A Palate Cleansing Sorbet
So first I'd like to thank everybody again who's sent me well-wishes, prayers, support, etc. I'd especially like to thank those who have shared their own cancer stories with me. Granted, sometimes the stories send me spinning down a rabbit hole of fear but that's real life and there's no reason to run from it. I'm feeling stronger every day (almost every day) and there are moments when I almost feel like I did before any of this started (which isn't necessarily all good, either). I do intend to write more about it but haven't been up to it recently.
John August tagged me with this meme that's going around and it seemed like a nice opportunity to check in with a post that's a little more light and fluffy than the last few. Of course it relates to film and pop culture, which many of you treat more seriously than cancer. Fair enough.
Without further ado:
ONE (1) earliest film-related memory:
1975. A huge year in film for me. I had a summer pass to the six-plex and my mom would drop me and my brother off outside. APPLE DUMPLING GANG. ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. Two of the greatest Disney live-actions of all time. And then they accidentally took me with them to see JAWS.
Best. Summer. Ever.
TWO (2) favorite lines from movies:
I only have one. And it's the title of this blog.
THREE (3) jobs you’d do if you could not work in the “biz”:
High school English teacher
Sushi Chef
Poet Laureate of Rhode Island
FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:
Ran teleprompter at Christian Science Monitor Daily news program
Busboy at New York Deli on Boulder mall (home of Mork)
Scorekeeper and Announcer for men's softball league
Wrote advertising copy for local Denver cable company
THREE (3) book authors you like:
Neal Stephenson
Tim Powers
Terry Pratchett
TWO (2) movies you’d like to remake or properties you’d like to adapt:
Orson Scott Card's ENDER'S GAME (God knows I've tried)
Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN
ONE (1) screenwriter you think is underrated:
Robert Riskin
Robert Riskin wrote many of Frank Capra's best movies and yet we never have or will hear the term "Riskin-esque."
One other bit of news...The WGA, using the same wisdom it used when it decided to give the studios a break on VHS and DVD residuals, has asked me to moderate their annual Words Into Pictures Panel next Thursday night February 2nd. The panel traditionally consists of all of the writers nominated for WGA awards. So it'll be those guys. And me. Years past the event has sold out the Writer's Guild Theater (it's open to the public I think) and there's lots of press and fancy people there. And me.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I know I am.
John August tagged me with this meme that's going around and it seemed like a nice opportunity to check in with a post that's a little more light and fluffy than the last few. Of course it relates to film and pop culture, which many of you treat more seriously than cancer. Fair enough.
Without further ado:
ONE (1) earliest film-related memory:
1975. A huge year in film for me. I had a summer pass to the six-plex and my mom would drop me and my brother off outside. APPLE DUMPLING GANG. ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN. Two of the greatest Disney live-actions of all time. And then they accidentally took me with them to see JAWS.
Best. Summer. Ever.
TWO (2) favorite lines from movies:
I only have one. And it's the title of this blog.
THREE (3) jobs you’d do if you could not work in the “biz”:
High school English teacher
Sushi Chef
Poet Laureate of Rhode Island
FOUR (4) jobs you actually have held outside the industry:
Ran teleprompter at Christian Science Monitor Daily news program
Busboy at New York Deli on Boulder mall (home of Mork)
Scorekeeper and Announcer for men's softball league
Wrote advertising copy for local Denver cable company
THREE (3) book authors you like:
Neal Stephenson
Tim Powers
Terry Pratchett
TWO (2) movies you’d like to remake or properties you’d like to adapt:
Orson Scott Card's ENDER'S GAME (God knows I've tried)
Neil Gaiman's THE SANDMAN
ONE (1) screenwriter you think is underrated:
Robert Riskin
Robert Riskin wrote many of Frank Capra's best movies and yet we never have or will hear the term "Riskin-esque."
One other bit of news...The WGA, using the same wisdom it used when it decided to give the studios a break on VHS and DVD residuals, has asked me to moderate their annual Words Into Pictures Panel next Thursday night February 2nd. The panel traditionally consists of all of the writers nominated for WGA awards. So it'll be those guys. And me. Years past the event has sold out the Writer's Guild Theater (it's open to the public I think) and there's lots of press and fancy people there. And me.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I know I am.
posted by josh at 11:22 AM
47 Comments:
I love Neal Stephenson and Terry Pratchett!! I knew there was a reason I liked you. :-)
Glad you are recovering. Be well.
