Various Ends and Various Beginnings

So, I can drive now. I didn't blog about it, and I didn't really talk about it so much unless it was relevant or necessary. Here's the deal: I had a seizure back in August. No biggie, just something that happens from time to time. I told my neurologist, didn't tell the DMV. However, because the State of Illinois knows that I have a seizure history, they can't renew my license without a medical release from said neurologist. The neurologist can't sign off on my medical release unless I've been seizure free for six months. Still no problem, but here's the kicker: my license expired last December. So, for two months, I didn't drive much, and when I did, I was always looking over my proverbial shoulder (and sometimes my actual one) to make sure I wasn't going to get pulled over for anything. Being pulled over is bad enough when you have to pay $50. When you run the risk of having your car impounded, it's a little worse.

But now I can drive. I got my medical release, I went to the DMV, and I'm a legitimate driver again. It's really freeing when you can legally drive all you want. I'm a happy man.

Also, I've quit World of Warcraft again. I've done it before, and I might end up doing it again, but for now, the game isn't doing it for me anymore (and I have less time to devote to it, with me being out of the house 12 1/2 hours a day). I'm kind of wondering if I've had enough of being a PC gamer. I could consider being a console gamer and getting a Mac, but I'm also not about to make some leap that I don't want to follow through on just yet. Meh, just thinkin.

Pucca

Heidi and I have a new guilty pleasure: Pucca. We started looking for some fun, goofy cartoon on Saturday morning (y'know, sit on the couch, eat junky cereal, watch cartoons), and this was the best one out there (good cartoons are harder to come by these days). Heidi likes it because Pucca reminds her of herself as a little girl, and we both like how fun, innocent, and freakin' hysterically funny it is. We decided to regularly record it, and just watch it when we have nothing else going on.

It's based off of some wildly successful web animations, and has marketing galore all over Asia and Europe (less so here, but I'm sure it's going to pick up soon). It's a pretty simple premise: Pucca, a ten-year-old noodle delivery girl and master martial artist, has an insane crush on Garu, a ninja-in-training. Garu doesn't reciprocate, as he appears to be in his girl-cooties phase of life. There's a fair amount of comic action, as almost all the characters are the super-powerful ninja-esque characters common in Anime, but they're cute little kids, and it's just as much about the action as it is about little kids and their various crushes. Some of the humor is really witty, and other times it can be really slapstick. The flash animations were created with no dialogue, so as to enchance the international appeal, and this tradition is carried over to Pucca and Garu, as neither of them speak in intelligible words (although the rest of the cast speaks).

It's a guilty pleasure, but it's so charming and fun (and requires almost no commitment) that it has become a bit of a staple in the Fisher household.

John's Heroes Theories

Warning: Spoilers ahead. Also, if you don't watch NBC's series Heroes, you're going to be a bit lost.

OK, here's my theory about the end of this season. I've had it since December, but I'm sharing it now, as it seems to be leading in that direction.

We've all seen Peter's vision of him being the bomb that blows up New York, but I postulate that it is not him that is the "bomb," but Sylar. Both absorb powers, and both have a lot of them flowing around inside there. But here's something to note: Peter didn't start having his visions of him blowing up until he was near Sylar. Neither of them have a history of exploding, obviously, but Peter just has a lot of thoughts/powers/feelings running around in his head. Sylar has a blood clot running around in his. Remember Charlie, Hiro's girlfriend/obsession? The reason she didn't like to get close to people was that she had a blood clot that could turn into an embolism "at any moment." And Sylar ate her brain. Peter's absorbed maybe ten powers, hardly fuel for a significant explosion; Sylar's absorbed hundreds.

That's where I think the "Save the cheerleader, save the world" came in. It's not the explosion that's the end of the world (although I'm sure Our Heroes will do all they can to stop that), it's the fact that if Sylar ate Claire's brain, he'd be able to heal himself. He'd heal his blood clot without even knowing it was there. If he were to absorb Claire's power, he'd effectively be able to kill every super individual and claim godhood over the world.

Now, the explosion: We've seen the guy who can irradiate things by force of will, but he's been a nonentity. He shows up in a scene or two, and we're done with him for three or four episodes(maybe he plays a bigger role in the website stuff, I haven't checked that). It is my considered guess that Sylar will eat his brain, get the embolism and nuke the city. I'm actually guessing that the explosion won't happen (or at least not in New York), but that's how I see Hiro's vision of the future coming together; we don't lose one of the series' main characters, we lose the bad guy who really can't stay alive for another season for the drama to be effective.

If anybody has any thoughts refuting or confirming this, I'm all ears. If not, I'm cool, too.

Alka Seltzer & Lemonade

Yeah, so I'm still in blogger's malaise. Not much to say, no time to say it. But, so's people don't feel like they're being gypped by coming here regularly or subscribing to any feed they so desire, I'll give you this:

If you have a bit of a sour stomach, Alka Seltzer and Lemonade are REALLY good together.

For that matter, Bacon & Pineapple make for a really good pizza. Just FYI.

2007 Goals, Update 1

As usual, I'm updating everyone on the progress of my goals. Much like the original goal posting, the update is a little late, but I had pretty big news that I wanted to post on the first of the month. In any case, here's how we're doing with the goals.

1. Get at least 5 union voiceover gigs: Not even one yet, but I'm on may way.
2. Get one national gig: Not so much.
3. Get at least three agents in the local market: I have one; no change from late last year.
4. Get into both SAG and AFTRA: Bupkus
5. Drop my bodyfat to 12%: We joined the Y last week, and both have had our first meeting with one of the trainers. We're also eating healthier, so it's a start. Still don't know where I am as far as bodyfat, though.
6. Travel at least four times: 1 down, 3 to go
7. Get my headshots done: Bupkus
8. Join the Fighting 501st: I'm waiting till it's warmer before I can set up a card table in the garage and get to work.
9. Make enough with voiceover that one of us can quit our day job: Well, I at least made SOME money with voiceover. It's a start.
10. Brew at least four batches of beer: Bupkus
11. Read the Bible from beginning to end: So far, I'm doing really well with this. The one year Bible thing (where they group readings into 365 dated entries) helps a lot.

So, my plan for this month is to at least plan my first brew of the year, work out both my body and my voice regularly, and keep auditioning. I also want to do an agency mailing, but I'm not sure if that's going to be possible for this month. A lot of my goals are out of my direct circle of influence, so prayer is a large portion of my tasks for this month as well.

Gig #1: The Larch

OK, an explanation about the title: my gig actually had nothing to do with trees; it's a Monty Python reference. But, I did have a gig.

It was a local commercial for Tommy Nevin's Pub in Evanston, and it didn't pay very well, but it was a gig, and the gig was good. I got to play, and have fun with my voice, and just be an actor. I felt alive, defined. Acting is where I shine; it is my craft, above and beyond any other creative outlet. I have a few other creative outlets, but acting is where I work best, and this was what made it so fulfilling.

Again, it's small. I won't be able to support myself on it for any length of time, and it doesn't accomplish any of my goals, but it's a great beginning.

"Do not despise the day of small beginnings." -- Zechariah 4:10