SPACE CATS WILL MAKE YOU THE COOLEST EVER

Miley Cyrus has gotten a lot of criticism because she grew up and no one associates her with her Hannah Montana image anymore. Miley is highly sexual, overly suggestive and it seems like that overshadows her amazing voice. Miley managed to completely turn that around with her AMA performance, with space cats no less.

Miley came out looking hot in a cat two piece and began belting out her hit Wrecking Ball with a kitty in the background. The cat served as a backup singer and as he sang the wire graphics reminiscent of the original Star Wars video game would come out and the cat ended up doing the tongue thing and crying. I think this moment far outshines the time when her dad offered critics a quarter in order to call someone who cares after he won for some douche country song.

I won't ever really be a huge Miley fan but I gotta give her this one because it was one of those performances that's both perfect and insane in every imaginable way.

THE ART OF THE UNUSUAL NAME

Every country in the world has its popular names. Here in the states you have Matthew, James, Michael, and so on. There is a true art in making your kid's name something no one's ever heard and making it cool. Let's assume you have a boy and a German last name. How would you make the kids's name cool? Start by eliminating the obvious like Adolph, or Kaiser Wilhelm. So how do you narrow it down? 

• If it's a boy look for something that sounds almost macho movie star like.
• Avoid tech names.
• Do not use something that can be sexual like Ballerio which can be likened to ball licker in some way.

It's also important to look at the kid and assess his or her glaring physical features. Make sure if you have a hairy kid you don't name it Wolf or Thestral. It's good to not name the kid for at leas two or three weeks while planning the name. Think in the realm of the magical and then look at superheroes as well. It may be that you are into the goth, so you may want to look at some of the following sources: 

• Ancient Greek history.
• Scythian history, relating to ancient greece.
• Jordanes 

Picking a cool name is all going to depend on the research, your knowledge of the name and ultimately how comfortable you are with ramifications such as beat downs and harassment. Picking an unusual name is an art, don't fuck it up. 

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE AND SECRET SUPERHERO

You have to love John Kerry no matter what your political preference is. John Kerry is not an ordinary politician. When there is trouble on the floor of the United Nations Kerry turns into JK Man. JK man is strong like the Hulk, quick, not totally set on his positions like Superman, and in possession of a masculine square jaw. Kerry is not really going through despair in terms of negotiations for the end of Iran's nuclear program, he is simply letting think he is slightly desperate.

JK Man shall surface and use his super strength, Batman like deduction powers, Martian Manhunter Musculature, Green Lantern imagination, and Aquaman uselessness in order to try and craft a second failed bid for president in the year 2016. Iran shall be very surprised by the great JK Man and they shall end their program out of fear. The wrath of JK Man shall prevail!

SO TODAY I GOT OLD, BUT HELL WITH THAT

I woke up today and told my son " Don't forget to shave" and in that split second I came to the realization that my son was almost a fully grown man. The whole thing was a major shock to me. I use to take this kid to Universal Studios, rowing, I used to do things where I was the one teaching him lessons. As he woke me up so we could go to the admissions office at Full Sail University, I looked and saw a grown man.

I grew old, or grew up, today and so had my son. I witnessed as he spoke to the admissions rep and handled his own business. I saw my son go after his dream just like I taught him to. I was almost on the verge of tears as I remembered those days when he'd get on my shoulders and say " let's go daddy." Yes, I miss those days but damn it I cherish days like today, because I was there. I cherish today even if I got old.

THE SECRECY IS MIND BOGGLING

If you ever watched the TV show X Files chances are that your inner conspiracy theorist was indulged thoroughly. I have to wonder though if it's really that far off. I was watching a show on MILITARY television and I was blown away by the way government works down to the most minute detail. The first half of the show was dedicated to the Doomsday plane, existing for the purpose of saving the President and senior members of congress in case of a tragedy.

In a way yes it gives people a feeling of safety that in case of an eventual mass tragedy government can restore functions through other mediums. As the show went on it spoke of the top secret facility known as Mt Weather and it's basically the White House underground. The big issue is all the secrecy, yes I understand not a lot can be revealed but it does make you wonder how much exactly is being hidden.

We live in a secretive society where the big thing is " What they don't know won't hurt them." Secrecy is in some ways what supposedly guards democracy. Are the secrets limited though? Does knowing everything about everyone come in that package? I guess it's in the name of democracy, still it's mind boggling.

WHY WE ARE FASCINATED BY JACK THE RIPPER

The story of Jack the Ripper is one that continues to fascinate us to this day. Some people may ask "why?" I think the fascinating thing about Jack the Ripper is the fact that no one was ever found out. There was a list of suspects and plenty to talk about in England's circles of high society but nothing else. You fast forward over 100 years and all we still know is who the victims were, the fact that the victims were all women, the location and so on.

The speculation has run rampant without clear answers, unless you are author Patricia Cornwell, who decidedly fingered Walter Sickert as the killer in one of her books. The book stated that one of Sickert's motivations was the fistula in his penis. If we move away from Sickert we will see that there were other suspects as well, all with different motives. Even with a fair list the fact remains that this case went unsolved and it was really the first notorious case that led to dead end after dead end.

The Jack case was something different not just because the police did not find anything conclusive enough on anyone. The murderer  did a great job of making the police look like total idiots. The book What Alice Knew also points at Sickert but it does so on a fictional setting. I see the Jack the Ripper case as the first case where the criminal had a sort of superstar status, due in part to his uncanny ability to stay anonymous through the whole thing.

We will never know, but the Ripperologist inside us will always remain curious and fascinated.

SYD FIELD

When I first read Screenplay by Syd Filed I did not actually finish it. I had to read it again for a class in my MFA. I remember thinking that the book was a collection of useful stories, the experiences Field used in order to create his story paradigm. To me the word paradigm was almost the same as guaranteed complication. In part I was jaded because I did not fully integrate the concepts from Robert Mckee's Story a book that employed graphs and pie charts into story telling. 

I decided to read Syd's book again because I wanted to see if I actually applied his concepts to my screenplay. I found that I had an awareness of plot points, pinch points, picking up pace and bringing it down. Syd Field's book was really like an autobiography of the writer's process, an effective process. Syd Field was the kind of individual whose writing was like light but incredibly insightful conversation.

I will always remember reading about Sam Peckinpah, and so many other influences of Syd Field's. Syd Field was a mentor to a veritable who's who of players in the industry. What I'm sure Syd Field was aware of but did not brag about was that his books and seminars mentored a generation of writers with a dream. Goodbye Syd, show em' how the hell to tell a story on the other side.