I call first post!
Hey Josh, since you bring up your favorite movie line ... every time I see your title I always think of the line, but am never completely sure I've got the right movie since it could fit into many different scenes so nicely. I always go back to my first inclination, being Oddball's quip to Moriarty. Am I close?
And have fun at the WGA session. That should make you feel back up on your feet for sure.
1) I think my earliest film related memory is seeing C.H.O.M.P.S., the robotic dog movie.
2) 2 Favorite lines
"Son, you got a panty on your head." - Raising Arizona
"That's what sustained me in my time of trouble." - Butch & Sundance
3) 3 jobs I'd do if not in the biz
Quantum Physicist
Musician
Sci-Fi Author
4) 3 book author's I like
Charles Stross
Neal Stephenson
Ray Bradbury
5) 2 properties I'd like to adapt
Accelerando by Charle Stross
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
6) 1 screenwriter I think is underrated.
Kevin Jarre. Most people agree Glory is a great script, but Tombstone is as watchable as it is because of his script and not George P. Cosmatos hamfisted direction.
now that we know you're okay, how the fuck's your chihuahua?
Dear son,
Just checked in to see if you had given up this non-money making, career-threatening blog folly of yours. Haven't checked in for a few months, because I knew you weren't very prolific anyway.
Cancer? You really had cancer? Well, I knew you were prone to mega-hypochondria and had even raised that to an art form.
Cancer? Really? Bummer. But, you think you had it bad? My lower back is hurting from too much golf. Can't play for a few days. If it would not be too much effort, you could checked in on me every few months as well. After all, in our family, it's not just "all about you"; it's "all about me" too.
Congratulations on this WGA assignment. No up front money and a back-end against zero; but I assume it will put some food on the table for our grandson --- a bit of cheese and a little dip you might remember to bring home from the theater. Therefore, watch your mail --- I am sending you $15.00 cash; and I want it all to go for baby food.
Sorry the wolf showed up.
Love,
Dad
Sean. Star Wars. Darth Vader. I hope you were joking.
Is that really your father?
Glad to hear you're doing alright. Hope the WGA thing works out for you. Have fun, get lots of free monkey food.
Terry Pratchett is truely fantastic stuff. Particularly anything involving Death for more than a paragraph or two.
Favorite movie line:
"Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says, "Give me your best shot. I can take it.""
John--
Yes that was the Base-Mar. Thanks for ratifying my memory.
And unfortunately, yes, that is my father. (and maybe that explains my love of Vader.)
Sorry if I scared you, Josh....but there's a part of me that kind of hopes you'll always be a little afraid, if it keeps you very vigilant about your health. God bless.
Fantasia had a big impact. It was the dancing mushrooms. But I also have strong first film memories from things I caught on television, both good (Gamera) and traumatic (Soylent Green). Maybe this is why I have such conflicted feelings about the film business, which I am currently working out in therapy.
But not about your career-threatening blog folly, of which I'm a big fan.
I hope you enjoy reading Dickens because if this is your first public appearance since sharing your story, it will be the best of times and it will be the worst of times. The well wishers will warm your heart at the beginning and grate on your last nerve toward the end. Forgive them. They won't know that you've answered the same questions the same way a hundred times for several straight hours.
Have fun at the do Josh!
Can we expect a report?
Glad you're feeling more like your old self.
Man, I saw some of Jaws when I was about five or six. My parents called me into the lounge of our mobile home (in USA, read: trailer) and told me to watch the TV when the guy gets bitten in half and blood spurts out his mouth.
Then they laughed at me as I ran sobbing down the hall to my room.
Sounds like your dad would have liked my folks.
Great to have you blogging again.
Good to have you back old bean.
I always thought Terry P and Nealy S were a great combo to read one after the other. Now if only Neil G could co-write something with the latter, my bookshelf could finally meet itself coming the other way. Or something.
You're going to be moderating the writer's guild thingy?
AWESOME!!!
If I'm not working, I'll so be there!
re:Riskin
The story is told of director Frank Capra, who was asked in an interview to explain precisely how he achieved that special quality known as "the Capra touch."
