Body Count :
Xavier – dead
Cyclops – Dead
Jean Grey / Phoenix – dead
Almost every new mutant added to the roster for their 5 minutes of fame – dead
Then there’s folks like Magneto and Mystique who had their mutant powers taken from them by the CURE.
Then there’s Rogue who went to the abortion, i mean mutant cure clinic, to have her powers removed by choice.
Don’t forget Angel who gets introduced only so that he can fly in at the end and save his daddy.
Beast gets to fight but, like the Yoda scene in Star Wars 2, it’s too little too late.
Jean Grey spends the whole movie standing around.
Wolverine spends it whining like a little bitch.
Storm spends it poorly acting though she does have compitition in the form of the mutant who can sense other mutants’ powers.

Bonus Features :
Although his powers were stripped from him, Magneto moved a metal chess piece WITH HIS MAGNETIC MIND at the very end.
And if you were stupid enough to have believed that something cool happens at the end, you get to see that Prof. Xavier might have just maybe answered the ethical question, “if I am destroyed by a telekinetik psycho more powerful than even Carrie, is it o.k. to inhabit a consciousless body so that we can make a 4th movie?”

so who wants to see the lake house with me when it opens. it combines my love of time travel with my love of keanu reeves’ bad acting.

“I bought a house…”
dramatic pause.
wait for it.
wait for it.
wait for it.
“… on a lake.”

Well, I am back. We are back. And in one piece. The last 2 or 3 days in T-dot were fantastical to say the least.
Friday was the workshop for the cartoon. It was a cast of about 8. Myself, Julie, Adam, Arlen, and Ryan hopped into a cab and headed for the theatre. 3/4 of the way there we pit stopped to get the screen we were projecting on. I am not sure how any of us thought it was going to fit because it was an 8 foot screen.

We bid adieu to the cab and hot footed it the rest of the way.

Upon arriving at the theatre, we realized none of us knew how to set up this jigsaw puzzle of a screen. But we were a room full of intelligent folks and when we couldn’t figure it out, Toby arrived and showed us a what for. he got it up in about 3.2 seconds. The workshop was great fun and after, folks played some cards while I continued fine tuning for the night’s performance.

The cartoon shared the showcase with the local chapter of the Nutrino Project. It is a group of folks who get a suggestion or two from the audience, mix it with a few personal belongings people are willing to part with, and head out to make an improvised film. They shoot and have runners run back the footage and they basically show/edit on the fly. I was a bit to high strung after running a successful cartoon to watch. It was relax time for me.

At Betty’s after, we drank and chatted. I reached a level of enlightenment so grand I grew a Shaquille O’Neil halo.

Apparently some guy named Martin was celebrating his 40th birthday before we got there.

So Bob rolled a joint on his party favors.

But all good times come to an end. And Saturday was the last day. The afternoon was spent walking around town.

I really think I should have bought whatever that is. If only to wind up looking like that poor kid’s Damien on the poster.

That night was the final matchup. Myself and Matt vs. Calgary (Pete and Pat) vs. Vancouver (Taz and Ryan). it was a tight matchup all around. Having learned our lesson the first night (having almost 9 minutes left to do a scene at the end) Matt and I took our time a little more in the beginning. A little too much. We had only 30 seconds for our final scene. To quote Graham…Oopsie Daisies. vancouver took the trophy.
We after partied at kurts til late.

That’s really the last thing I remember.

It was a rainy, overcast day Thursday. We didn’t really leave casa de alex at all. I worked long and hard on some additions to the cartoon. It kept me busy until about 4 and kept me from eating until then too. With my blood sugar dropping and my ability to make decisions at a low point, myself, adam and matt headed out to forage for dinner. We happened upon something we never had before. Korean Barbeque. All You Can Eat Korean Barbecue.

First up was our fried dumpling appetizer

we then got our beef radish soup

followed by the collection of sides

and finally : the meat. The raw raw meat.

I haven’t ventured into the all you can eat realm for years. And what better way than to not eat all day and then go for meat meat meat and meat.

grill before :

grill after :

We devoured our food and hauled ass home for some showers and off to the c23.

Thursday was our match up in the c23. It was Two Suits(me and matt) vs. Toronto(kurt and graham) vs. Outside Joke(Winnipeg). What a fun freaking time. Me and Matt did some great stuff and although it was a close match, The Toronto team beat us by a hair. We are really developing a great rhythm on stage. It is so great to trust someone so much. So often I hear people I work with say the lower numbers (2 and 3 man groups) FORCE you to have to trust one another. or force you to have to work harder. It’s great being in a situation that doesn’t feel forced.

The 10pm slot was a showcase by Instant Theatre from Vancouver and then an ensemble jam.
After the shows we are hanging out at a bar called Betty’s down the way. it’s been a shot and beer kinda trip. So that’s what I’ve been rolling with.

It gets me both surly

and coy

The night ended like any good night should. Hot girl on girl action.

Last night at a little after 3 in the morning I ate a hot dog

This is the guy that was kind enough to sell it to me.

i even got ketchup on my face as I scarfed it down.

