» Fringe Blog – Writing on Film, Culture, and Things on the Fringe http://www.fringeblog.com The fringe is where the real resides, where substance and style are made one. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:46:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Hard Drive Fund http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/01/hard-drive-fund/ http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/01/hard-drive-fund/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2006 18:53:11 +0000 jelewis8 http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/01/hard-drive-fund/ Dead Laptop Hard DriveThe faithful laptop gave a croak and took its final breath sometime this morning. Like an old man dying, I knew it was on its last legs. I was sure it would die sometime over vacation, but again, like an old man dying, it surprised me, lasting through the flights back home and a day back in the old manse before giving out.
I lost a bit of stuff, most notably my music collection–thankfully, most of it was ripped from my own cd’s, but there were a number of albums I purchased online. I’m pretty bummed about that. I had my writing backed up, so I can continue to pick and scratch at that tiny trade.
The nice thing is, I should be able to purchase a new hard drive and resurrect it like a monkey paw version of its former self. Without all the painful clanking and scary tension of the story. And since I have always suspected that I inherited huckster genes from some long ago snake oil salesman or televangelist, I am going to try and raise some of the cost of the hard drive right here at Fringe Central. Naturally, there’s no need to feel obligated to donate, but should you still feel a bit of leftover Christmas spirit, click the button below and savour the feeling you get when you buy a seat at the local theatre, or purchase a brick in the pavement of a city restoration project.
Hey, if NPR can do it every year, why not me?

Laptop Hard Drive Fund


]]> http://www.fringeblog.com/2006/01/hard-drive-fund/feed/ 7 Desperate and Lost http://www.fringeblog.com/2005/10/desperate-and-lost/ http://www.fringeblog.com/2005/10/desperate-and-lost/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2005 23:55:07 +0000 jelewis8 http://www.fringeblog.com/2005/10/desperate-and-lost/ I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but I watched the Desperate Housewives pilot episode last night. Even worse, I enjoyed it. I don’t know if there’s anything more humiliating than admitting to watching and liking a souped up soap opera, but I have to let go of my pride for the sake of the show. The show must go on, and I must go on watching it.
What stinks is that I now have to throw out my idea for a television pilot, which I had begun writing. It was to be a soap opera parody, strewn with genre conventions like sensational and bizarre plot twists, sex encounters as common as houseflies, murder, coverups, breakups, hangups, and all the other great things that make soaps lather like they do; the catch? Satire would rule the roost. I’m not divulging plot details in the hope that I can resurrect this eight years down the road. After all, Hollywood needs good, recycled ideas.
Needless to say, DH is similar to what I had structured, though characters and plot are different. Still, I doubt my idea could be pitched now with DH ruling the ratings.
To balance things out, I also encountered the pilot episode of Lost, the $100 million brainchild of supergenius J.J. Abrams. It was like watching a newly minted X-Files set on a tropical island. I was amazed, and easily captivated. It’s pretty easy to see why it won a few Emmys. Few things are as scintillating as a good mystery, and it’s been a while since television had such enticing mysteries. Lost and Desperate Housewives seem to fill the void pretty well.
It’s worth noting that I had pretty much sworn off television, having endured the slow breakdown and dissolution of my beloved X-Files a few years ago. I prefer to watch television from the comfort of a DVD, which is sort of like expensive Tivo. I own the first three seasons of X-Files on DVD and it’s great to be able to pop one of the twenty-one discs in from time to time to enjoy a good episode. Or two or three. There were a lot of good ones those first few seasons. In my television celibacy, I have made a point not to indulge in fact-finding missions regarding the shows I knew I would want to watch eventually (like Lost). So it is with absolutely no clue that I embark on the journey. It’s great to be in this position. Many people who have watched Lost from its first episode on tv would like to be in my shoes.
I imagine I’ll buy Lost at some point. I’m not sure I can bring myself to buy DH; having that in my collection would be a bit much for me to bear.
It’s going to be a fairly busy weekend for me, as I am going to be finishing up the soundtrack to Red State and getting ready to finalize the film. I’ll be flying to the East Coast for the Richmond premiere. More on that trip next week. Until then, have a great weekend.

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