Last night, well, this morning, after writing two new scenes for "W. T. for Short," I watched the rest of George A. Romero's Day of the Dead. I think I have that movie all wrong. I remember watching it as a kid and not liking it at all. I think I didn't like it because it didn't have wall to wall zombies.

Day of the Dead does not suck. In fact, I can understand why some people say it's their favorite of their the Dead movies. The acting is actually pretty good. The plot, while borrowing from Frankenstein, is solid. And the effects are realistic and better than those in Dawn of the Dead. Whoa! It's true. There's more than a few in Day that are top notch. I do, however, have a problem with the music for the movie. It's straight up 80's synth drums and guitars. I heard enough of that growing up, but it is something I can deal with.

Now, which do I like better, Dawn of the Dead or Day of the Dead? Dawn of the Dead. To me the story is better. It has a lot more to say. There are more "fun" moments in the movie. While some of the effects aren't perfect, they are just fun to watch. And there are some effects that are gory little gems that'll always haunt me.

Now, which do I like better, Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead?

  ¶ 2:06 PM

  Here's something that might make more than few folks nervous. I just finished two new scenes for "W. T. for Short." "W. T. for Short" is a screenplay based on a short story of mine. The screenplay has grown well beyond the short story, and it keeps growing. The story is one of comedy, tragedy, and satire or of historical drama. One or the other.

  ¶ 3:22 AM

  Good heavens, I finally finished my “band” story, the one I’ve been working on for months. The story still doesn’t have a name, but I’m sure it’ll find one. I’m just happy it’s over. While the ending wasn’t much of a surprise to me, the stuff that happened after the ending was. I’m not exactly sure what the story is, a bit horror here and a bit satire there. I’ll know more about it when I edit it. But first, I have to type it in. That’s the part I hate the most about writing, the typing of a story in. That shouldn’t take too long. Then I’ll edit the story and kick it out the door.

Wonka-vision. Doesn’t anybody else realize how truly dangerous this invention could be? Wonka-vision could easily fill your living room or bedroom or where ever else you watch TV with little, tiny Oompa Loompas. Of course, for that to happen, the Oompa Loompas would have to step in-front of the Wonka-camera. But do when want to take that chance? I think not.

Well, Tail Spin is on. I’m going to watch that for a bit because I haven’t in awhile. I’m hoping it gets my mind off of Wonka-vision and Oompa Loompas.

  ¶ 2:46 AM

  ABC 33/40 E-WARN: Severe Thunderstorm Warning

From ABC 33/40 E-Warn:
WUUS54 KBMX 202015
SVRBMX
ALC127-202030-
/O.NEW.KBMX.SV.W.0349.050520T2014Z-050520T2030Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
314 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
EAST WALKER COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 330 PM CDT

* AT 313 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED OVER EXTREME EAST
CENTRAL WALKER COUNTY...OR ABOUT 9 MILES WEST OF WARRIOR...AND
MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 30 MPH.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...
CALL 1-800-856-0758.

LAT...LON 3382 8708 3388 8705 3388 8700 3384 8697
3381 8697 3377 8702 3375 8702 3379 8710
3380 8710

$$

JONES

WWWW

E-Warn is a free public service from the ABC 33/40 Weather Center
and Alagasco...For Reliability, Comfort, and Convenience Natural Gas has
the Home Advantage.

To sign up for other ABC 33/40 E-Warn products, or to unsubscribe, go here:
http://www.jamesspann.com/ewarnmain.html

  ¶ 3:17 PM

  ABC 33/40 E-WARN: Severe Thunderstorm Warning

From ABC 33/40 E-Warn:
WUUS54 KBMX 201938
SVRBMX
ALC127-202015-
/O.NEW.KBMX.SV.W.0345.050520T1937Z-050520T2015Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
237 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
EASTERN WALKER COUNTY IN CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 315 PM CDT

* AT 235 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHWESTERN CULLMAN
COUNTY...OR ABOUT 14 MILES NORTHEAST OF JASPER...AND MOVING
SOUTHEAST AROUND 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
RURAL EASTERN WALKER COUNTY AT 250 PM CDT

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...
CALL 1-800-856-0758.

