The official response from Schwarzenegger's office?
"My goodness, what a strange coincidence. I suppose when you do so many vetoes, something like this is bound to happen." -- spokesman Aaron McLear
Personally, I think the million monkeys typing on a million typewriters for a million years would get at least halfway through "Hamlet" before they'd come up with something like this.
From the Associated Press:(Margin of error: plus or minus 100%, because I could be completely off-base with all of this; I just don't think I am)
I've been enjoying watching tv shows on the computer. You get the whole episode with about three commercial breaks, during which they show one ad. Since a half hour show really only has 22 minutes of content, you watch the whole thing in about 25 minutes. It's pretty awesome.
An update (sorta) on this from last week...
I am a cat owner. As a result of buying cat food and signing up online for coupons and whatnot, I occasionally receive emails from a cat safety advocacy group called "CatAge". This week's email concerns Halloween costumes for kitties, which I will share with you now [with editorial comments] in the interest of sharing concerns about cat welfare with responsible cat owners and concerns about stupidity on behalf of dumbasses who own cats.How about you just don't do it? Your cat is going to interpret your sudden desire to wrap it in cloth as an indication that you've lost your mind. Because your cat doesn't know it's Halloween or even why that matters. What your cat does know is where you sleep and that you are not a big fan of having your stuff peed on. Is it worth it?
A week ago tonight was the "1st Annual Black & White Sustainability Mixer & Recognition Ceremony", a performance art piece by Ellen Mueller. I plugged it pretty heavily but leading up to it, I didn't say much about what it was...because I couldn't. Not without spoiling the surprise. Now that it's over, I can tell you that it was a mock corporate awards ceremony where a company (I played CEO Jack Fields) honored itself with an award for coming up with an award, in this case, a giant chocolate fish that was consumed by the honorees. Or as Ellen says, "This piece addresses the fanaticism of individuals and corporations, which we see through the presentation of this redundant and self-serving award. Sustainability is addressed through the nature of the award and the theme of the ceremony, while America is shown through the corporate setting and meritocratic nature of the award. And for added effect, this trophy is also edible, because the evening is intended to be about recognition in the present moment, embodying the fact that sustainability is, after all, a problem we have to face today. Therefore, the honorees are encouraged to truly taste the fruits of their labors for us, and they do so with full force, getting messy along the way, and not stopping until the fish is entirely gone...The emphasis on black and white is representative of humans' natural desire for simplicity and duality, which is in direct conflict with the muddled quality of the broad concepts of Fanaticism, Sustainability, and America. The messiness of the chocolate fish contrasts the crisp black and white theme of the evening." Here are some pictures (all photos by Forrest MacDonald http://www.photostudio40.com):
Pre-show with the trophy. That's Ellen in the black dress.
The trophy in all it's glory. Ellen made that too and shows how it was done here.
Pre-show huddle just before doors opened. It looks like I'm trying to interject something important, doesn't it? In all likelihood, that's probably not the case.
Minglers in black & white mingling. We (actors) were mingling too, engaging people in conversations about "green" issues and sustainability concerns. My character, while not a bad guy in the sense of being a villain, was less committed to those concerns and more focused on the company benefiting from the evening, which gave me a great deal of freedom to improv and be glib. "Because if we don't recognize ourselves for coming up with this award, how are people going to know that we did?". I also told an attendee that my favorite green space in the Tampa Bay area is Tropicana Field because they have a massive lawn that never needs cutting, never needs pesticides. He pointed out, "yeah...because it's plastic". To which I replied, "Right! And what's more sustainable than plastic? That stuff lasts forever!" My character was also obsessed with fishing and it was his idea to make the trophy in the form of a fish. This allowed me to talk about fishing a lot, including telling another attendee that I had once shot a shark and that my life's dream was to catch a killer whale.
Care for some chocolate fish? These were served to guests, without napkins, to create some slight discomfort and messy paws. Eat all you want, there's always more.
The presentation begins.
Dynamic CEO (and natty dresser) Jack Fields addresses the crowd: "It's with great pleasure that I'm standing here today. It's not often a CEO gets to address both his business passion and his personal passion in the same breath...but here I am. Now I'm going to be honest; I love fishing. Love it with all my heart. In fact, if there were no fish, I'd consider implementing a six-day work week. Because there would be no point in having weekends. I bet you're thanking your lucky stars for the fish now! But seriously..."
The crowd enjoying themselves. Door prizes were given out!
The honorees, thrilled with their award.
The honorees begin enjoying their award.
They keep eating...
...and eating...
...and eating...
...and eating...
...and eating...
"My god, are they still eating that thing?"
Yep!
They don't look quite as thrilled now though, do they?
Finally, they're done. As in, they simply can't eat any more. Nobody threw up but Ellen said that would be just fine if they did. Performance art, baby!!
A Northwest Airlines flight from San Diego, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota overshot it's destination by about 150 miles because the pilots were distracted. 
Please check out the videos on my favorite funky rock star's/rocky funk star's very own YouTube channel and then become a subscriber. Then tell her you did so because I asked you to. That way she'll feel she owes me a favor and will come to Florida to play a gig and I will be invited to hang out backstage where I can eat green M & M's and drink herbal tea and pretend that I too am a funky rock star. Thanks.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were goofing around at practice the other day, playing a game called "Naked Shootout", a little deviation from the regular routine to relieve some stress (they've lost their last two games). 
