Self-Isolation Film Festival

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As long-time followers know, my wife Amanda and I occasionally make dumb little movie reenactment videos. Our self-imposed rules are: No more than 10 minutes of planning No post-production effects No fancy editing, only cuts Only use what’s available at that moment That said, any rule can be broken as long as it’s still fun. The moment it starts to feel like work, the game is over. Now that we’ve been stuck in our house for six consecutive days with no escape in sight, we think it’s probably time to open the dumb movie studio back up again. So… What movie do you want toRead More →

"Alexis vs. the Afterlife" Cover Reveal!

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I am super excited to reveal the cover for my new urban-fantasy comedy adventure Alexis vs. the Afterlife! I can’t say enough good things about the cover’s designer, the amazing and talented Flo Minowa. She truly captured the spirit of this book and its scrappy metalhead protagonist. Today I’ll be talking to her about her process, her inspirations, and her own book. But before I reveal the cover, like a celebrity promoting a movie on a late-night talk show, let me set up the clip. Here’s the back-cover blurb for Alexis vs. the Afterlife. Alexis McRiott is a foul-mouthed guitar goddess with a passion forRead More →

Caster's Blog: A Geek Love Story

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Gather ’round kiddies. Your old pal Marcus is going to tell you about how he accidentally wrote his first novel fifteen years ago. He’s going to drive you wild with intrigue, then he’s going to drop a big orange Amazon buy button on you. And you’re gonna click it, because you love that sweet sweet early-2000s retro scene. When I was a computer animator back in the ’90s, the software we used had two default rendering options: “Ray Tracer” and “Ray Caster.” I always thought the latter sounded like a guy’s name. A nice vanilla everyman who drives a Honda Accord and always rewinds videosRead More →

Halloween Movies Choose Your Own Adventure

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The trailer for the new Halloween movie just dropped, splitting the timelines of the Halloween Universe once again. If you’re wondering how Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) can be in this one when (SPOILER ALERT) she died in Halloween: Resurrection, then you must be new here. You see, the Halloween franchise is a fluid thing. Nothing can happen in it that another filmmaker can’t come along and negate with a hearty, “Nuh-uhh! That didn’t happen! We’re starting over!” It’s at the point where the series is basically the end of the Clue movie.  “That’s how it could have happened. But how about this?” To make it easier forRead More →

Buttscoth Yummies

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During a recent Skype call, my mother mentioned she was going through an old recipe file and found one of mine. “I don’t have recipes,” I said. “I defrost things.” “Well, this one has your name on it, and it’s in your old handwriting.” I squinted at the card she held up to the camera. “Butterscotch Yummies?” I asked. “Close,” she replied. “Apparently this is a recipe for ‘Buttscoth Yummies.’” Despite the forensic evidence suggesting I was responsible for this card, I have no recollection of it. Though I do like the fact that some unknown person with a blue pen added an “er” toRead More →

The Alby Einstein Principle

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This is part three of my totally scientific exploration of Pam Grout’s self-help bestseller, E-Squared: Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality. The book claims to offer experimental proof of an invisible energy field humans can access to enhance the quality of their daily lives. I’m going to do every experiment and report my findings. Like Scully, I’m skeptical. Like Mulder, I want to believe. Let’s see how it works out.   This week we’re going to dive into what Grout calls “The Alby Einstein Principle.” I wasn’t familiar with an Alby Einstein, but since much of this chapter is aboutRead More →

The Volkswagen Jetta Principle

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This is part two of my totally scientific exploration of Pam Grout’s self-help bestseller, E-Squared: Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality. The book claims to offer experimental proof of an invisible energy field humans can access to enhance the quality of their daily lives. I’m going to do every experiment and report my findings. Like Scully, I’m skeptical. Like Mulder, I want to believe. Let’s see how it works out. This week we investigate what Grout calls “The Volkswagen Jetta Principle.” She asserts the things we see in our lives are a reflection of what we believe in our minds.Read More →

The Dude Abides Principle

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This is part one of my totally scientific exploration of Pam Grout’s self-help bestseller, E-Squared: Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality. The book claims to offer experimental proof of an invisible energy field humans can access to enhance the quality of their daily lives. I’m going to do every experiment and report my findings. Like Scully, I’m skeptical. Like Mulder, I want to believe. Let’s see how it works out.   The other day I was shelving books at the library when I came across Pam Grout’s E-Squared: Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality. ThisRead More →

Laika at Portland Art Museum

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I talk about LAIKA a lot. It’s because I talk about my spectacularly talented wife a lot, and she happens to work at LAIKA. But every time I mention the studio to someone who isn’t an animation nerd, the conversation is exactly the same. “Laika?” they say. “Yeah, I’ve heard of Laika. She was a Russian space dog.” “No,” I say. “Well, yes, but I’m talking about the animation studio.” “She died in space, you know. Overheated and cooked to death. Did you bring her up just to bum me out? Major party foul, dude.” “I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE SPACE DOG,” I say inRead More →

Roloff Farm

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Last weekend, Roloff Farms officially kicked off their 2017 Pumpkin Season. You may know the Roloff family from their hit TLC show, Little People, Big World. That is to say, you may know them from their hit TLC show, but I don’t. I’ve never seen the show and didn’t know anything about it, so I consulted an expert in the field of reality television: my mother. If it’s on TV and it has people cooking something, battling for a soulmate, or just yelling a lot, my mother has it on her DVR. So before I ventured to Roloff Farms, I called Mom to ask whatRead More →