CovidTalk

Needle was friday - increased soreness nbd - and then saturday i felt better than i have in a long time.
I was able to sit in a chair for a bit!! That was just one vertebrae and I'm getting a 2nd vertebrae done in 90 minutes.

This is legit one of the best things medicine has ever done for me in my life. Significant improvement.
One time I was bit by a brown recluse and they injected me with something to stop the venom from killing all my leg tissue. that was nice too.

I'd say those two things are the tops. and both were needle based treatment. cheers dr!
I keep my dog alive with 2 needles a day. he's been diabetic for 8 years.

needles are the best treatment apparently.
 
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The 2nd needle didnt do anything for me. The 3rd needle did.
It was between my shoulder blades, upper rotator cuff kinda area that was really killing me.

Now thats feeling better and wouldn't you know it suddenly my lower back and neck are killing me.
Its so unfair that i have the body of a 90 year old man.

---- next subject ---
I thought i mentioned this little girl already but I can't find a record of it.
this family comes over to swim sometimes and they have an 11 year old girl, she had her birthday party here a couple weeks ago.

I was people watching and she had this really huge personality, funny how that works for someone so young and small to be the biggest.
Anyway it got me thinking about kids and how I have pool shark and corona kids, two scripts that could have a child star.

And then i thought about something less original, maybe a genre film or two that i could make like KickAss.
Who didn't love hit girl? A little preteen girl dropping F bombs and doing backflips while she shoots people in the face. She MADE that movie.

So I casually mention to my parents im thinking about finding a child star.. they bring up that girl at the pool party and tell me she is a black belt.
Hell yeah there could be some real potential here. 11 year old blackbelt girl with a huge personality, i can work with that lol.

I've started brain storming and I have 5 different stories in development for a child star.
IDK if her parents would actually let me write lines like "Ok you cunts. lets see what you can do" before she starts killing people lol.

but there something really captivating about R rated content with small children. probably why south park has been famous for 20+ years

 
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If you do R rated content with kids, just make sure that the parents are ok with it :) - South Park has it easy 'cause it's animated.

Otherwise I think it's a great idea, with the (obvious) caveat that kids can be challenging to work with and you have to be conscious of the number of hours they're allowed to work per day. That's why so many "kids" in high school movies are actually over 18.
 
If you do R rated content with kids, just make sure that the parents are ok with it :) - South Park has it easy 'cause it's animated.

Otherwise I think it's a great idea, with the (obvious) caveat that kids can be challenging to work with and you have to be conscious of the number of hours they're allowed to work per day. That's why so many "kids" in high school movies are actually over 18.

i assume the parents would be on set the whole time and that its not long hour days. i never work long hour days because its always volunteer actors. like 4 hours is long day of shooting for me. but with all my health problems i definitely couldnt be doing 12 hour days anyway
 
May as well post all this here. It's mostly just ruminations and observations.

CRITTER CRAZY

It's been a bizarre year with animals for me. I've had a lot more time to work in my yard - all the front lawns in my neighborhood look great! - and quite a number of critters have taken up residence (or tried to) on my property. Under my front steps we have a small colony of chipmunks. There has always been a rabbit or two wandering through my yard, but the other evening there were an even half dozen grazing on my lawn. I had to move my garbage can from under the eaves of my garage as a raccoon was trying to dig under the eaves to get into the garage attic; I had to "evict" a family several years ago and the cleanup was horrible. And I have a mole or some other burrowing critter under my back steps. My backyard neighbor has a huge oak tree which overhangs my property, so we always have lots of squirrels, but this year is unreal; we've got gray squirrels, red squirrels and black squirrels all over the place. This past autumn my back yard looked like a 1800 hole golf course, and I'm wondering what my yard will look like this upcoming fall with the apparent squirrel population explosion. There has always been a Cardinal family in the area, but recently I saw three males and four females all at the same time. And I have never seen such a variety of birds - robins, larks, sparrows, doves, thrushes, tufted titmouse, terns, owls and many others I haven't identified as of yet. Back in March I was cleaning all of the winter debris out of the gutters and there were THREE birds nests in my gutters - we've never had even one in the almost thirty years we've lived here. I waited a few weeks until the fledglings took off to clean the gutters - my wife and daughters insisted. The swans down on the river have also had a population explosion, and I see a lot more hawks cruising the neighborhood. The biggest drawback of the increase in the fowl population is that ourt cars a thoroughly bird-bombed every day. Deer are coming into the area more often.

