Public Transportation

I would like to write one more blog before off the subject of film for right now. If you don't agree,tough! Its my blog,ha ha ha!!!!!!

Public transportation can be good and bad at the same time. The good part about it is you are conserving fuel for what ever vehicle you might own, and it is also, to some extent a good way to see parts of the city you live in or the city you are visiting.

Bad part about public transportation is it takes you hours to get some where so you really have to plan ahead to get the right connection that you need.

The other thing wrong with public transportation is the people.

I can tell you story upon story about either being on a city bus or even on a coach bus like greyhound and encountering the strangest of people. No joke.

Being on a greyhound (for those that may not know, it is a bus line that goes through the United States and Canada) is an adventure in itself, and not necessarily a good one. You get all kinds. From toddler's who wanna scream the Barney theme song as loud as they can or some psycho who wants to stand in the middle of the isle and stare out the windshield.

All though I must admit, if I am going to travel and not drive my self and I don't need a plane, I take a train. Not a bad ride and the people are some what decent.

In San Diego, California they have what they call the San Diego Trolley. Basically a commuter train sort of on the order of a subway. Also not a bad ride. Kinda fun, actually if you are a first time visitor to the city and want to look around, the trolley can take you places a car can not.

All though, just like a bus, the San Diego trolley does get its fair share of, shall I say interesting people.

It was the summer of 2004 and at the time I was in San Diego about 8:00 am and we had just got into the downtown area of the county when this elderly gentle man, if I had to guess (and I guess I do) of about 60 or so gets on the trolley and decides he is going to sit by me. Not a problem.

The problem was sitting across from me was this woman with her feet propped up on my seat sleeping. he man See's the woman and instead of asking her to please move he grabs her feet and shoves them off of the seat.

The woman got up and started hitting the old man, so much that he nearly landed into me. Scary, if I may say.

Both of them were wrong, obviously. The man was wrong for pushing the lady down and the lady was in the wrong for hitting to old man.

Once again, scary.

I do have one memorable bus ride story as a child. I am on a bus with my mother. I think we were coming back from visiting aunts and uncles and I don't recall the bus driver taking any freeways. All I remember is him stopping at every bus stop and a young David (guess who)complaining it was taking too long.

D out

Tomorrow and for at least the next week in a half: Film Techniques.

In My Next Life I want To Be.....

Happy Saturday, my reader's. It's late in the evening (early hours of the morning,actually) and I only have time for this so, lets get it going

Very recently I had heard from a person who she wanted to be when she came back in her next life and it got me to thinking...

The term doesn't exist.

And here is why....

For starter's having another life after you die would throw confusion on the concept of God and the existence of Heaven. Granted we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and no one is perfect, coming back in another life would mean that God is not the loving and caring God that He is. Lets face it, if we kept getting life after life till we supposedly got it right we never would get into heaven, because each life would be as sinful as the first, if not more.

The hypothesis of Heaven as this great place to be after you die would be to some degree a farce because we would never get there

I have heard story's from people that have claimed to have a memory of a previous life. These people can make up the best story they can about being someone famous, being someones animal, etc, only problem is they can't prove it.

Real simple. One again, it would make God a Being known all over the world by believer's and non- believer's alike as being, well, dare I say a liar.

And that is something I and billions of other people can not believe.

I am not trying to tell you I have all the answers because I am no where close to it


It has been said by countless pastors that when we get to Heaven we won't have time for questions because we would be filled of joy and the excitement of seeing Jesus Christ face to face.
So, with that said why would a loving and just God send us back to earth time and time again and fill our minds with story's of a place we would never get to?

I am a Christian and I believe that there is a Heaven and one day I will be going there.

In the Book of John, chapter 11 verse 25 and 26, Jesus states while conversing with the sister of Lazarus, " I am the Resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live a new life"

In Heaven.

Not several times on earth till the Almighty thinks we got it right.

God Bless,
drmeier

True Hollywood Story

All,right, my reader's, I think I have a good topic today. Hope all is well with everyone who reads this.

There is a cable channel called E! Basically its a station that covers all genre's of entertainment. Now, before I go any further, I wanna start by saying, I am not writing this to critique. I have seem some of the shows this station has and it's not all bad.

But, how ever, there is one show they have that I must admit, isn't keeping up with it's title.

It's called "E! True Hollywood Story", now, even though they cover a specific crime in just about every story, not every story comes out of Hollywood, California.

For instance, last year or maybe 2 years ago there was this story of a woman who as a child was kidnapped and held hostage for about 17 years.Even though it was not a Hollywood kidnapping, think it did happen in California, but i don't know where and quite frankly I am not here to glamorize it.

That is what I think this show is doing. It's glamorizing crime's.

