Insert migraine headache, sleep, work on the screenplay, one insane hollywood party, vodka and red bull, and vague memories of Paris Hilton here. I dunno.

Have you noticed .... one by one, all of the countries of the world are reporting that bees are mysteriously disappearing? Really.

And there is this Cat that plays piano ...

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts.

I got a bunch of pages done in Act 1 over the last two evenings. The cool thing about screenwriting is that once you get on a roll, and the pages start to add up, it gets easier. When the end of the script is in sight, trouble ... as it is hard to think about anything else but getting to the end. The next few days will be very interesting and hopefully very fun here in LA, especially tomorrow night. In Renegades-land, with the first half of the show being an absolute touchdown so far, we are now focused on maxing out the second half. We need to edit the length of Stone Ground Seven a little, and max out the ending. We had a slight miscommunication with arranger Key Poulan, and we ended up with something that was too close to our 2004/2005 piece, The Ascension, but we should have everything in stone soon. The ballad, an arrangement of the Evenescent tune My Immortal, is beautiful, and one of the best ballads we've ever played. We are taking a slightly different approach to the ballad this year, as I have decreed that there will be even a single note played by the battery. We never get credit for battery playing in the ballad, most of our competitors don't bother, and it is usually a huge source of timing and balance problems. Sayonara drum parts. The Renegades drum line will be kicking it behind props and drinking iced tea this year during the ballad. Later gator.

Check out the ultra-cool Hollywood Kill messenger bag.

Tuesday.

I made some serious progress with the script last night. It has been tough for me as a writer to change gears (and genre), coming out of My Immortal ... from Nazis soldiers fighting vampires to drum corps ... but the wheels are starting to turn. Basically, I'm at the point where there is nothing left to talk about, plan or outline. I simply need to write, and forget about everything else ... which I did last night for a few hours.

Truth be told, with all of the legal work I've been doing with the network lately, it has been challenging to find time to write. One advantage this time around is that I brought in a co-writer, aka Chris Nalls, and he figured out screenplay format and writing quickly. Once I get the groundwork done on Act 1, I can hand off scenes to Chris to write/re-write, and we can get the script done by the summer. I've already begun preliminary discussions with producers and a director, but once the first draft is done, we will hit the gas pedal and get the film made.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the morally challenged Doghouse DJs, JV and Elvis, for completelely offending, antagonizing and alienating the East Coast, and getting fired by a second entertaimment media company, aka CBS. That certainly did not take long after you got the fired from the West Coast by Clear Channel. I know you need new jobs again, but hey -- your track record is amazing! IMUS only got fired once, and you guys have not even gotten around to offending the Midwest yet. Keep up the great work.

sarcasm: off

Okay Cats. Thanks for checking in, and have a nice day.



Lee

RIP Boris.

Remember these idiots?

Remember JV and Elvis, the two Howard-Stern failed wannabe Dog House DJs who got fired by Clear Channel after the incident involving sexually inappropriate comments made to women in the Renegades colorguard in 2005?

The two morons apparently just got fired again, this time in New York, by CBS ... after reportedly airing a prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant that was peppered with ethnic and sexual slurs. Why on Earth any legitimate radio station would hire these no-talent goofballs to do anything but clean toilets with a toothbrush is way beyond me. They need to be off the air, for good.

Enough is Enough.

A radio talk show should not give one license to hurt people for ratings. Period.

Update. FYI, the dates of the Hollywood Kill feature on SiTV have been pushed back a week. The new air dates are May 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13.

More details soon.

Renegades.

Last week was an incredibly long work-week for me. Leading up to this weekend's Renegades rehearsal camp, I must admit that I was not all that hyped about drum corps. In fact, I was pretty down on the whole thing, and frankly, antagonized after receiving three emails in the three days leading up to the camp from three percussionists who could not make the camp for one reason or another. As I drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to rehearsal, if someone would have told me that drum corps was over forever, I would have happily turned around and went back to LA.

I arrived in the town of Templeton on Saturday afternoon, and walked up the hill with a large chip on my shoulder to the rehearsal field, just in time to see an ensemble run of the opener. Thirty seconds, later, my jaw dropped. The opener was freaking incredible! And they had just learned it -- I was stunned silly.

As the corps ran more of the show, I just stood on the sidelines and laughed. In fact, the whole design team did. I don't know if DCA is ready for a show like this, and it is more theatrical than anything we have ever put on the field -- but we might have just accidentally designed the best Renegades show ever!!

I was also stunned to see how many new people had come out of the woodwork, and a near-full baritone line that magically appeared out of thin air. Then, I walked down to the main field and saw the guard. I was in shock. The Renegades guard is completely full, hyped, and has a rehearsal attendance rate of 100%. To say the guard is better than our guard has been in the past is like storming into the Little League playoffs with the New York Yankees. I don't know what happened, but I could not stop smiling as I watched them rehearse. I couldn't believe it was Renegades. The one other dramatic area of improvement is the pit, which is also full for the first time in Renegades pre-season. This, I personally blame Mark Allen for.

Truth be told, we still have a few recruiting issues to address. We need a few contras, and per our tradition, we could use a few more snare drummers. But, we are way ahead of last year, and have 5 minutes of the show on the field already. I am getting the distinct feeling that when the dust settles on 2007, we may have our best Renegades corps ever. In fact, given the huge emphasis on visual category in DCA scoring systems, I am inclined to predict that the 2007 Renegades will be the highest placing corps we ever had at DCA. But, as not to jinx anything, I will not predict that. (heh)

I just know that I came into a weekend of Renegades antagonized and annoyed that I even participate in drum corps, and left feeling very grateful for the fact that I do, and remembering what makes drum corps such a great, worthwhile and Evil endeavor.

Special thanks to baritone player extraordinaire Dave Landers for securing such a fantastic facility for the weekend. In two weeks, the Renegades return to their home base at Site X, aka on Treasure Island, and then take the stage at the Concord Pavilion with Blue Devils and Vanguard.


Rock on,


Lee