For page after page he rambled on about this technique and that one. At great length he discussed how he had lent "the touch" to this film and that one. And in all of these pages nowhere was mentioned Robert Riskin, who had merely written the films.
The day after the interview appeared in the press, there arrived at Capra's office a script-sized envelope. Inside was a document very closely resembling a screenplay: a front cover, a back cover, and one hundred and ten pages. But the cover and pages were all blank.
Clipped to the "script" was a note to Capra from Robert Riskin. It read: "Dear Frank, put the 'Capra touch' on this!"
(excerpt from SCREENWRITING The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing)
----
I think that says it all! Glad you're coming around, Josh.
Terry Pratchett is awesome. And the Ender's Game series is the only set of books that I have a permanent place on my bookshelf for- the others come and go. Ok, I keep LOTR in my permanent collection too.
If they aren't going to make Ender's Game, they should at least make "Bean".
Earliest movie memory:
Watching 'Krull' (why oh why) and thinking it was the best thing ever...
Best quote: "I'll never put on a lifejacket again." (Come on!)
Properties to adapt: Why hasnt anyone adapted Donna Tartt?
John and Josh:
Base-Mar - The last time I was there was to see "Vacation" in 1983.
in '81, a buddy from So Hills was a manager there, got in free.
Josh - When were you at NY Deli?
Glad you're feeling better, Josh. Your father sounds adorable. Love that playfully jabbing wit!
KJC
Pratchett is brill, seems like I have to look up Stephenson and Powers.
Have you read Susanna Clarke's 'Strange & Norrell' yet? I highly recommend it if not, though at first I was rather suspicious of all the hype. But the book lived up to it.
Pratchett is showing up on tres many of these memes. He certainly did on mine. The guy is genius.
Glad you're on the upswing. And give 'em hell at the WGA. Damn, I'd love to be there.
I'm so pleased you're not dead.
Since you're lacking a second favourite line, how about the utterly brilliant Garbage day? It's certainly made my list.
Hey man! Been WAY too long since I checked your blog. So firstly, glad to hear you're doing better, and sorry you had to go through it. I'm sure it is making you stronger.
Thanks for answering this as well. It is nice to see the "big guys" such as yourself getting involved as well. :-)
For years now I've been saying Disney should remake Witch Mountain, and not another Freaky Friday (3's not enough?) or another Herbie sequel.
Tim Powers is an amazing author. I'm hoping to adapt Last Call into a screeplay.
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heya, i was there last night. as i'm neither press nor wga, i fall into the very happy public they let in category. you are hilarious. i was sorry grant didn't talk about being the new kid on the block ....but wow. what a great night. i've been to a lot of these, and this was by far the best. so thank you.
Nice piece about The Black Dahlia in NY Times this week. What was up with your quote ? Taken out of context much ?
Josh,
For the love of god, please start talking about THE BLACK DAHLIA. I promise you, we will come back after you've given up most of the good stuff.
Josh,
I couldn't help noticing that you like Robert Riskin.
Robert Riskin's nephew, also named Robert Riskin, was my junior high school "Language Arts" teacher. Great guy, great teacher, loved movies and was a local (Newark, CA.) legend in his day.
Robert Riskin, the Language Arts "teacher" was/is a joke - worst "teacher" I've ever had. I only wish he'd never reached tenure. My jr. high experience was ruined by this terrible excuse for a human being.
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So you like the British [more correctly 'English' but i have learned to make allowances for Americans] writing? Just picked up Snow Crash the other week, but ham a long standing fan of the others you mention.
It's bugging me, but comparatively recently i read a long discussion about 'Enders Game' i think in relation to something 'hollywood' and it's now bugging me that i can't remember what and where. It may have been Warren Ellis and Joss Wheedon, but perhaps not...
And i have no idea how anyone would approach making a 'Sandman' film...
Useless fact: Terry Pratchett buys his hats from my dad.
OK -- I really want to know if you Josh Friedman actually inspired the line "...motherfucking snakes...motherfucking plane" in SoaP. The dude from the Snakes on a Blog blog told me you did. Please confirm or deny.
Nice blog btw. Very enjoyable.
Hello Josh, I would like to contact you directly and since I am in London and dont have any contact details for you please drop me a line on evework@aol.com
All the best,
Christopher
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