Sci-Fi Emo Ramblings

I've known Doc Waller for almost 8 years now, and every time we meet, this phrase comes up again. "Do the work."  Don't talk about it, do it.

It's a challenge, it's a prayer, it's a call to action for every artist.

"Do the Work."

I spent the weekend in Auburn, AL, in the first meeting of the Layman Group, a non-profit organization based out of Auburn, dedicated to expanding understanding and opportunities for the arts in Alabama.  It was founded by long-time friend and collaborator Doc Waller (you may remember him as the doctor in Sins of the Mother).  Doc invited me to serve on the board of directors, and additionally as a creative advisor, a role I expect I will enjoy more and more as the days go by.

I had an absolute blast snapping photos this weekend. All the visual effects I've been doing for the past six months have DRAMATICALLY improved my visual imagination and understanding, in my own opinion. Which should be encouraging to any budding photographer, because I *SUCKED* before.

See the rest of the photos here: Layman Group Weekend

As if the iPhone wasn't enough.

A recorded phone call with Verizon.

So on the way to work today, I decided I'm actually going to the inauguration instead.

Many thanks to Paul Fischer's hospitality.

ADVENTURE, AWAAYYYYYY

Turns out there was a woman (Jane Irwin) making Steampunk jewelry for folks -

- and then found out it was highly radioactive.  This is not a joke.

Check it out here, and if you know anyone who might have bought it:

http://www.vogelein.com/JanerBlog/2009/01/#001060

So this year...I got an idea. 

I want to have an adventure in 2009.  Not just a two-week trip somewhere, or a crazy night.  I want 2009 to BE AN ADVENTURE.

This happened once before.  The summer of 2004, I blogged about my first film tour, day to day, as I did it.  And because I knew people were going to be reading it, I found myself doing things I'd never do otherwise, just because I wanted a great story to tell.  I lived more in those five months than I had in years.

It was some of the most fun I've ever had.

So, in 2009, I'm writing a book, all year long, about 2009.  It will be about all the adventures I get into this year, which means I'll need to have some adventures to fill up the book.  It's like a journal, except it's meant to be read.  Personal?  Yes.  Private?  Yes.  Public?  Yes.

At the end of the year, I'm going to bundle it all up, do some designing, and privately publish it through Lulu.com.  A year of your life is a valuable thing, and I want a big memento to remember 2009 by.  Because it's going to be fun.


EVERYONE IS WELCOME
After telling this idea to a few friends, they got excited, and wanted to join in.  So it occurred to me, maybe some of my other friends would like to do it, too.

Here's the rules:

1) Write your story, in words or pictures or movies or whatever medium you think suits it best.  Do a documentary.  Do it in paintings.  It's your 2009.
2) Get together with like-minded friends so everyone will keep up their end.  Deadlines work best with friends. (We're thinking of having something due every two or three weeks)
3) You only share as little or much of your book as you want, ever.  This may be a totally private project for you, and that's fine. :) 
4) There are no other rules.

If you'd like to join in the group, just drop me an email (earl AT earl newton dot com).  I'm creating a little mailing list for everyone doing it, just to keep us all connected and focused.

I have no idea how this idea will scale, but I know it's exciting, and it touches something deep inside me: I want to live life to the fullest, and I want to remember it when it's done.


Our first task is to write an introduction to our book, due Jan 14th.  I've included an excerpt from mine below. 
( Introduction to "2009: My Gonzo Year" )

I was eating dinner tonight, putting in some final changes on a script I'm writing.

About 17 years ago, while living in the Bahamas, we bought a bunch of Bahamian statues carved out of solid logs.

These two facts are related when you realize that we decided to arrange these statues along a shelf about 12 feet above the living room (we have cathedral ceilings).

Tonight, those three facts came together in a very physical way, when one of the statues abruptly decided to commit suicide: randomly falling off the shelf, plummeting twelve feet, directly on top of me.

I wasn't hurt (it hit me in the torso, and it only weighs about 20 pounds).

But there was another victim.
( There are no victimless crashes )

This will be my last politically-associated post on this blog for a while.

You have my permission to forward/post this.  I am sending it to everyone.

( My America )

This will be my second-to-last political post for the rest of the year.  The last one will come this evening/tomorrow morning, after the results are in.