And no crime should be glamorized by anyone.

But, so goes the world. Alot of people are fascinated by crimes, especially infamous ones.

I'll give you two examples:

there is a musician in his own Rock band named, and I am not kidding you if you should be reading this and not now of this person, but his stage name is Marilyn Manson. For this blog, I will call him Brian Warner, because that is the name his parents gave him. Warner's reasoning if you can call it that was to shock people. He took the name of the famous Actress Marilyn Monroe and the other from mass murderer Charles Manson.

Anyone who would do that, automatically turns me off of their music.

When I heard his brand of music, I was also turned off by it. Not my cup of tea, sort of speak.

It just seems to me that if you're going to have a TV show that's called "True Hollywood story", keep it based there. Don't go searching the whole world for crimes that didn't happen in Hollywood.

There have been alot of films based on crimes. Some are good, while other's are just plain horrible and you have to ask your self why you paid hard earned money to watch them

In a 2002 motion picture entitled 'blow' Johnny Depp plays a career criminal who made his fortune by selling drugs, the lavish lifestyle this guy had and his numerous arrest as payment for his career choice. For it's technical side, its a good film. The screen writer wrote an effective story of this guy. Its based on a true story and was directed by the late Ted Demme, nephew of film director Jonathon Demme who himself directed the Oscar winning "Silence of the lambs".

But, technical stuff aside, to some extent it did glamorize the guy's life style.

Not the way you want to earn a living, regardless of how it might make you rich. You're going to get caught eventually

So, maybe it's just me, but I don't think you should go and make a television show that isn't about what the topic is.

In closing, I would like to add that during the course of next week I will be getting back to the topic of why this blog is called 'from paper to film.' Each day, I will take an area of film making and write about it.

Now, I understand that this may bore alot of people, because they don't have an interest in how a movie is made and that's fine. I just hope you find it enjoyable reading.

Until than, the balcony is closed.

Drm

So Long, Little People

OK, my reader's, here is the news you have been waiting for months to hear (er... read) I have a new computer!!!!! Yes, that means more frequent blog's!!!! Clap Clap, Clap, Go David, Go David!!

OK, time to get to it.

Monday night was a bittersweet moment in Television history. It was the end of a five year run for a beloved series about a beloved family. The Kardashian's? No. The Tweed- Simmons? This writer can only pray for that day, but sadly no.

The Roloff's.

If you have never heard of them they are a family of Little People or I dare say, midget's, even though that is a phrase frowned upon if you are a little person.

The Roloff's are a family of six living on a thirty-plus acre farm in the state of Oregon. The husband & wife of Matt and Amy and their four children, two of them twins and the other two average height.

One of the twins, Jeremy, is average height while his twin brother, Zachary, is little.

If you can call it a reality show, it doesn't have the look of one. It shows average parents raising their kids while going through the everyday struggles of life

I guess one of the things that drew me to the show was the dad, Matthew. He has overcame alot of obstacles to get where he is today.

In the late 1990's he wrote a best selling book called "Against Tall Odds". It has to be one the most intriguing and inspiring books I have ever read

About two years ago the Roloff's were guest on the Oprah Winfrey show and one of the questions asked was how long would their show, "Little People, Big World" last. I think it was the wife, Amy who said that they really didn't know. If anybody in her family, including her self said 'ok, that's it', it was over.

Who ever made the decision, doesn't really matter. All good things must come to an end at some point. God Bless You, Matt, Amy, Jeremy,Zach, Molly and Jacob.

May God bless your future endeavor's

A LPBW fan

Father's

Good Sunday to you, my reader's. I hope you like tis one.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been thinking of this topic. No one wants to hear from some one talk about being a parent if they have'nt experianced it for them selves, and I would agree with that. And what I mean by 'experianced' is all the joys, frustrations, etc that come with having children. That is something I have yet to have happen to me, so I thought perhaps don't write about it.

So, I am not going to.

What this is about today should not be taken as my advice on how to raise kids, but on how I look towards people I know who are father's and what I have seen in their relation ship with their children.

I have yet to meet my father, but yet at the same time I have always known him. I consider my grandfather to be my dad, even though he has since passed away, he is still my dad and I miss him to this day.

What I miss the most is the advice that I think every father gives to his son's. I call it the stress of everyday life. I think that mother's give the same advice to their daughter's.

It is what every body goes through and if you have some to talk to, some one who is going to say "yeah, I have been there" it's encouraging for the person hearing it.

To this day I wish I had that. It would make it a little easier to get through the day some times.

