mk.fullofthink.com

Oddly enough, that was a common refrain on the set of Haven Hill this weekend. People, myself included, have strange goals.

It’s been quite hectic the last few days, between shooting and going to Chicago for work (but managing to fit in some play) and going to Indianapolis to see two little bands called Radiohead and Wilco. Last Sunday, the Cincinnati NBC affiliate aired a short piece on making Haven Hill. Watch it here. I’d like to blog about shooting later this week; Saturday was a long night, and though they didn’t need me past 2am or so, it was a blast to hang out on set with new and old friends. On the right is a shot from Saturday night, with myself and a few people from the WOXY boards.

mmuuuggghhhh…

InkTank’s new and improved website launched today. There is still a kink or two to work out, but the site already looks smoother and more welcoming than the last incarnation. Check
it out! Get involved! Heck, donate!

For any of you who are wondering, InkTank’s day-to-day operations have moved to the Peaslee Neighborhood Center on 215 East 14th Street in Over-the-Rhine, so it’s just up the street from the old digs. The bi-weekly writer’s salon now meets at the fabulous Carteaux and Leslie bookstore (left) in downtown Cincy. Might be having some readings for Final Friday there. In the meantime, pay the place a visit. You’ll be glad you did.

I probably shouldn’t have learned about the Cincinnati T-Shirt Fest, but I did. What’s done is done. And I’m probably going to spend a lot of money next Friday. There will be all kinds of
Nati-themed shirts, most obviously Reds and Bengals and Cyclones stuff, University of Cincinnati and Xavier stuff, plus shirts pertaining to “major destinations and events.” Huh? WEBN Fireworks shirts? Flying Pig leftovers, perhaps?

I’m excited for brands like Wire & Twine. I’ll probably pick up a new WOXY shirt. W&T also makes a great Cincinnati subway map shirt, and I believe it’s Alternative Motive that makes a timely streetcar map shirt. I’m hoping for new stuff by Nati Evolvement as well.

(For those of you who don’t know, the Cincinnati has neither a subway nor a streetcar system, though some momentum is building for the latter of those two, and I pour over these maps with a wistful longing comingling with rabidity and hunger.)

And speaking of Fountain Square:

BAD VEINS

TONITE

9 PM

These auto-generated web memes are usually generic and slightly unintelligible, but after
being in a drab cubicle all day (writers don’t need to move around, converse and learn new things, didn’t you know that?) this one is starting to feel a little too real:

That’s the noise a zombie makes. Know how I know? I have a role in an upcoming zombie feature being shot in Kentucky this summer. I get the script next week…I guess there was some editing or rewriting or something. All I can say is that I hope my character turns into a zombie. What a strange thing to aspire to, huh?

Anyway, I’m just glad to be in a zombie movie. When I was only 8 years old I watched Night of the Living Dead, my mom not realizing that it was not some crappy, sci-fi, B-movie like The Crawling Hand or the Godzilla flicks my brother used to love, but that it was (and still is, forty years later) one of the creepiest, unnerving movies ever made. The scene where the little girl kills her mother with the garden space disturbed me the most. My brother and I were haunted for weeks after. Thanks, Mom! Other than that, bang-up job on the parenting, really!

Joking aside, flash forward a decade and a half later, Shaun of the Dead and the 28 Days series* are some of my favorite movies, period (though all of these also take place in England, which is a very big bonus for me). Maybe that early exposure imbued me with a predisposition for the zombie subgenre (but the more I read about its origins in Haitian culture, the more white guilt I feel for enjoying these movies).

Of course, that’s all hooey. I like zombie movies because I like horror movies, not because I watched a trend-setting undead flick as a kid. But still, I get a sappy kick thinking about how two siblings so freaked out by a movie as kids that they had to keep their nightlights on and share a bed for a week (with Mom sleeping at the foot of it, btw), would grow up to act in a zombie film. Yes, my bro is in it too. He’s got what sounds like a pretty cool part. And though we both enjoy acting, we’re doing this for fun.

*I never wanted to get into this “There aren’t any zombies in 28 Days/Weeks Later because they’re not really dead debate,” so I won’t. But those films, as much as any good movie featuring classic zombies, create an overwhelming sense of dread, which I think is more crucial to a zombie movie than how the undead/infected came to be.

…Huh? Wazzat? I have a blog? What?! Is this interweb thing STILL around?

So I’ve totally been snoozing on the blog front lately. Though I don’t think it matters because I’m not so sure anyone even frequents this thing…except for automatic bots filling my comments with offers of Viagra and pheromones to attract the lady-types. That’s annoying enough, but in my big deleting frenzy, I deleted some actual comments by real, living people (i.e. Desiree). That sucks. The internet is so mindless, gross, depraved and broken sometimes. I suppose it’s good for me to stay away from blogging, and the internet in general, in order to get some writing done.

Saw Mates of State at the Southgate House last night. They were fantastic! I saw them two years ago and they were alright, so I was expecting an alright show, but they exceeded my expectations.

Ugh, I just haven’t felt like blogging lately. Maybe because Cincinnati’s been having great weather lately, weather too good to stay inside and type on a computer. Yeah, that’s right, I don’t have a laptop. I’m lame and old. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to Luby’s Cafeteria for the early bird special. It’s best to get there before the no-good teenagers get out of school and loiter in the parking lot with their skateboards and walkmen-pods…those whippersappers.

Paint the interwebs with this site, a tie-in to Atmosphere’s When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (which is one of my favorite album titles ever, perhaps second only to Yo La Tengo’s I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass). Anyway, here’s what I did with my hostess’ blog.

Your move, Des!

Ra Ra Riot, aka one of my new favorite bands, played at the Gypsy Hut last night. I was too busy dancing to concentrate on taking some decent pics, so here’s what I could manage.

I’m not a big J-horror fan, I don’t like horror remakes and I hate torture porn. I’m a slasher girl, and these days, good ones seem hard to come by. That’s why I enjoyed this State of the Slasher Address on PopMatters.

This font test is pretty nifty. It’s difficult; I only got 19 out of 34, but then again some of the
art guys I work with scored 21, so I don’t feel too bad. Try to one-up me. Shouldn’t be that hard.