Music, Plays, Books, Movies and Other Vacuous Forms of Entertainment...

Yes, I know waterside photos are kinda cliched, but there's something about the clouds and the dash of sun that captures me in this shot. And no, I don't think there's too much mud in the foreground... I kinda like the balance and mood.

Wow, when did you become so critical of my choice in opening landscape shots!? Geez, settle down! Or I'll say "Geez" again!

OK, I have to start with Marc Martel. Just caught this guy tonight while scrolling through Bits and Pieces... this guy has incredible talent. He basically just recently went viral with this particular clip, but he has quite a collection of great clips already in his YouTube Channel...

In this clip, he is auditioning for a live Queen Homage tour being put together by one of the members of the original band. This guy channels Freddy Mercury like you can't believe...



There are other clips, as I said. One where he plays Asleep In The Light by Kieth Green, and still another where he sings Nessun Dorma, to show he can belt out Opera as well. He's actually in a Christian band called Downhere. Anyway, I figured I'd plug him here, since no doubt he's going to be big, likely soon...

So yet again, I had a crazy-awesome blessing fall out of the sky onto my head Monday night... as many of you know, years ago, I posted a bunch of the Christmas plays I've written over the years to a website online called Dramatix, a site which I heard of through a friend on the Faithwriter's forum named Glenn Hascall.  The site has assembled lots of free scripts for churches to use for various occasions. Anyway, since posting them online for free about a decade ago, I get emails each year from around the globe, from churches and groups that are using one of the scripts. That's the only stipulation I include for use, just to let me know if you're using it, and say a quick hello, that sort of thing. Getting those emails always cheers me up, no matter what. It's nice to know I'm making an impact somewhere, no matter how small.

So I get an email from the guy that runs Dramatix and (long story short) he tells me that an American group (possibly educational in nature) had found one of my scripts on the Dramatix site and included it in a printed publication. They then forwarded the royalty payments for using the script to the organization in New Zealand that oversees the distribution of said monies to the authors in question (the Dramatix site is based in New Zealand). That group then forwarded the check to the gentleman that runs Dramatix, with instructions to please forward the money to the author of the script -- meaning me! So he contacted me, and now I have a rather substantial check coming to me in the mail, all out of the blue.

To say I'm blown away is an understatement. I certainly never thought the scripts would ever result in any sort of financial gain. I just wanted to share what I felt were fun, meaningful scripts with others, instead of just letting them gather dust in my archive. My sister thinks I should gather my scripts up into an eBook and offer them for sale on Amazon. Not sure if I'll do that, but it's food for thought. Anyway, I thought it was a way-cool thing to have happen (kind of like getting filmed for that documentary last spring).

So I've been reading a lot of free sample chapters of new books/authors lately, and I've found a few gems...

• The Alloy of Law, by Brandon Sanderson
• Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence
• Acacia, by David Anthony Durham
• Under Heaven, by Guy Gavriel Kay
• Farlander, by Col Buchanon
• The Thief-Taker's Apprentice, by Stephen Daes

I've read some turd samples as well, but these I've listed are among the winners. If/When I buy the full books and give them a thorough read, I'll be sure to drop some reviews on y'all. It's been a while since my last book review, I'm sure that fact is trying your patience. Take heart! If you need good book reviews, go over to Logan's blog. He's posted a few good ones of late... and you know the old saying: "Always Trust A Man Named Logan."



Skip to 0:38 to get to the Darth Vader part... the first half-minute, the guy just draws a lame Yoda for some reason. But the Vader artwork is really good.

So, I went to see a movie with my good pal Carey the Rapidly-Shrinking Man last Friday, called Killer Elite, starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert DeNiro. I'm glad I didn't wait to check reviews before seeing it, since right now it's cruising at a cool 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, very firmly in the "rotten" category. I actually must have been in the right mood to see it, since I really enjoyed it. It was much better than I thought it would be (the last couple Statham movies have been pretty bad). Anyway, I won't do a full review, since I'm feeling lazy right now, but I will say, if you dig action flicks and you get a chance to see it, I recommend it.

I will admit that every time I saw Jason Statham's arms, I felt a pang of envy. I want arms like that. I'm still greatly enjoying my new-found workout kick. I'm loving the way it makes me feel/look. I'm now starting to look into supplements and cleansing regimens and vitamins etc, to see if I can maximize the results. I can still stand to lose a few pounds, and I want to bulk up some more. My narcissism is shifting from mostly-internal to external now... I'm becoming one of those oddly-amusing older, funny-looking dudes who try to recapture some of their youth. You know the ones... they think they're going to tone up a bit and suddenly everyone will think they're handsome or something, lol. Whatever. Yeah, I know the Bible says "bodily exercise profiteth little" (1 Tim 4:8), but hey... at least it profits a little!

Well, I think that's enough nonsense for now.

Adios for now,

Dave the Famous Author (lol)