So what have I been doing? Well lately I've been a bit busy; I helped my pal, who has written a really good script, to organise a table read (read through) for a film we hope to make in the new year.
It's about three fellas, who used to be in a garage band, who kidnap their rock'n'roll idol and I play that idol. Now that is an unusual thing for me as most of the time I am idle!!
The way I helped him was to organise the casting as I knew the secrets to the Black Magic Box – that box being the web site for casting, here in LA, called NowCasting.
So all of you out there – wish us luck!!
My first novel is on Audible.com and I am in the process of narrating my second one.
This is about two girls and I toyed with the idea of using a female to record it for me but eventually decided to do it myself. There were female voices in the first novel so why not do it myself – and in any case I'm cheap.
Of course I am only presuming that Audible will want it as the first novel didn't exactly sell a lot – it sold some and I get royalty cheques every few months – but I am soldering on with it.I record it here in our apartment where I recorded my Irish CDs and other songs and it's ideal.
At the moment I am finishing writing the final draft and today I am as far as chapter twenty seven – in the writing. I had to take the day off recording as I was catching up with myself – what do I mean?
I mean I had only written the final draft up to chapter twenty one up to yesterday and the last recording I got as far as chapter twenty.
It was a bit like being on You Tube watching a big download and watching the progress at the bottom of where you are in your listening catching up with what has been downloaded; well I know what I'm saying!!
When I recorded the last novel I was reading from printed paper in a tiny space so I would make a noise changing pages. At first I tried to do it very quietly but no matter how quiet I tried to be I could hear it on the playback; so in the end I would pause, change the page as noisily as I wanted, then edit that bit out later.
This time I am reading it all from the computer screen and don't have that problem; also I am editing at the end of each chapter. I was hoping to be finished by Christmas but I don't think so.
The next stage will be to master the whole things - making sure all the levels are the same; I don't want some chapters loud and some soft - and it's not as easy as it sounds.
Changing subjects: I wrote a post on here about Julian Assange and the Wiki Leaks last week or so and that seems to be extremely popular. So popular, fact, that it has overwhelmed my stat counter. At the moment that particular post is getting over 600 hits per day.
It means I can't look to see if my brother has looked at the blog from Azerbaijan or that my cousin in Dublin is looking at it or my children in the UK as I have to plow through the 600 odd hits about Julian Assange; maybe just mentioning his name will draw many hits again for this but I'll take that chance.
Now do people in the rest of the world know what a filibuster is? Here's the dictionary definition: A filibuster (also known as talking out a bill) is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body whereby a lone member can elect to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a proposal.
In other words if you don't want a bill to pass through the senate you get up and talk all day till there's no time left for the bill. James Stewart did it in one of his films, Mister Smith Goes To Washington when he talks to stop a bill going through.
I don't know if the filibuster is used in other countries but even the threat of it here is enough to stop bills going through – on the one hand this country has the originality of the stuff that comes out of Silicon Valley and the total stubbornness of the filibuster.
Obama had a filibuster proof majority when he was elected but when Ted Kennedy died his senate seat went to a Republican so Obama lost that majority; and that's why he's in trouble and has had to compromise on everything since; including the tax bill yesterday.
They filibuster because they don't believe in the bill or parts of the bill but let me point something out to you:
The Senate, in the form of the Republicans, stopped the passage of a bill that would provide billions of dollars in health care for sick 9/11 first responders. These were the cops, firemen and the like who went into the Twin Towers first and stayed there for months clearing the way and finding bodies; a lot of them, because of the conditions they were in, suffered many diseases such as Cancer, Mesothelioma and other serious ailments and a Republican Senator got up and blocked that bill.
I urge you to watch the following. It's Jon Stewart; why do we have to have comedy shows pointing these things out to us?
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c 9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook
the video is blank here it may just be me< i posted your link to the wiki blog on C4 News's facebook and a few other places that were covering the wiki leak when you done it, i thought it would be of interest to the people commenting and posting
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