Perhaps I am wrong with what I am about to write and with that being said, if I am I stand corrected, but perhaps it is better for a son to talk with is father and a daughter to talk with her mother because it is two diffrent people and not to sound lewd or foul in anyway, but maybe it sound's better for a male parent to talk with his male child and a female parent to talk with her female child well, about delecate issues. If anything, better understanding. Not that the mother nor the father could discuss both and give advice to help either child.
Like I said, If I am wrong I stand corrected.

I read this saying once, and I hope I get it right: "Any man can be a father, but it takes a real man to be a Dad" I think what that saying implies is that any man can have a relationship with a woman and find out later that he is an expectant father and when he hears it, he leaves.

It takes a Man to take the responceabilty and say he wants to be there for his children regardless of the circumstances.

I have tons of respect for guys who do that.

In closing I would like to say three things

one: I had received an e-mail about a year ago from a friend of mine who said he was going to change the daily schedules of his kids after one of them woke him up in the wee hours of the morning. I had responed back to him saying that it is probably a good thing because he had told me the one of his children had something important to do later in the week and it was probably a good thing to get him used to waking up early.

Than I stopped myself. I thought what I had sent was foolish, I have no say in what goes on in that familys life and I am sure my friend knew exactly what he was doing and the reasons behind it. Did I over step?

Maybe, but you would need to ask my friend what he thinks of the matter.

Second: I am not writing this blog today to lay blame as to why my mother and father couldn't work it out either before or after I was born. I don't really care. Like I said (wrote) I had a dad, I don't need to go looking for another one.

Even if I found him, it would't matter. You cant make up for lost time no matter how hard you try. And it has been 41 years.

And third: I didn't relise all this stuff about my gradfather till after he had passed.

And its funny..... people go searching for stuff like this and they can't see that it has been right in front of them the whole time.

David.

Happy Anniversary, Grandma.

Hello, my reader's. Wanting to send you a Thanksgiving wish for those living America that read this blog today or when you get the chance.

Topic today blends in with The holiday.

My grandmother is celebrating an anniversery this week. It is not the day she married my grandfather nor is it the anniversary of her birth. The anniversery is for the both of us.

But before I tell you what it is about, I feel it is only fitting that I explain what it is we're celebrating. If you recall in a previous blog topic over the summer entitled 'Childhood Memories' I had written about a home for boys I was at when I was a child. The annivsery is for the day I left the home and went to live with my grandparents. 29 years ago this Wednesday. Day before Thanksgiving.

I have never told anyone this and the only people that know about this event, if I can call it that is my gradmother and I. I can't explain to you why I remember this day, I just do.

the day itself, 29 years ago I also recall. I remember being in a school in Redlands, california and saying goodbye to fellow class mates.While most of the kids were saying 'bye, Happy Thanksgiving. See you Monday, I knew for myself I wouldn't be. It brought tears to my eyes while I was sitting in a school bus waiting to go back to the home I was living at.

While at the boys home, waiting for my grandma to arrive I said goodbye to other boys I was living with and like any other 11 year old kid, waiting for my grandma's car to show. When I saw it I was estatic.

I recall one of the worker's at the home, a big named Hal who to this day remeinds me of Will Geer, the grandfather of the clasic tv show, the Waltons. But much younger than Mr. Geer. I recall my frst meeting with hal about a year prior to me leaving and it didnt go over to well.

But, there we were both Hal and myself and he is teling my grandma just how much not only the boys in the home will miss me, but how he and the other staff would as well.

Another thing I remember about that last day was Hal paid me the money he owed me from a bet we had made. He had bet me a week prior to leaving that I would mess up some how and I wouldn't be able to go to my new home with my grandparents. Easiest $10 I have ever made.

The past 29 years have been a blast.
I praise God that I have been a man to stay out of serious trouble with the law and that even though I have regrets to a degree (everyone does) there is not too much I would change.

So, Happy Anniversery, Grandma. And here's to the next 29 years.

David.

Election Night

Hello, reader's. How are ya'? Good, I hope.


Well, The election in the USA has come and gone. It was this past Tuesday. Biggest win was with the house of reprasentives leaning more to the right than the left. Whether or not that was a good thing or not remains to be seen.

I used to think that politcians were on the level. Perhaps they are or at least some of them are, but now my views have started to change. When it comes to a politcian you don't know who can trust. Like every election campaign you have politcians who are runing that may run a tv spot. Than you have his or her rival doing the same. Seems like the object of it all is who can talk trash about the other one the quickest.

Makes it difficult to believe either one of them.

I personally did not vote, I guess because of the reasons I have just stated.

One thing you can't do, or at least in my opinion is blame just one person.
There also seems to be alot of that going on in the aftermath of the election. is it Obama's? Who is to say.

I guess we are all going to find what changes are coming with in the next couple of months.

David