“If you do not understand, or cannot read, all directions, cautions and warnings, do not use this product.”

This is an example of what our litigious society has created. A fishing lure whose packaging reads “harmful if swallowed”??

M-LAW’s Wacky Warning Labels

In about an hour I have a meeting at Michael Piller’s company. Actually, They’ve teamed up with Lloyd Segan’s company and currently produce, among other things, The Dead Zone on TV. This is another meeting set up by Edgar based on the strength of Blood & Dust. I’m bone tired right now, so I’d probably better have some tea before I go. Since that whole Rocket trauma unfolded I’ve been working there more than ever. That’s the irony. Bonehead really wanted me gone. Now I’m working more than ever. It must be driving him crazy. Since Friday before last I’ve one Wednesday off. Thank God Sara’s coming back.

Yes, I’m back at Rocket. For now. I don’t know how long I’ll stay. I’d been planning to drop a resume off at Amoeba (home of two other Rocket expats) but I’ve been feeling so crappy, the drive to do so has been weak. So for now, I’m working hard (practically every day, in fact) which is exactly the opposite of what Bonehead wanted. That’s actually kind of fun. Instead of out on the street, I’m at the store even more than I was before.

The latest Hollywood encounter was an amusing one. Two women approached the counter and asked my opinion on a pair of movies. I can’t remember what they were, but I think I told them they were fine films. Then one of them held up another one and asked, “What about this one?” The movie was 13 Conversations About One Thing. I said I hadn’t seen it. The other woman chided her. “Don’t do that!” At my bemusement the first one said, “Sorry. That was a trick. We wrote it. She directed it.” I was helping Jill and Karen Sprecher.

I told Karen to hand the movie over. “I’ll watch it tonight. Next time I see you, I’ll give you the review.” Jill was embarrassed. “No, don’t. We didn’t mean that you needed to watch it.” But I insisted. I’d wanted to watch it anyway, though I couldn’t remember why.

So last night I checked it out. It’s really good. It tells the stories of several characters whose lives intertwine in ways they don’t suspect as they explore the question of happiness. Great cast, great performances (Alan Arkin is a standout) and an all-around engaging film. And then as I watched the credits, I remembered why I’d wanted to watch it. My friend Laurie Hansen has an Associate Producer credit.

Small world.

Anyway, the meeting on Friday with Mosaic Entertainment Group was terrific. The place is on Sunset Boulevard, right at the western end of the Strip. I pulled my rattletrap Honda Accord into the lot and parked it among the gleaming Mercedes and Lexi (a study in contrast that never fails to amuse me) and headed up to the tenth floor. The gorgeous receptionist asked me if I wanted anything to drink. Scotch, I thought, and answered, “No thanks.” The assistant of the exec I was there to meet walked in and told me it would be a few minutes. She told me that she was a fan. She’d read the script and loved it. Nothing like an assistant who “gets it” I tell you. She made the same offer. A drink? I assured her I was alright, but she insisted so I said “water.” “Room temp or chilled?”

I took a room temp Dasani and then took a seat next to the giant Scooby Doo 2 display. I knew this was just going to be a simple, laid-back meeting, but I couldn’t quell the nervousness. Still thinking about that Scotch, which for me is like the liquid equivalent of a butterfly net, I sipped my water and held onto my knee, which was jack-hammering in anticipation.

About ten minutes later, the exec emerged and we absconded to her office for a chat. She was as friendly and relaxed as I could have hoped. For an hour we chatted. I talked up Blood & Dust and the sequels. We talked about the current sorry state of vampire movies today. And we talked about other projects of mine, including the delicate skin, Fever Blue and Strange Angels. I was happy to learn that we had a friend in common. They recently began working with my friend Kerry, whom I met back when we were developing Fever Blue for Andrew Davis. She was his assistant at the time, and she’s been an aspiring sreenwriter since. That helped. It’s like having a bonus professional reference.

We finished off the hour talking about what it’s like spending thirty days in the wilderness (something I do on occasion) and what it’s like to DJ a wedding. My actor friend Mark tells me that’s a good sign. If you finish the business at hand and the execs continue conversation along other lines, that means they like you. I don’t know if that’s true, but it makes sense. We wrapped up the meeting. Before I left, I gave her a folder I’d prepared with various materials to further illustrate the trilogy. Dunno if it’ll do any good, but we’ll see.

So yeah, nothing concrete, but the important thing is that we connected. Mosaic is a good company, and the more people who get to know me the better, right?

Actually, that’s kinda grandiose. It’s not so much an aftermath as it is a “Day After.” I spent the weekend doing nothing. In the morning, I wrote. in the evening I hung out. On Saturday I stopped by Rocket to drop something off for Sara’s friend Michael. I ended up chatting at length with the team. And Summer dropped by at one point during the proceedings, so I had to give her the whole story again. If it was anyone other than Summer, I would have said, just check the weblog, because frankly, I’m tired of talking about it. But she cares. more than most people. Her suggestion? Come back for the next month, and while you’re working, lay the groundwork for your departure. Makes sense. And in fact, Mark said the same thing.

My own decision? I think I’ll come back, for a little while. As far as anyone knows (exept those closest to me) I’m coming back indefinitely. As I said before, I would like the chance to solidify connections with a number of people I’ve met there. Too many people have turned out to be way too cool during the past year. If I can maintain contact with even a fraction of them it’ll be enough. I need to expand the rolodex, if I can.

Anyway, all that stress and craziness seems to have lodged in my lungs. The past couple days I’ve been feeling pretty sick. It’s not debilitating, but it’s enough to keep me sequestered in my apartment. At about five I ventured out into the unusually warm afternoon and walked to Trader Joe’s. I’ve got half a carton of cottage cheese and half a bag of old lettuce in my refrigerator. And though, like Cassandra, I see financial doom on the horizon, I have to eat, right? And it was strange walking about in the real world, where people are running and chatting and playing tennis like it was just a typical day and of course, it is a typical day for everyone except me. And then I begin wondering if maybe my illness is just a sort of “wallowing” that has taken the form of a large basketball stuffed into my head until a fit of coughing reminds me that there are times when one should just retreat from things for a while and watch old episodes of M*A*S*H.

Since I established this paltry website a year ago I’ve had a music section. Long neglected, it merely sported a “coming soon” image. Finally, I’ve finally decided to start using it.

I’ve uploaded my first “mini-mix” to test the waters of streaming audio. It’s just five tracks, which is about the max I want to upload (it weighs in at about 40 megs.) It’s in MP3 format, but I’ve set it up so that any RealAudio player should be able to play the stream.

Check it out here.