I am the Hulk

Found the link to this Superhero Personality Quiz on my buddy Craig Adam's MySpace page and could not resist. Ironically enough, The Hulk was my favorite superhero when I was a kid. Still have a huge pile of Hulk comics in a box in my office that I keep threatening to post on ebay, but never seem to be able to pull the trigger on that. Ah nostalgia. The Hulk actually has a blog, check it out:

http://incrediblehulk.blogspot.com/

OK HW

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk 70% Iron Man 65% Green Lantern 55% Supergirl 50% Spider-Man 45% Catwoman 45% The Flash 45% Batman 45% Superman 45% Wonder Woman 40% Robin 32%

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Wrestling the slug also known as the March Hiking Report

Alas poor Urick. Yes, we found a large, dead bird on the beach. At first we thought it was an Osprey, since there is a population of them nearby in First Landing State Park, but checking the bird book revealed that it is indeed a Marsh Hawk. Or so I think, my wife believes it's a Red Tailed Hawk. Either way, it was a sad and fascinating find. Also strange in that there was no obvious evidence of foul play. Looks like the old boy (or girl) just cacked in mid-flight.

So, what does all that have to do with slugs or the Hiking Report? Nothing or then he was found on a beach hike. The numbers stack up like this 37/116. I hiked 37 miles in March, which means I have a grand total for the year of 116 miles, so I am now 34 miles behind the average. I got some work to do. That's where the wrestling the slug part comes in. See, I haven't felt much like hiking lately. Been more prone to sit on my ever expanding ass and catch up on Battlestar Galactica (the geek confession). The further in the hole I get, the harder it is to think I'll be able to dig out. But it is far too early to throw in the towel. And April is the perfect month to do some catching up before the brutal heat and humidity of summer. Next month, big numbers! No really, I promise.

OK HW

Happy Walter Premiere

Here's where it went down, the first public screening of "Happy Walter" anywhere on planet Earth. Whee-Haw! The Melwood Screening Room is located in a suitably funky and urban part of town, down a street that is more pothole than asphalt. Guess they put all the money into the football stadium. The theater itself has a laidback, academic feeling to it and when we arrived the spacious lobby was packed with folks woofing down the free eats and drinks (as in beer and wine). Zoje and her sister Dev were already there with a group of friends and Pittsburgh-based cast members from HW. A woman I have never seen before walked up to me and said, "Hi, I believe I'm your ex-wife.". This was Vivienne Shaffer, who portrays "Laura Kimball", Happy Walter's first wife and mother of Jr. (Zoje's part). Viv's real husband Frank Carr was there too, also a cast member, he got the plum role of Dave Wisniewski, Happy's childhood friend. I say plum as that character got some of the biggests laughs. Viv and Frank's son, Woody, was there too and when he say me he threw up his hands and yelled, "Happy"! Fun stuff. It was wonderful to finally get to meet some of the other cast members and talk about the film. More and more people poured into the lobby and I was glad to know that the first showing of HW would be for a good size audience of mostly strangers, so for good or for ill we would be able to honestly gauge how it would play. The time finally came to get in the theater, which was a decent size room with good seats and an overall homey feel. It reminded me of some of the boutique style movie theaters I've seen in Europe. The lights went down and the opening short film, "The Loves of S.D. Hawkingson." (director Marc Roman Czornij), lit up the screen. It was a good appetizer before the main course as it featured some quirky humor and art was a major plot element, a good compliment to HW. There was a brief Q&A with the director after the short, then on to the main course, "Happy Walter".

What can I say? From the title shot of Happy rolling some toilet paper into the camera accompanied by Joanthan Young's bouncy, hobo guitar soundtrack to the end credits, "Happy Walter" delivered the goods. The audience laughed in the right places and genuinely seemed to be engaged by the story. Overall, I was pleased at how well acted the piece was, Viv and Frank both did a wonderful job, particularly Viv as her character displays a wide range of emotions, which Viv convincingly pulled off. Besides being my first time on the big screen, actually that's not true as I had a very small part in "Cold Readings", a film that played at the Virginia Film Festival, so to be accurate, the first time with a speaking role on the big screen, it was also my wife Janet's. She plays, "Tatiana Chichikova", an art collector and dealer and she made fine work of the cerebral and spacey dialogue, threatening my role as the "family ham". And what of my performance? I'll leave it to others to judge, but I will say that I am proud of the work I did and it makes me want to do more acting. Look out world! I did find it difficult to watch myself at times and it makes me understand now when I've heard actors say that they don't watch their own films. What winds up on the screen is quite different from the experience of creating that moment on set. The illusion on the screen is both a reminder of that moment, but also, for me seems to lessen the purity of my own memory. The two illusions collide in a weird way , and I felt caught between the two. I got to say that I feel real damn lucky that Zoje gave me this shot, trusted me with such a big role and gave me such useful direction. Where I see other folks try, she has succeed and my hat is off to her. Well done my friend.

So what's next? I hear that HW is being submitted to film festivals and Zoje is working on getting it screened in Rochester, where most of the cast lives. Somewhere down the line, I hope the DVD is available for folks to buy and I'll certainly be posting that news if/when it happens.

And for me, well I've recently found an acting school in my town and I think it's time to get more serious about this acting thing. I would love to do a Sci-Fi or Horror flick, so you never know.

Stay tuned.

OK HW

I'm Big in Pittsburgh...

In anticipation of the premiere screening of "Happy Walter" this coming Tuesday (March 13, 8pm), there is a friendly article in The Pittsburgh City Paper. Read Article. Is this the beginning of fame and fortune? Shall I quit my day job? Nahhhh, but it's a real hoot to be part of the buzz and it should help with turning more folks out that night. One minor correction to the story, Bill O'Driscoll refers to Zoje's character as "Happy Walter IV", actually she portrays "Happy Walter Jr.".

OK HW