing with all of this, it suddenly came to me: my screenplay about the unhinged job seeker would be pushed to the backburner in place for an adaptation of what my life has been all of last week; at least for the first part. The rest will be a modified fantasy of what I aspired things would be like after that first week with a decent helping of battling revenge thrown in. The only thing I plan on keeping from the original script idea is the car bomb; moved from the beginning of the original to the climax of the new story. This is going to be an interesting tell-all, but I think it will give me the opportunity to vent all of my frustration and stress over the events of this recent fortnight. Some might say its therapeutic; others might say I'm a twisted individual for bringing something personal to light; I just want to get it off of my chest.
It’s only one more week until I start writing my story and commence my latest round of therapy.
Until next time, the views may be from the outside, but I'm trying my best not to let anymore stress get in.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
The Great Canadian Hockey Debate 2010
"There are two unofficial religions, or cults, in Canada: hockey and Tim Horton's."
Upon hearing some American sportscasters after the Gold Medal Men's hockey game at the recent Olympics proclaim that to Canadians hockey "is like a cult", I couldn't help but conjure up the aforementioned opener. But to a certain extent, I am inclined to agree with them. Ice hockey is one of our two official sports (lacrosse being the other), and it's about as much of our "national pastime" as baseball is to those south of the 49th Parallel. (Even further south for those living in US states that border the lower Great Lakes, but that's beside the point.)
I'm sure every one of the 30+ Million Canadian residents, and quite a few Americans (who gave the Gold Medal game's broadcast on NBC a 17-share in the Nielsen ratings), have seen and/or heard of Sidney Crosby's shot past Ryan Miller in overtime to give Canada it's fourteenth gold medal in Vancouver. Ever since that goal, the Canadian sports and media pundits have sparked debate about where you would place Sid The Kid's feat amongst the annals of Canada's greatest hockey goals.
In my view, there are three goals that are part of this debate: Paul Henderson's goal to win the 1972 Canada-Soviet Union Summit Series, Mario Lemieux receiving a pass from Wayne Gretzky to score against the Soviets in the 1987 Canada Cup, and now Crosby's goal (with an assist by Jerome Iginla) at the Vancouver Olympics. Some people may argue that Jordan Eberle's goal with 5.4 seconds left in regulation against the Russians at the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa should also be considered; however, it was not a game winning goal. Canada would win that game in overtime, but Eberle's shot did not ultimately decide the game. Therefore, it is being excluded from this discussion. Anyway, the debate amongst Henderson's, Lemieux's and Crosby's goals boils down to one basic question: which goal is the greatest?
Some people will argue that Henderson's game winner that was a result of a mad scramble in front of the Soviet net is the greatest because of the whole allure of the Iron Curtain and Soviet hockey dominance. Plus the fact his goal took place on Soviet ice at the end of an 8-game series. (I know Alan Eagleson wasn't always there at times, but an EIGHT game series? You'd think a 7 or a 9, but the tie-breaking procedure for an even numbered game series is migraine inducing, and I'm sure it was in '72.)
Others will argue that the Gretzky to Lemieux Canada Cup winner should be ranked #1 because it marked a combination of two of the greatest hockey players of the time partnering up for a magnificent goal; a goal where there was actually a forgotten third man in that offensive rush, Larry Murphy, that was trailing behind. But most people remember #99 passing off to #66.
Then you have the supporters for the Crosby winner who will cite it should be deemed the greatest because it was on home soil (Lemieux's winner was also on Canadian ice at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum), it was on a bigger world stage, and the goal resulted in the winning of something more tangible than bragging rights or a fabricated trophy tournament.
But underneath all of this debate, there is one underlying factor that determines one's opinion of whose goal is greater. For you see, this is a debate that spans three generations of Canadian hockey fans. Those who were around to witness Henderson's winner in '72 will tend to favor that goal. Their offspring who saw Lemieux's marker will most likely rank the '87 Canada Cup winner higher. Today's generation of hockey fans will want to put emphasis on Crosby's gold medal goal as the greatest of all time.