I just wanted to stop and say to everyone: I think it's pretty amazing what has happened this year.  We've gone from a nation with a barely-30% voter turnout (circa 2000) to lines at the polls stretching for hours.  We're getting interested in the political process.  As a country, i feel like we're waking up, politically.

We're not perfect, we're not always the most informed, but we're interested.  And that's really the first step.

I have a passionate love affair with good ideas. I started Stranger Things partially because I found a podcast called "Escape Pod", and it seemed absolutely thick with good ideas, and I knew I wanted to do something like that.

Once a year, in Monterey, CA, 1000 notable people are brought together. From fields as wide-ranging as politics, art, design, philosophy, and technology, they are given 18 minutes to speak about their ideas. On TED.com, they release these 18-minute videos for you to watch.

The 18 minutes turns out to be just long enough to blow your mind. It's like snack-size Enlightenment.

I could go on but I'd rather let you discover it for yourself.

But I'd like to share with you a discovery I made. I'd heard of Tony Robbins in the past, and, while I'd never actually seen him or read his work, I pretty much figured I had him categorized as a flashy self-help guru. Full of BS, a Susan Powter of the soul, that kind of thing. But when I saw his video on TED.com, I thought I'd give him a chance to hang himself.

I was knocked out. As it turns out, Tony Robbins isn't Tony Robbins for nothing.

• 18:34 at every major event in a man's life, he will be escorted into a small room and asked to wait #

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• 19:07 The "Stranger Things success story" mentioned in Wired. tinyurl.com/3fdwsu #

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On October 4th, my good friends Albert and Rachel got married, after being together for seven years.

They asked me to make a video for them, and I'm sure they expected the "have a great life, guys!"/"don't go to bed angry!" kind of congratulations/advice video.

I decided to do something different.

This is the story of Albert and Rachel, in their own words.

"IN THEIR OWN WORDS" (15 mins)

In Their Own Words from Earl Newton on Vimeo.

You'll notice captioning on the video: one of their family members is deaf, and a good friend, so I captioned it so she wouldn't miss out on the experience.

Pass it on.

• 17:28 just finished a feature script. Undoubtedly one of my best. Http://earlnewton.com/pure-love-complete #
• 18:03 An escalator is just stairs with a fear of commitment. #
• 18:19 @mattfnwallace: I am going to put that on a business card. #
• 18:24 @mattfnwallace: I can see you are getting into fighting shape to kick the publishing world's ass. If I were an editor, I would piss myself. #

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• 00:57 Danny Boyle's "A Life Less Ordinary" is what my inner soul tastes like. #

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This just in: Stranger Things get MAJOR love from AMC.com!

Check out the link below, and take a second to make a comment. Repost it on your blog. Let 'em know you dig ST! Five seconds of your time is how more awesomeness comes down the pike.


Bestselling novelist Scott Sigler blogs on AMC.com about the state of online horror, and has some great things to say about Stranger Things, my television program.


(Left to right: Kalypto (Quentin Kerr) and Wilson (Nate Panning) at the business end of a paranomal deal gone wrong., Episode 4: Latchkeepers)

Read the article here: Sifting Through What's Worth Watching Online

If you haven't yet, take the time, and find out how strange your world can be: check us out on television through Illusion On-Demand, or watch the episodes for free at StrangerThings.tv

This evening, at Dragon*Con, Stranger Things won the 2008 Parsec award for Best Video podcast.

Thanks go to the Parsec committee, honor to our fellow nominees, and above all, enormous gratitude to our fanbase. You make us what we are.

Much more awesomeness coming soon.


********

The acceptance video:

Dear Cool Kids,

Please do not feel guilty when you say "I don't want kids."  You don't have to take responsibility for making sure the next generation of people is worth a damn.

And don't worry that as you look around, you might realize only the most ignorant of your species is shooting out children, and at a rate only exceeded by the pile of scratch-off lotto tickets piling up in their pickup truck.

Soon you will be outnumbered, and then eventually, all the cool people on Earth will be dead, and the cities will fall under the control of the half-simian, half-redneck masses.

Yes, just like "Planet of the Apes."

Have a great life!

(signed)
Evolution

http://mysterymanonfilm.blogspot.com/2008/05/50-flaws-of-indy-iv.html

A lot of good points here, and a great resource for screenwriters.  Not only from a script analysis point of view, but as a word of comfort and caution: nobody can get it perfect every time.  Filmmakers take heed.