JUST GETTIN' STUFF DONE

As I mentioned way back in this thread I have been transcribing hymns to MIDI; I have completed 205 out of 600. I've also completed several more MIDI Recreations of favorite tracks, and will be posting them soon. I've been working on personal tracks as well, and one has turned into a 20 minute epic, and may get longer; if I could only find a compatible lyricist! I emptied, cleaned and rewired my studio, cleaned up my numerous drives, etc. As mentioned I've been playing with all of my digital toys and found some more fun ways to manipulate sounds. I've slowly been cleaning up the attic.

FAMILY STUFF

My sister and her husband have ten (10) acres near the top of a mountain (Camels Hump) in Vermont, and I have been driving up to spend a few days once or twice a month to visit; my parents (both now 90!) live nearby as well. Their younger son and his lady are living in their own house on the property, their oldest son with his wife a kids own the adjacent five acres. They are all avid homesteaders. Between them they have five dogs. My sister has two Border Collies and trains them for agility competitions - frisbee, obstacle courses, etc. She's running out a places for all of the ribbons. They have about a dozen egg-laying chickens, and just hatched almost 60 meat birds. Turkeys and ducks may be forthcoming. They have a log splitter (they have fireplaces and wood stoves) and a small personal saw mill. The resulting lumber is used for their gardens - beans, tomatoes, varieties of lettuce, herbs, etc. - and to build a sugar shack as well as a she-shed for my nephews wife. The sugar shack, for those who don't know, is for rendering maple syrup. They tapped over 80 trees this past spring and plan to tap over 200 next year. In Vermont the don't destroy old buildings, but deconstruct them and the lumber, etc. is used for all kinds of things. They have collected (for free) over 80 windows plus a few doors and, with their own lumber, are building a greenhouse this summer. They trade tomato products (dried, sauces, etc.; my brother-in-law is an extremely accomplished chef) with other homesteaders for milk and the like. They are thinking of getting goats. And, by the way, the trees they have been cutting down are being replaced with fruit trees; apples pears, peaches and plums, although it'll be a number of years before their orchard literally bears fruit. They had a fox hunt back in April - the fox was killing their chickens. They have a bear that wanders through their neighborhood who trashed an old chicken coop to get at the feed they had temporarily stored there. EVERYTHING is composted. They have their own well for water and are considering getting geothermal heating/power.





It's all been a lot of fun, but I really want life to get back to normal. I miss working my ass off at something that I truly love.
 
I really want life to get back to normal.
What’s the mood on the ground like over there? We watch with shock and awe as the country reports over 50,000 new cases per day and people argue in the street over whether they should have to wear masks and the country readies for 4th of July parties...

We’re dealing with a 60 per day outbreak in my state and the shutdown of about 30 suburbs to try and deal with it whilst the rest of the country is almost entirely open...

The world’s hasn’t felt so big in 30 years
 
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What’s the mood on the ground like over there?

