My day off with Indy

83:20. That was my total on hours this past week. I clocked out at 4:00 on Sunday with the big project 99.9% done. I just have to hit print on a few final pages Tuesday morning and I can get back to the normal work load.

So, I had the day off today. I paid off my massive sleep debt, and for the first time in almost a month, I haven't had jack shit to do...except go see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

My review of the film in two words: It'll do.

In five words? Great but far from perfect.

The action scenes were really good. I do love me some attacking howler monkeys and big frickin' ants swarming over bad bad guys. The plot lines, on the other hand, ran just a little too smoothly for my taste, but I can forgive that. They had a lot of ground to cover in such a short amount of time. Sure, I could pick it all apart, making a list of other ways they could've gotten it all done, but this way was just as effective as anything this armchair director could've done.

I'll do my best to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

The only thing that really bugs me, though, is the one thing missing from this installment that the other three had: a moment of genuine self-sacrifice.

In Raiders, Indy threatened to blow up the arc with a bazooka if the Nazis didn't release Marion, sacrificing a great artifact for the woman he loves. In Temple of Doom, he cut the rope bridge. In Last Crusade, we got a triple shot: Indy ran the gauntlet to save his father, took the leap of faith, and ultimately allowed the grail to slip away.

Crystal Skull just didn't have a moment like that. It followed a formula closer to an episode of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles than it did the other three movies. Don't get me wrong, the movie worked, but not quite like the other movies did.

But Spielberg did keep the movie square in the same visual style of the other movies. It still had that timeless Saturday afternoon serial feel to it. Having the movie set in the fifties was a nice touch. It help deal with Indy's advancing age, and setting the film in the middle of the red scare not only allowed for a new kind of enemy for Indy to face, but also a new world for him to prove himself a hero.

I agree with my buddy Corey that the best thing they could've done differently in the marketing of the film was to keep Marion out of all of the trailers. Watching the movie, her entrance would've been one of the greatest surprises in film history. However, that would've been next to impossible given her role in the film. Every great action sequence had her in it, and short of filming alternate takes without her or airbrushing her out for the trailers would not have been an easy task.

Personally, I blame George Lucas on that one. He's passed up this kind of opportunity before. Remember the trailers for Episode I? Imagine how kick-ass it would've been to not see Darth Maul's two-ended light saber until you saw the movie? Or maybe not have released the tie-in books, soundtrack with song titles that gave away the plot, and all of the toys with character descriptions on the packaging a full month before the opening of the film?

But what's done is done. Indy's back, and in the end, I'm grateful.

Update

I clocked out of work today with nearly 72 hours for the week. I left at around 3:30, and ever since then, it has seemed like time has stood still. I'm getting some cleaning done around the house, and every time I look at the clock it's only a few minutes later than the last time I looked. Maybe it's because my body has been so hopped up on caffeine for the past week that I'm still in superhuman speed mode, or maybe it's just a gift from the Gods to reward me on my afternoon off.

The big project is going smoother and rougher than it ever has. My new assistant has really kicked ass on his part of the project. Thanks to him, we're a week ahead of schedule on overall production. I, on the other hand, have been making up time all week, and currently I'm still a few days behind. Another week of 14 hour days should take care of it. It's been hard, seeing as I've had a full workload in my other duties with no relief in the immediate future. I've only been able to touch the big project after hours.

It's been long, hard work, and despite the 72 hours, I've managed to spend time with my friends, which has kept me from going completely mental. Unfortunately that hasn't helped with sleep. I decided to go out for a couple beers on Thursday and wound up staying out just as late as I had the previous three nights.

Friday, I hung out with my friends at the Blue Dome Arts Festival. For reasons beyond me, I decided to walk there from home. It was only about 15 blocks, but being sleep deprived and out of shape, it could just as well been Mount Everest. Plus, having to walk through Mayfest to get there wasn't exactly a picnic. But after sitting down for a few minutes, I got a huge rush of energy that sustained me throughout the rest of the night.

I got off work Saturday around 7:00, and went back down to Blue Dome to see Cairde na Gael play. This time I drove. Three Penny Upright played later in the night at Club 209, and afterwards, we all went to IHOP for what wound up being an ill-advised batch of stuffed french toast surrounded by some of the most trashiest people ever gathered in one place. The whole place smelled of pancake batter, Axe body spray and defeat.

Today was pretty easy given the workload. I got a few more pages done on the project, and I currently stand at 60% done. Back at it tomorrow.

On doing stand-up

On Wednesday, I went up for my second time doing stand-up. It went a lot smoother this time. A little too smooth. The thing is, on open mic night, you get four minutes. This posed a challenge for me because (and anyone who has read this blog can tell) I'm not really good at putting a limit on my words. My writing process has had to adapt to this new format.

Most of it stays the same. I start with the basic subject. Then, I make a list of items I want to cover. I make a list of what I find funny about them. Now comes the hard part for my writing style: Whittling it down.

It's gotten easier the more I do it, but there's still the factor of time. Four minutes. What I've learned the hard way is that on stage, Earth time goes completely out the window. I've written and performed two different sets, and both times I've practiced it over and over again in the car, at home, during smoke breaks at work and I had both sets I had perfectly timed to fill those four minutes. When I'm on stage, I get a light from the back of the room telling me I have thirty seconds left. If that light flashes again, it means I've gone over those four minutes.

The first time I went up, I finished my set just after the first light. The second time, I was at a handicap. I had a bit that required a small sight gag that I knew wasn't gonna work well while wearing my glasses, so I was more or less blind to any light I got from the back. I finished my prepared set, and made my exit. What I was sure was a solid four minutes turned out to be 3:20 in stage time. The remedy is simple, I need to work on some optional filler material.

I've decided that I'm gonna write material for at least two more sets before I start repeating myself. I'm still trying to find my schtick. As I get more comfortable being on stage, it'd be easier for me to work on that. As it stands, my nervousness on stage still shows, and I've found myself delivering my lines kinda deadpan, which thankfully works with the material. The sight gag worked differently than I thought it would, but it worked nonetheless.

Working on new material, I realize that each joke falls under one of four categories:

1. It's funny because it's true.
2. It's funny because I'm exaggerating.
3. It's funny because I'm lying my ass off.
4. That sounded a lot funnier in my head (usually not discovered until performed in front of a crowd).

So far, I've covered having hippy parents, getting over the flu, my greatest fears in life, addiction to television and crime scene investigators. I want to work on more personal stuff, like relationships...because, let's face it, most of my past relationships = comic goldmine. The challenge in writing that material is trying not to sound too bitter. I like to think I've moved past all that, but I run the risk of my funny time to turn into some sort of a pity party.

Due to my increasingly hectic work schedule over the next month, I'm gonna step away from stand-up for a few weeks. I could make the time, but I'd be too prone to just bitch about work in my act. Plus, being sleep-deprived would kinda screw with my energy on stage, don't you think?