So where does that leave me? What is my opinion on this whole matter? While I will admit that I was only a year old when Henderson etched his name in Canadian hockey annals, the grainy newsreel videos and the fact they paid homage to it in an episode of Corner Gas (entitled "The Good Ol' Table Hockey Game") has made me cognitive of its existence. But in my true honest opinion, I believe each goal has their merits and significance in the history of Canada's role in the spectrum of international hockey. People may tend to favor one over the others because of when they were born or when they came to the Great White North; however, I feel that all three play an important part in the sporting fabric of Canada, and to put precedent on one would diminish the impact of the others. That's why I say all three should be created equal in their importance, and we should enjoy them for what they were.
At the end of the day we all should lean back, take a sip from our large double-double, and just enjoy the action we have already seen on the ice and anticipate what is about to come.
Until next time, the views may be from the outside, but I'm still trying to shoot the puck into the top corner of the net.
Upon hearing some American sportscasters after the Gold Medal Men's hockey game at the recent Olympics proclaim that to Canadians hockey "is like a cult", I couldn't help but conjure up the aforementioned opener. But to a certain extent, I am inclined to agree with them. Ice hockey is one of our two official sports (lacrosse being the other), and it's about as much of our "national pastime" as baseball is to those south of the 49th Parallel. (Even further south for those living in US states that border the lower Great Lakes, but that's beside the point.)
I'm sure every one of the 30+ Million Canadian residents, and quite a few Americans (who gave the Gold Medal game's broadcast on NBC a 17-share in the Nielsen ratings), have seen and/or heard of Sidney Crosby's shot past Ryan Miller in overtime to give Canada it's fourteenth gold medal in Vancouver. Ever since that goal, the Canadian sports and media pundits have sparked debate about where you would place Sid The Kid's feat amongst the annals of Canada's greatest hockey goals.
In my view, there are three goals that are part of this debate: Paul Henderson's goal to win the 1972 Canada-Soviet Union Summit Series, Mario Lemieux receiving a pass from Wayne Gretzky to score against the Soviets in the 1987 Canada Cup, and now Crosby's goal (with an assist by Jerome Iginla) at the Vancouver Olympics. Some people may argue that Jordan Eberle's goal with 5.4 seconds left in regulation against the Russians at the 2009 World Junior Championships in Ottawa should also be considered; however, it was not a game winning goal. Canada would win that game in overtime, but Eberle's shot did not ultimately decide the game. Therefore, it is being excluded from this discussion. Anyway, the debate amongst Henderson's, Lemieux's and Crosby's goals boils down to one basic question: which goal is the greatest?
Some people will argue that Henderson's game winner that was a result of a mad scramble in front of the Soviet net is the greatest because of the whole allure of the Iron Curtain and Soviet hockey dominance. Plus the fact his goal took place on Soviet ice at the end of an 8-game series. (I know Alan Eagleson wasn't always there at times, but an EIGHT game series? You'd think a 7 or a 9, but the tie-breaking procedure for an even numbered game series is migraine inducing, and I'm sure it was in '72.)
Others will argue that the Gretzky to Lemieux Canada Cup winner should be ranked #1 because it marked a combination of two of the greatest hockey players of the time partnering up for a magnificent goal; a goal where there was actually a forgotten third man in that offensive rush, Larry Murphy, that was trailing behind. But most people remember #99 passing off to #66.
Then you have the supporters for the Crosby winner who will cite it should be deemed the greatest because it was on home soil (Lemieux's winner was also on Canadian ice at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum), it was on a bigger world stage, and the goal resulted in the winning of something more tangible than bragging rights or a fabricated trophy tournament.
But underneath all of this debate, there is one underlying factor that determines one's opinion of whose goal is greater. For you see, this is a debate that spans three generations of Canadian hockey fans. Those who were around to witness Henderson's winner in '72 will tend to favor that goal. Their offspring who saw Lemieux's marker will most likely rank the '87 Canada Cup winner higher. Today's generation of hockey fans will want to put emphasis on Crosby's gold medal goal as the greatest of all time.