Locally - I'm in the NY Tri-State suburbs - it's sorta-kinda settling down. My town and a few others close down main street by about 5pm to allow for more outdoor restaurant seating. The stores fill up almost like they used to, and most people are very friendly, accommodating and understanding. I'm always joking that masks prevent us from seeing smiles, and we men can't show off our beautiful beards. One gent I spoke to at the food store joked that, if wearing masks goes on too much longer, men will start growing huge puffy sideburns again.

ambrose-burnside.jpg


On the flip side, I'm very disturbed by all of the violence. NYC and all the rioting aren't really all that far away, and there have been a few isolated incidents nearby. So I have an appointment on Monday to begin the process of getting my firearms permit. I'm even thinking of getting a concealed carry permit. And yes, I've had some training, starting all the way back to Boy Scouts almost 50 years ago; my brother-in-law is an avid hunter and his best friend is a weapons collector (he has pistols and rifles from every American war starting with the US Civil War) so I get to shoot a few times each year, each time with a refresher on weapons safety.

My daughters graduation was really weird. We were assigned a time (10:00am, for us), drove to the High School, wound our way through an endless maze of orange cones and pulled up to a table. My daughter jumped out, gave them her name and they walkie-talkied her info to the platform. She walked over to the platform and we drove parallel to her. We sat in the car as she mounted the platform, got her diploma and then got her picture taken. She jumped back into the car and we drove home. Five minutes. Bingo-bango wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am. We had a party for her and a half dozen of her friends in our back yard. That was fun.

She is working at the summer camp of one of the local country clubs. That particular camp was deemed "necessary" although the YMCA/YWCA and Boy & Girls Club summer camps are closed. Hmmmmmmmmm...................

The neighborhood is lively. As mentioned, the yards all look great this year. Everyone is out walking around, exercising, chatting in driveways. Many families are having back yard parties. Some of them sound like A LOT of fun. Even though it's raining at the moment there are lots of fireworks punctuating the thunder.

What’s the mood on the ground like over there?

On many other fronts - as I alluded to - the mood is quite tense, most of it unrelated to the Chinese Wuhan Covid-19 Corona Virus. Rioting, extremist viewpoints, corrupted media......... Well, we're not supposed to discuss politics here on IndieTalk. Let's just say that I'm still keeping a couple months of food available, we lock up tight at night, I have knives and bats available where I might need them, and, as mentioned, I'm getting a weapon for personal security. Otherwise I'm trying to live some semblance of a normal life, which is tough to do with no work coming in.
 
I have no concerns at all about violence (I live in southern New Jersey), which might be at least in part because I have many friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who have been involved in the protests and continue to be. I AM concerned by people who won't wear masks, which fortunately are required here at all indoor public facilities. I'm also reassured by our governor, who pulled back on the idea of allowing indoor restaurant dining.

I'm expecting to settle in for a long haul, although I hope to be able to see my mother in her assisted living facility very soon - she lives near me and the virus itself is much better contained here, and they've had no cases in several weeks.

I doubt there will be a vaccine widely available any sooner than next spring, and I think even that's optimistic. With even Mexico closing the border to Americans, I feel like I'm just putting one foot forward, day after day, going straight ahead. I feel like I'm in the middle of a maelstrom, and just trying to control my own tiny space in the center of it.
 
New Mexico keeps swinging back and forth from Green to Red: Covid Exit Strategy webite

All I can tell you is that the culture around here? Doesn't adhere to the wearing of masks... Everywhere you go? People aren't wearing them so back to RED we go.

Unfortunately, I've worked out of a local coffee shop for the last decade and a half... Which of course is closed. I know the owner personally and he's just not going to take any chances opening back up even though he's allowed to open back up at 50% capacity.

So my personal problem has been LEARNING how to work at home... I've never really been able to do it. My mind is hardwired to work at the coffee shop. I'm working but I'm not getting as much done as I used to and I've got a job writing a book right now that I'm a couple of months behind on.

It's been tough...

I wish the population here in New Mexico would take things more seriously...
 
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I'm working but I'm not getting as much done as I used to and I've got a job writing a book right now that I'm a couple of months behind on.

What you need to do is slowly insert book writing time into your routine. Pick a date, say July 20th. On that day you pick a spot in your daily routine where you will put 15 minutes into the book. It doesn't matter what you do. Read through what you have and make some notes. Google up something relevant to what you are writing. Just do something! Two weeks later make it 30 minutes, the next week 45 minutes. One day you'll notice that, although it probably needs a lot of Xxxxxxxx, you've made a lot of progress.