LAT...LON 3399 8711 3394 8711 3390 8710 3388 8708
3388 8700 3386 8698 3383 8698 3378 8701
3378 8702 3400 8718

$$

JONES

WWWW

E-Warn is a free public service from the ABC 33/40 Weather Center
and Alagasco...For Reliability, Comfort, and Convenience Natural Gas has
the Home Advantage.

To sign up for other ABC 33/40 E-Warn products, or to unsubscribe, go here:
http://www.jamesspann.com/ewarnmain.html

  ¶ 2:40 PM

  ABC 33/40 E-WARN: Severe Thunderstorm Watch Outline Update

From ABC 33/40 E-Warn:
WOUS64 KWNS 201335
WOU0

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 300
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
940 AM EDT FRI MAY 20 2005

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 300 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

ALC007-009-015-017-019-021-027-029-033-037-043-049-055-057-059-
071-073-075-077-079-081-083-089-093-095-103-107-111-113-115-117-
121-123-125-127-133-202100-
/O.NEW.KWNS.SV.A.0300.050520T1340Z-050520T2100Z/

AL
. ALABAMA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

BIBB BLOUNT CALHOUN
CHAMBERS CHEROKEE CHILTON
CLAY CLEBURNE COLBERT
COOSA CULLMAN DEKALB
ETOWAH FAYETTE FRANKLIN
JACKSON JEFFERSON LAMAR
LAUDERDALE LAWRENCE LEE
LIMESTONE MADISON MARION
MARSHALL MORGAN PICKENS
RANDOLPH RUSSELL SHELBY
ST. CLAIR TALLADEGA TALLAPOOSA
TUSCALOOSA WALKER WINSTON
$$

GAC009-011-013-015-021-023-033-035-045-047-053-055-057-059-063-
067-073-077-079-083-085-089-093-097-107-113-115-117-121-123-125-
129-133-135-139-141-143-145-149-151-153-157-159-163-167-169-171-
175-181-187-189-193-195-197-199-207-211-213-215-217-219-221-223-
225-227-231-233-235-237-245-247-249-255-263-265-269-283-285-289-
293-295-297-301-303-313-317-319-202100-
/O.NEW.KWNS.SV.A.0300.050520T1340Z-050520T2100Z/

GA
. GEORGIA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

BALDWIN BANKS BARROW
BARTOW BIBB BLECKLEY
BURKE BUTTS CARROLL
CATOOSA CHATTAHOOCHEE CHATTOOGA
CHEROKEE CLARKE CLAYTON
COBB COLUMBIA COWETA
CRAWFORD DADE DAWSON
DEKALB DOOLY DOUGLAS
EMANUEL FAYETTE FLOYD
FORSYTH FULTON GILMER
GLASCOCK GORDON GREENE
GWINNETT HALL HANCOCK
HARALSON HARRIS HEARD
HENRY HOUSTON JACKSON
JASPER JEFFERSON JOHNSON
JONES LAMAR LAURENS
LINCOLN LUMPKIN MACON
MADISON MARION MCDUFFIE
MERIWETHER MONROE MORGAN
MURRAY MUSCOGEE NEWTON
OCONEE OGLETHORPE PAULDING
PEACH PICKENS PIKE
POLK PULASKI PUTNAM
RICHMOND ROCKDALE SCHLEY
SPALDING TALBOT TALIAFERRO
TAYLOR TREUTLEN TROUP
TWIGGS UPSON WALKER
WALTON WARREN WASHINGTON
WHITFIELD WILKES WILKINSON
$$

TNC003-051-055-081-099-101-103-117-119-127-135-181-202100-
/O.NEW.KWNS.SV.A.0300.050520T1340Z-050520T2100Z/

TN
. TENNESSEE COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

BEDFORD FRANKLIN GILES
HICKMAN LAWRENCE LEWIS
LINCOLN MARSHALL MAURY
MOORE PERRY WAYNE
$$

ATTN...WFO...BMX...OHX...HUN...FFC...CAE...
WWWW

E-Warn is a free public service from the ABC 33/40 Weather Center
and Alagasco...For Reliability, Comfort, and Convenience Natural Gas has
the Home Advantage.

