A dearth of anything truly interesting to say combined with a particularly nasty bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder have left your Uncle P in a rather dour mood of late.
I'm still keeping my Dream Journal though, and hope that my most recent bizarro dream about Alien Hands (don't ask, just yet) will result in another full-fledged screenplay, though I have to wonder where that particular scenario might lead. The dream itself involved dismembered alien hands that turned into feet which grew legs that developed into a torso... And no, I didn't eat anything strange, spicy or greasy before bed last night. I'd detail the entire dream here, but I don't want to risk your thinking I'm completely insane (as if you don't already think that, anyway).
I am still feeling rather trapped by snow (and not at all happy to hear that another major storm may be headed our way this coming week), despite having done some grocery shopping today (parking was a literal nightmare, thanks to the 8+ feet high piles of snow in the stores' parking lots). Give me a day or so to cope and I'll be back to my usual shenanigans. Or not.
In the meantime, I encourage the less squeamish among you to check out Bugcrush, a short, gay-themed horror film from 2006. Suggested by J.A. at My New Plaid Pants and posted on Post-Mortem Depression, this short (31 minutes) but effective film captures gay teen angst in a way that few modern filmmakers have been been to do. It's also probably NSFW.
I really do love living where I live. I am within driving distance of five of the East Coast's best cities (Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Baltimore and Washington). I have access to arts communities and some unique shopping districts. I live close to a day job that I (mostly) love and I can drive to either the mountains or the shore in about the same time. There are plenty of cinemas and legitimate theatres nearby; there are several theme parks and other entertainment venues and the crime rate in my community is relatively low. I am connected to all of these things by easy access to Interstate 95, Route 1 and/or the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes.
There are, however, two things I really hate about living in the Delaware Valley - the summer's often oppressive humidity and the winter's even more oppressive snow storms.
Yesterday saw the fourth and fifth major storms since Christmas and I am beginning to believe that I won't see green on my front lawn anytime before June. In the early morning we were surprised to find 5 inches of snow (rain had been predicted), followed by another storm in the evening, which dumped an additional 11 inches of snow (along with a few inches of freezing rain and sleet). Pretty to look at, but annoying as hell when one has to get someplace other than home. And it didn't help that in the wee hours of this morning, Township snowplows piled a 30+ inch wall of ice at the bottom of my driveway, making it impossible for me to get to said day job, today.
"So, get a snow-blower," you all may be admonishing me. I had one. It lasted all of two seasons before breaking down into an irreparable pile of junk which still sits forlornly in my shed. "Then hire a local kid to shovel you out," you might be thinking. Good luck. The lazy louts in my neighborhood would rather play XBox games while home from school, than take the initiative to earn a few bucks on their day off. "Then move south," you're thinking now. Really? Have you spent any time south of the Mason Dixon line? Lovely places with delightful people, but moving to Florida (as my sister has done) means moving to a cultural wasteland filled with cartoon mice, bad-driving senior citizens and nerdy Canadians trying to escape their own winter hell. No, thank you.
And yes, a young man did finally show up to help me finish digging out (for a price, of course). And tomorrow I will brave the icy roads to get to the day job that I (mostly) love. Still, more snow is predicted for tomorrow, Saturday and next week. Personally, I'm tired of all he whiteness. Give me rainbows, unicorns and green, green fields of flowers any day...
The video below is from Cherry Hill, NJ, a community about an hour south of Uncle P, though my neighborhood looks very much the same.
More, anon.
Prospero
P.S. You may have noticed I have a new photo. No, that's not actually me (the old one was). I have no idea where that particular image came from, but I think it conveys my worldview quite nicely. If you're really interested in seeing what I actually look like, take some time to dig into past posts and you will find at least a few images of the 'real" me.
I got a new camera for Christmas and just now got around to uploading the pictures I've been taking. That's my Santa Fe the day after the first of two blizzards we had in February. And this past weekend, we had a massive Nor'easter that dumped over 3" of rain on us between Friday and Saturday. Today was the first time we saw the Sun in at least 5 days. I have never been a fan of winter, but living in the Northeast, I got used to it. Until this year. If it weren't for my proximity to NYC, all of my favorite people and my very good day job, I would move to the Southwest in a heartbeat. Of course, the cons of moving far outweigh the pros, so I'll be staying where I am, thank you. Of course, Summer in the often very humid Delaware Valley can be brutal, too. But Spring and Fall are usually lovely, and I do enjoy the change of seasons (even if my sinuses don't).