What works for me is a highly disciplined, severely structured life in many ways. This way I know that everything I can do to "take care of business" regarding my personal and professional life has been done I'm not distracted when it's time to enjoy myself both personally and professionally - such as time with my family or digging deep to solve a dialog issue.

Just my two ducats.......
 
Thanks... Although I have been trying something along those lines except longer than 15 minutes at a time. The coffee shop where I was working has been my perfect little hole in the wall for over 15 years. I've somewhat institutionalized myself to working there without knowing it. When I'm there? I can literally put out 13 and a half hours of pure work. For some reason? When I'm there? The WORK SWITCH flips on. Much more difficult here at home.

At least for me.
 
Feeling a little down today.

Since 1986 I've done a fireworks show on the 4th. Missing only three
because I was out of the country on a shoot. That's 30 Fourth of July
fireworks shows.
 
Feeling a little down today.

Since 1986 I've done a fireworks show on the 4th. Missing only three
because I was out of the country on a shoot. That's 30 Fourth of July
fireworks shows.

I hear ya... But late last night? I happened to see a video on the news of fireworks... Some very LARGE fireworks going off all over LA.

We didn't have ANY around here at all.
 
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I happened to see a video on the news of fireworks... Some very LARGE fireworks going off all over LA.
I was in LA this time last year and I remember from my room I could see about 12 separate fireworks displays across the city... I’d never seen anything like it.

Not sure what it was like yesterday, hard to tell from local media reports.
 
We didn't have ANY around here at all.

Quite a few local backyard parties were bangin' the music and the aroma of barbecue almost drove me crazy it smelled so good. (That's okay, I'm sure my grilling set mouths to watering as well...) Then, for about an hour after sunset, my neighborhood was absolutely alive with fireworks - firecrackers, roman candles, small rockets and the like. Then someone - and probably more than just a few - took their big "box" fireworks over to the park. I'm sure you've seen them; you light the fuse and it sets of a whole series of rockets. Sort of like these.....


Everyone spread out along the wall, or sat in the baseball bleachers, or sat on their cars. They set off a bunch in rapid succession and then must have set off 15 or 20 boxes almost simultaneously. Not a big professional display, but it was bright, and it was loud, and it was entertaining. Of course the local constabulary (the police) stopped by, Their only comments were a) We've had a few complaints, so we hope that was the finale; and b) Make sure you collect all the boxes or we'll have to give you tickets for littering.

Adhering to tradition we watched "Yankee Doodle Dandy" on TCM while getting our barbecue ready and then eating it. The film was over when I caught wind of the park fireworks.

I don't enjoy fireworks as much as I used to, or perhaps a better way to put it is fireworks don't like me much any more. The volume gives me horrible tinnitus which lasts for days, so I put in ear plugs. It's just not the same.
 
It was crazy in Los Angeles. I've never been home on the 4th so I have
nothing to compare to, but my neighbors all said this was ten times
bigger than past years.

I walked around my area for about an hour then went up on my roof.
I get the fountains and the sparklers and (what we call) cakes - those
"show-in-a-box" Alcove mentions. All easy to get in parts of California
and just a few hours drive into Arizona and Nevada. But what amazed
me were the aerial shells. Not those 1/8 shells that come in boxes like
"Wolf Pack" and "After Dark". I know my shells and I know there were
2 inch shells launched all around. I'm sure there were a few 3 inchers
launched. Those are some big fireworks! I saw a few that displayed
less than 5 feet up. That's damn scary.

So I got to see quite a show - all around me and well into the distance.
 
I got a haircut yesterday.
The clipper guard caught on my mask string and popped off of the razor then ZZZZZZZZZZZZ it shaved my head right down to the skin.

:no:

I have a really high and tight fade now.
 
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