July 23, 2004

On a whim, I signed up to participate in a trivia contest. From a box filled with entry forms, 32 contestants were selected to compete in "The Ultimate Film Fanatic" competition, hosted by Chris Gore. Those of you with access to the IFC Channel may have already watched the show, but I'd only seen the "Coming Soon" promo at Loews.

My name was called in the very first round and the game began:

* Who played Danny Ocean in "Ocean's 11"? (George Clooney)
* What 1997 Francis Ford Coppola film dealt with a young lawyer taking on an insurance company? (The Rainmaker)
* What 2000 Woody Allen movie involved a heist? (Small Time Crooks)

Needless to say, my hands were shaking violently as I took the stage and stood behind the podium/microphone. But instead of focusing on the hundreds of people in the audience, the cameras showing my face on several huge movie screens (ugh) and the blinding glare of the bright lights, I simply tapped into my brain's stockpile of movie trivia and gave it the ol' college try. Luck must have been smiling on me for once -- I'm not a very lucky person -- because I won the round and a ton of really nice prizes.

During the second round of competition, eight of us competed for a chance to win a portable DVD player and a library of DVDs. The questions switched to "Taglines" and I fumbled like a receiver wearing Vaseline on his hands.

For those of you who don't know, taglines are the short, punchy lines of text printed on movie posters:

* It's the time of your life that may last a lifetime. (16 Candles)
* In Vietnam The Wind Doesn't Blow It Sucks (Full Metal Jacket)
* Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours. (Magnolia)

Difficult, isn't it? Well, my ass was handed to me. I think I scored 1 out of 10. Still, it was a fun competition, even if it did earn me a bit of fame. (Several strangers at the con later congratulated me on being the only woman to make it into the second round.)

The final part of the competition involved two players debating opposite sides of a movie argument. Let's say player one loves Steven Spielberg and player two hates his work. They each have 30 seconds to offer their position and 10 seconds for rebuttal. The judges -- in this case the show's hostess and "Bubba Ho-tep" director Don Coscarelli -- were supposed to choose a winner. They couldn't agree, though, so the audience declared the better debater with cheers and applause.

Player number two won. He was an energetic, young fellow smoking an unlit Sherlock Holmes pipe. I'm convinced he was a film student because he could recall the most obscure facts and seemed to have memorized the entire contents of IMDb. More power to him.

A second vicious migraine, worse than the one I had on the first day of the convention, kept me from attending the game show host's movie screening, but if you get a chance, check it out. "My Big Fat Independent Movie" opens soon and the trailer's already online.

* decompressing at the movies
* Snowcaps
* the scent of freshly-made popcorn
* comfortable seats with cup holders
* trailers

July 22, 2004

My first day at Comic-Con International in San Diego would have been perfect if not for the 15-hour migraine I suffered because I switched to a daywalker schedule.

Still, I met a ton of interesting people, including Erin Gray (Silver Spoons), Catherine Bach (The Dukes of Hazzard), Ernie Hudson (The Crow) and the director of "Donnie Darko." By eavesdropping, I learned Jude Law (Cold Mountain) is staying in my hotel, which means Keanu Reeves (The Matrix) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) are probably here too.

I took a brief tour of the tables, but only purchased one comic book. The author, Sean Taylor, was kind enough to sign the book, thus making it priceless. I also found a painter who absoluely blew me away with his oils. I'm hoping he'll be sitting at his table tomorrow so I can request a price list.

Three more days of panels, movies, costume parties and shopping await. I'm off to bed early, in hopes of killing the migraine for good. Future posts may be sporadic until I return home; thank you for your patience.

Since I'm in Southern Cali, there will be no Jaded Writings column this week.

July 20, 2004

Bigger is not always better.

Personally, I prefer fuel-efficient cars to behemoth SUVs. I rarely shop at Costco and I refuse to buy a gallon-sized jar of pickles from Wal-Mart. I even cut my food into bite-sized pieces to make eating easier. So you can imagine my joy when I found the Minimus store.

In the words of Steve Martin, "Let's get small!"

* warm peanut butter toast
* sitting by a pool with my feet in the water
* picnics
* flying kites on a beach
* looking for faeries

July 19, 2004

Foamy is a mouthy, cartoon squirrel owned by a deathmonger poet named Germaine. To see some of his best rants and adventures, select any of the following episodes:

* Spell-A-Casters
* Five More Minutes
* Creative Issues
* FCC Update
* Free Your Mind
* Fat-Kins Diet

"Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof."
--Ashley Montague

Past Afterthoughts