So where does that leave me? What is my opinion on this whole matter? While I will admit that I was only a year old when Henderson etched his name in Canadian hockey annals, the grainy newsreel videos and the fact they paid homage to it in an episode of Corner Gas (entitled "The Good Ol' Table Hockey Game") has made me cognitive of its existence. But in my true honest opinion, I believe each goal has their merits and significance in the history of Canada's role in the spectrum of international hockey. People may tend to favor one over the others because of when they were born or when they came to the Great White North; however, I feel that all three play an important part in the sporting fabric of Canada, and to put precedent on one would diminish the impact of the others. That's why I say all three should be created equal in their importance, and we should enjoy them for what they were.
At the end of the day we all should lean back, take a sip from our large double-double, and just enjoy the action we have already seen on the ice and anticipate what is about to come.
Until next time, the views may be from the outside, but I'm still trying to shoot the puck into the top corner of the net.
Friday, March 5, 2010
I Warned You People. Didn't I Warn You?
Well, I did say I had a habit of being lax on certain things, this just goes to prove it.
In my first ever entry on this blog I made mention that I would probably make a few entries then end up abandoning it. Sure enough, that's what happened as I became M.I.A. for the entire month of February and am only just now making a return appearance.
I could have made excuses; citing that I was pre-occupied with watching the coverage from the just past Winter Olympics in Vancouver (and who wasn't watching?), and that would have some genuine validity to it. However, the fact of the matter is, I had lost my will to write.
This proved difficult for me as there had been a few things I wanted to write/talk about: the confusion and frustration that surrounded my Valentine's Day, the hype behind the "Own The Podium" program when the Olympics first started and how it initally looked to be a complete flop, or even my opinions on Sidney Crosby's "Golden Goal"... actually, I'll probably post that one in the next couple of days. But the fact of the matter was, I just didn't feel like writing. However, this has the possibility of changing within the next little while.
After some coaxing and a little bit of arm twisting by a couple of my fellow Nanoites, I have decided to sign up for Script Frenzy in April. This will be my first time I've attempted to write a script in a VERY long time, so this will be an interesting challenge. This got me to thinking: I have a blog that I've rarely used since I started it in January, why not utilize it to provide some commentary of my progress as the month draws on? I don't know if anyone would be interested in hearing a bipolar nutbar muse, vent, and stress out as he attempts to pound out a 100 page script in 30 days, but if it provides some semblance of therapy and entertainment, then why in the blue hell not? Who knows? It might even be fun.
We'll find out how I'll fair in this exploit starting in about four weeks.
Until next time, the views may be from the outside, but I'm just now trying to get back in again.
In my first ever entry on this blog I made mention that I would probably make a few entries then end up abandoning it. Sure enough, that's what happened as I became M.I.A. for the entire month of February and am only just now making a return appearance.
I could have made excuses; citing that I was pre-occupied with watching the coverage from the just past Winter Olympics in Vancouver (and who wasn't watching?), and that would have some genuine validity to it. However, the fact of the matter is, I had lost my will to write.
This proved difficult for me as there had been a few things I wanted to write/talk about: the confusion and frustration that surrounded my Valentine's Day, the hype behind the "Own The Podium" program when the Olympics first started and how it initally looked to be a complete flop, or even my opinions on Sidney Crosby's "Golden Goal"... actually, I'll probably post that one in the next couple of days. But the fact of the matter was, I just didn't feel like writing. However, this has the possibility of changing within the next little while.
After some coaxing and a little bit of arm twisting by a couple of my fellow Nanoites, I have decided to sign up for Script Frenzy in April. This will be my first time I've attempted to write a script in a VERY long time, so this will be an interesting challenge. This got me to thinking: I have a blog that I've rarely used since I started it in January, why not utilize it to provide some commentary of my progress as the month draws on? I don't know if anyone would be interested in hearing a bipolar nutbar muse, vent, and stress out as he attempts to pound out a 100 page script in 30 days, but if it provides some semblance of therapy and entertainment, then why in the blue hell not? Who knows? It might even be fun.
We'll find out how I'll fair in this exploit starting in about four weeks.
Until next time, the views may be from the outside, but I'm just now trying to get back in again.
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