The Valley of Fear Screening

As many of you know, I was in a low-budget indie horror flick called The Valley of Fear that was filmed last year. The premiere was last September up in Oakhurst, CA, but the film has yet to get a screening anywhere else. We had hoped to get it in a Northern California film festival, but that hasn't happened, so we're going to have a Bay Area screening.

Anyone who reads this blog is, of course, invited. The screening will be on Saturday, May 12 at 3:00 at Foothill College in Appreciation Hall (room 1501). If you'd like detailed directions, e-mail me.

Done

Okay. Thanks to an innovative use the vacuum cleaner, I finally got my cats corralled and to the vet for their shots today.

The reason I had to take them in is that I'm going to be boarding them in the near future and they haven't had rabies shots in years. They're indoor cats, and since the rabies shot can cause tumors, vets often recommend an animal not get it unless there is a need. All kennels require rabies vaccination, however, so the time had come.

Ironically, I'm not going to be boarding them because I'll be on vacation (I usually get a pet sitter), but rather because I'm getting some work done on my house and they need to be out of the way. Which means I'm taking the $32 for their shots today out of my house maintenance/upgrade budget ;-).

How Do They Know?

I came home from work a little early today, as I was planning to take my cats in to get their vaccines up to date. The animal hospital I use has walk-in vaccination from 8-6:30 every day.

Somehow, my male cat figured this out as I was walking in the front door, and is now hiding under the couch. I expect him to come out around 6:25.

Oh well. I guess that means I get up early tomorrow morning.

300

I just saw 300 tonight.

I'm not sure how 300 guys running around in speedos and capes can be so butch, but they are.

The abs help, of course.

BTW, doing a Google search on "speedos" in order to check the spelling is a very nice way to waste a half-hour ;-).

It's Like Turning 18 Again

Today is my birthday.


I celebrated with various people over the weekend. Today, since the weather was nice, I took the day off of work, put the top down on my car, and drove down to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I'm fond of the Aquarium because it opened when I was a kid. And because, of course, it was used in several scenes in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Here are some more pictures.

Play Reading on Friday.

A few months ago, a friend of mine from my playwrighting class told me she was doing a staged reading of some short plays, and asked if I would like to have my play Full of Grace read as part of the reading? I agreed, and sent her a PDF.

Four weeks ago, she asked me if I had cast it yet. It turns out that it was my responsibility to cast the play, direct it, and arrange a rehearsal. Surprise!

Fortunately, two of the three cast members have agreed to reprise their roles, and I've got another actor friend of mine to play the remaining role, so it looks like it's all coming together. We're rehearsing at my house tomorrow night. The reading is Friday.

Here's the flyer for the reading. That picture is from the 2005 production. The younger priest in the background is the one I had to recast.

Yikes!

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake just hit the East San Francisco Bay area, about 35 miles from me. We've had a bunch of earthquakes in that area over the last few months, but this is the first one from that area that I've felt.

I've been wondering if these quakes are a portent of a Big One. Clusters of moderate-sized earthquakes in the same area are generally not a good sign. However, this latest quake occurred on a different fault than the others; I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one.

I'm fine. It was big enough to be startling, but not big enough to do damage. I'm surprised that it's only a 4.2, actually. Given its distance (about 35 miles from my house), I would have guessed that it was larger (maybe a 5.0). I'm watching the TV news, and apparently that's a common feeling.