To sign up for other ABC 33/40 E-Warn products, or to unsubscribe, go here:
http://www.jamesspann.com/ewarnmain.html

  ¶ 8:49 AM

  The people of Salem, Mass. are split over a statue of the late Elizabeth Montgomery that will be placed in front of same house that the infamous Salem Witch Trials occurred. The statue will be 9-foot tall, and Elizabeth will be dressed as the character Samantha Stephens and riding a broom.

A lot of Wiccans are offended by this. I think it's no more offensive than Santa Clause. Never the less, if Salem ever decides to get rid of statue, I would like it. I would put it in my yard and care for it. Elizabeth Montgomery was hot.

  ¶ 12:18 PM

  I just watched The Daily Show rip on blogs and the news so I figure it was time for me to post a blog entry.

Today I finally found the time to install Mandriva 2005 LE (Mandrake 10.2). While I am still not crazy about the name "Mandriva," I am loving the new version. It does not have a lot of Conectiva in it but does seem to be "Mandrake" perfected. Of course, nothing is perfect, but this does come close.

Installation went smoothly as usual. The only trouble I had was that I had to re-learn how to enable dual monitors. Everything else has been easy, and I mean easy. I put in a DVD and a window popped up saying that they couldn't include libdvdcss, the tiny bit of software required to view DVDs, and then Mandriva provided a link to get the tiny bit of software. You can get it here if you need it. I buy all of my DVDs, and I'm going to watch them on my computer when I want to.

Would you believe me that KDE is much faster this time around? I read up to 10% faster, but I had no idea that I would notice it. And there's tons of new stuff I haven't had a chance to check out like The Gimp 2.2 and Beep Media Player.

Mandriva 2005 LE is also bitter sweet. There won't be another release until next year. Mandriva has switched to a yearly cycle, which is still six to seven times faster than Microsoft.

There was a bit of a shake up in the jh2media world over the last week. One of our clients, Criminal Intent, had their lead singer quit. They have a show this Saturday without him and are having an open mic night. I hope that they just jam for a bit. It's not real clear if the remaining members will still be Criminal Intent. I guess that's something they'll decide when a new person is onboard. When they do get a new singer, I hope that they sail quickly on out of Birmingham. Even if you sell out every show here, you're still just a big fish in a little pond. The only way to "make it" as a band is to leave for the ocean. Yeah, there's sharks in the ocean. But isn't it better to risk getting eaten by a shark than share a tiny pond with horny toads and goldfish that shit all the time?

My novel HAUNTED was rejected the other day for being too controversial. HAUNTED has little to no foul language and no graphic violence or gore that my other stories have. HAUNTED does deal with racism. I guess that's still a touchy subject. I wrote it knowing that was touchy. I made this deal with myself that if I was truthful in the story, I couldn't get upset if it was rejected because of the racism. Well, I was bothered, but I also took comfort that if it was the subject matter that caused the story to be reject, then I must be doing something right.

HAUNTED will find a home one day. It is a shame that it was too controversial because the publishing house seemed to have really like my writing. It is even more of a shame because I consider HAUNTED the least controversial of my writings. I do not have anything else to send them right now, but I will try them again the future.

  ¶ 12:20 AM

  I'm almost finished with a short story that's probably not all that short anymore. Sometimes, I'm a poor judge of length. But then again, it's good to know that when the character demand more time, it's there for them. I still don't have a name for this one. I'm sure a name will come when it's finished. Hopefully, it'll be done in the next day or two.

Earlier, I installed Adobe's Acrobat Reader. Oooh! Nobody has ever done that before. Well, I didn't install it in Windows. Adobe has a version of Reader for Linux. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I would pay twice as much for a version of Photoshop that runs on Linux. Photoshop will be the killer app for Linux (sorry The Gimp -- I still love you). I have no idea if there is a version planned for Linux. I just pray that there is because that would mean so much less time in Windows for me. And I hate being in Windows.

If I can find the time, I plan to upgrade to Mandriva 2005LE (Mandrake 10.2) this weekend. I can't wait to see the psycho Penguin up close and personal. I'm sure it's not really psycho, but it sure is different this time around.

One of jh2media's clients, Mudkicka had their first gig last Monday. It went very well. I'm very happy for them. I really am and would love to see them one day.

I need an ice cream truck. No real reason why. I just do.

  ¶ 2:35 AM