In my opinion, the worst thing about reading newspaper stories on line is the reader commentary that follows. Not because I am against readers interacting with the media and each other (quite the opposite, in fact), but because so much of what is posted is stupid, inflammatory garbage that serves no purpose other than to incite anger and shock.
There is a lot of talk about the possibility that the San Diego Padres are seriously considering the prospect of naming Kim Ng their general manager, which would make her the first female in Major League Baseball, or any major league sport for that matter, to hold that position. So much so that at this point, if they don't hire her, they're going to have some explaining to do and that probably won't be pleasant. Of course, if it does happen, it will be a historic moment and will be deservedly celebrated as such...but it's yet another one of those things that makes me wonder if we're as highly evolved as we think we are. Because think about it. What a GM does is oversees the day-to-day baseball operation of the franchise. That means:There's more and there are nuances, but that's basically it. If a GM can do those three things well, they will be highly successful. What among those three things can anyone who hasn't been frozen in a block of ice since the mid '60s even attempt to argue that a woman couldn't do?
Anyway, if Kim Ng gets the job, I'll certainly raise a glass in her honor among friends who will be thrilled. But part of me will be wondering why it took so long.
I'm two weeks into life without television and I didn't think that much was different, although I was a little concerned about a diminished capacity to follow current events as they happen...until this past Thursday. Now, I can't say that I didn't hear about the whole "Balloon Boy" debacle because it was literally everywhere but without television, I didn't feel sucked in as it unfolded and didn't feel obligated to track the whole thing from start to finish. While much of the nation tuned in hoping not (yeah, right) to witness a disaster involving a young child, I went about doing whatever it was I was doing that day (if you were glued to the tube, feel free to take comfort in the fact that I don't remember what I was doing probably means that I didn't spend my time on anything more worthwhile than you did, because I'm sure that's accurate). Point being, I think that at the end of the day I know about as much about the whole situation as anybody without having surrendered hours following every detail. This makes me feel not so bad about not having tv and I'm not nearly as worried about being able to keep up with current events as I was two weeks ago. But just to be sure, I'd better check and maybe somebody who did watch it can straighten me out where I'm off: 
I won a chance to attend the "Bleedup" (like a Tweetup, only it's bloody because it's Halloween and blood is scary) at Busch Gardens last night, a special event in conjunction with their annual Howl-O-Scream event that was open exclusively to contest winners from Twitter and Facebook. Howl-O-Scream is always one of my favorite annual events but this was something else entirely. For starters, Busch Gardens really went out of their way to hook us up! We received the following:
This is The Up and Coming Author displaying some of the items we received.
Here's a shot of our passes. The Front Line Fear pass allows you to cut the lines at the haunted houses. There's also one available that includes roller coasters. This is such an awesome perk that it can not be expressed in human language and I am unable to write in grunts, whistles and clicks so all I can tell you is if you go, you must get yourself one of these. You can buy them in advance here or once you're at the park. Coincidentally (or not), they have kiosks selling them right at the end of all the maddeningly long lines. Seriously, treat yourself. You'll be glad you did. Absolutely worth it.
The lovely Carolyn of Busch Gardens: Once bitten, never shy.
Ooh, haunted giraffes! Almost as scary as the real thing!
Asbestos, the host and hype man for Club enVy. The club is a welcome addition to Howl-O-Scream in that it's a place to relax and have adult beverages which was an element that had been absent previously.
This is Tiffany, and she is the most purely evil being we encountered all evening. She kept bringing by these platters of meatballs and I kept having to eat them. She was like Jason and Freddy Krueger and the Terminator in that nothing would stop her relentless serving, even my half-hearted and mostly non-verbalized protests. I...still see her in my nightmares (sob, whimper, whine).
Entertainment at Club enVy. Even more yummy than meatballs.
This is Ms. Vayne and her entourage of vampire/models. Now personally, I'm not really a big fan of all the moody, broody vampires that are infesting every aspect of pop entertainment lately. But the theme of this year's event is the world of high fashion and Ms. Vayne et al are sinewy, narcissistic blood sucking predators. They also happen to be vampires.
Skull: So scary.
For whatever reason, every year the best haunted house at the event is whatever they set up at the abandoned monorail station (which is pretty spooky on it's own). This year, it's the Nightshade Toy Factory. This is an ad for one of the factory's signature items, the Tina Tinkle doll with bed-wetting action. Think about that and the tag line "She's gonna get ya!" and consider yourself adequately warned.
One thing you can always count on at these things: a bunch of clowns.Big thanks-wrapped-in-bacon to K for photos and a HUGE blood-splattered mess of thanks to HOSInsider, Ms. Vayne, Carolyn and everyone from Busch Gardens for the incredible hospitality!
...and we don't even think about it.
I met Ellen Mueller about a year ago and worked with her as an actor in a component of her performance piece "Complete With Illustrated Manual" this past February. I had responded to an ad she posted on line looking for actors. She told me she would like me to play a man who does impressions of bears for a living and who would be espousing the therapeutic virtues of time travel in an infomercial. This was enough to make me a fan of Ellen's before we even did the work. 
ME: You work with a variety of media. Is there an underlying thread of some sort that connects your art?