Last night, just as I was signing on to post a "The Gayest Things You'll See This Week," I experienced a completely unexplained blackout. Blackouts this time of year usually don't last very long (even at the height of Saturday's storm, the power went out just enough to be annoying), so I waited. And waited. And after 20 minutes, I gave up and went to bed. Two hours later I was awakened by the power coming back on, but by then it was well past midnight and I simply turned off the lights and went back to bed.
Anyway, below you will find an abbreviated "Gayest Things" post. Well, abbreviated and expanded, really. Because the blackout allowed me to find a second music video to include. First, I don't how I missed it when it was on Towleroad originally, but here's a terrific video of the lovely and melancholy "End of the World" from gay singer/song writer Matt Alber.
You can be sure I'll be posting more of Mr. Alber's work, which somehow reminds me of a cross between Rufus Wainwright and early Billy Joel.
And today (via several sites), I came across this video from David Fudge (who made the fabulously gay version of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the FIP"). Here's an unofficial video for Lady Gaga's "Monster:"
Just what I needed to help me get over these Winter doldrums. Spring is just around the corner, which means I'll be getting into full swing on the JTMF show, which always warms my heart. I hope it's warm and wonderful where you are (or it will be soon).
I have no idea why people love Kubrick's version of The Shining. I suppose that as a movie, it's pretty good, if a little a silly. As an adaptation of the Stephen King novel by the same name, it is a total fail. And don't try to argue with me, because you won't win. As a massive King fan and someone who likes to put words together and hope they make sense, I have to side with the author of the source material, here. That book scared the hell out of me. The movie just made me sad.
Anyway, that exceptionally silly image of a frozen Jack Nicholson is there because that's how I feel right about now. I have absolutely had it with winter and want the flowers and the birds back, tout suite, maintenant! "Oh, but Prospero, the snow's so pretty when it's coming down..." Yeah, well so is the arterial spray of a half-naked co-ed being set upon by some madman or monster. Ooh! A little too dark for ya? Well, suck it up, hombre! (Hey - 3 languages in the same paragraph - that's pretty good).
You see? This is what winter does to me. It depresses me and makes me crazy and it makes me want to do bad things to stupid people... I'm at work on a new screenplay and -- my hand to God -- I've written a character based on a composite of my clients, just so I can kill him off in a particularly gruesome way. And I'm having no problems at all imagining increasingly horrible fates for most of the main characters. Truth be told, I really don't see it ending well for any of them, though my characters have been known to surprise me with unexpected and unintended (at least originally) behavior in the past. Once, an intended antagonist ended up becoming the heroine, simply by reacting to her situation in a way I never intended her to. But just between you and me -- I wouldn't count on more than one survivor, if any at all, this time... See? Winter Madness. Cabin Fever. Whatever you want to call it. I wrote a one-act play and screenplay about it (and several other unpleasant topics) called The Cow Says: "Moo!" The screen version can be read here, should you be interested. But be warned, it's grim, to say the least. And don't even tell me you're surprised...
Okay, I know. It's the weather. You can't do a thing about it except sit by and watch it happen (or in this last storm's case, sleep through most of it). And I know - the weather is one of the many reasons to wtach and support your local news programs. Uncle Prospero watches the NBC affiliate WCAU in Philadelphia, with Glen "Hurricane" Schwartz, a pleasant and slightly eccentric fellow who is deadly serious about the weather. He's usually pretty calm and matter of fact, even when being emphatic. Here's Glen, who is quite the Philly-area celebrity, at a local Scarecrow contest last fall:
Peddler's Village is about 40 minutes north of me; a place filled with quaint and unique shops and restaurants, near New Hope, southeastern PA's version of P'Town.
When a big storm is coming, the weather guys get excited, because it means more camera time. I get it. But it seems sometimes they just want to scare the crap out of you. Take this clip from AccuWeather.com weatherman Jim Kosek, last Friday:
I have a co-worker who holds a degree in meteorology and desperately wants to work as a broadcast meteorologist. I shared that clip with him via Facebook and his response was: "Oh, my God! What a wacko!" Though I certainly understand Mr. Kosek's despair (I feel your pain, bruthah!), that segment was just a little... oh, I don't know... unprofessional and way over-the-top? Yeah, that's it.