On the way to the hot dog stand (at 3 in the morning) in the alley that our host’s house is on (at 3 in the morning) in a restaurant’s kitchen (at 3 in the morning) whose door was open I was fortunate enough to capture this :

Tuesday night saw us attending the official beginning of the Catch 23.
The 8 o’clock show was a cage match between to local teams. (Not part of the festival) The highlight was the 2nd team : a quartet of young ladies who call themselves LadyStache. I wanted to believe that it was a clever new way to describe a style of female pubic hair grooming. It was however as literal as it sounds. A lady with a moustache.
At 10pm the c23 began with a Big Stupid. All the improvisors’ names were thrown into a hat and drawn at random to do scenes together. In the first scene I somehow managed to make up some ridiculous poem. It was about blueberries, bluebirds, and clowns. Only 4 lines, but it did rhyme. In the 2nd half, I was fortunate enough to play a southern gentleman who had to choose between his loving wife and the blind negro boy he took in. When faced with life choices like this there is really only one choice to make. Shoot the boy and go make love with your wife in the hayfield. Right?

Wednesday was our day off. It was also the first official match and showcase of the c23. The day began with a tour of the venue and a bit of tech. Julie told us about how a lot of the storefronts are taking down the c23 posters because they are too gruesome.

I don’t see it. When we got to the venue, in the Distillery, A gorgeous part of town, Kurt mentioned that of the 300 posters he put up in the area, only a handful remained up.
We decided to drive north to CasinoRama and race back to caatch the show. I spent about an hour at the blackjack table enjoying the rollercoaster ride of wins and losses. When the lugnut at the end of the table making all the bonehead plays finally left, we began seeing a return on our investment. I quickly raised my minimum 15 dollar bets to 25. And when I was feeling especially lucky 50. The exciting turn came when I played two hands at once every now and again. At the end of about an hour, I found myself even stevens after a couple lost hands. I did what any gambler would do, take those 200 dollars and split it between 2 hands. In it to win it (or lose it). After the deal I had 2 20s(sorry, no blackjacks) but it was enough to beat the dealer making me double up. I walked away ahead and kicked it while Matt and Adam hit the poker table.
We made it back a little late, but worth it. I am thankful that I don’t live too near a casino.

I found something yesterday I haven’t had in almost 2 years :

So I know what I will be drinking as much of as I can while I am here.

Also, we still have no nail clippers.

the last two days have been a whirlwind of excitement.

I managed to not take a single photo of the cafe we performed at, but the bathroom had a cabinet with a plethora of star wars action figures on display. The manager and all around great guy, Brian took amazing care of us. He fed us, boozed us up, boozed us up some more, and then PAID us! We made a delicious 50 dollars. Wholly exciting and unexpected. Our first take.

Leaving Providence took a little longer than expected. Matt’s brakes were going so we decided to get them looked at. In the interim, we ate an enormous breakfast.

The Sampler (feeds 2) came with 4 eggs, 2 orders of hashbrowns, 2 slices of french toast, 4 pieces of bacon, 4 links of sausage, and 4 slices of toast.

After a 500 dollar repair it was on the road at 1pm for what could be a 8 hour drive to get to Toronto by 9pm to do the kick off show of the festival. The time we made was good. But we knew we were going to be cutting it close. We couldn’t afford any detours or delays.

About 10 miles outside of the Canadian border Matt had a realization that rivaled the forgetting of our console days earlier. “FUUUUUUCCCCKKKK! I forgot my passport….” We spent about 45 minutes at the border trying to get in without “proper identification.” Matt was lucky enough to have been adopted at an early age giving him a different last name for a while and also a different first name. He also had 2 different birth certificates and a driver’s license with another name that didn’t match any of the records of his prior trips to Canada. He does a much better job explaining it because it got us through. After a very thourough car search (READ quick and unobtrusive) we got back on the road. We still might just pull this off.

I celebrated our entrance with a warm beer we found on Matt’s floor in the back seat. With the minutes ticking away we finally apporoached Toronto. We missed the beginning of the show but arranged for a contingency plan. Our teammate for the night, Kurt, would do a scene with a couple of other folks til we got there. When we found the Tavern, we literally got out of the car, I ran downstairs and pissed out the beer that raced straight to my bladder and had been torturing me for the last 10 minutes of the drive, and hit the stage for the 2nd round of scenes. Somehow Matt, myself, and Kurt(The Kurtlantans) won the night’s show.

It was absolutely surreal. I couldn’t stop grinning for hours. Seeing everybody again, having driven and gotten through customs by the skin of our teeth, being here. The night ends like any other.

Today was our first day we slept in. Our sleep was much more relaxed not having to worry about getting up and making it to another city by any certain time. This afternoon we ate lunch and walked around. I think the area we are in is quite fond of puns for store names. We have already seen a handful of them. Like Thymeless (a cafe that I can only gather has no thyme) and these two :

We got to Providence, RI a little while ago. Checked out the spot we are performing at. It is great. A little bar/cafe type place. Really intimate. Perfect for two guys to do a little improv. Now I just gots to quash thems nerves and stop chewing on my lips. It’s wicked dry up here and I am paying the chapped lips price ten fold for it.
i just gotta get through the next few hours.

Boston today was gorgeous. Spent most of the day rebuilding the console that we left behind in Atlanta. We can build it better, faster, stronger. Well we built it faster anyway. Bought some new 7 inches at a record store. Managed to keep the spending in line. It’s funny how much record geeks and comic book geeks are alike. I couldn’t wait to take them out of their protective sleeves and look at them. You get all geeky and embarassed when someone asks what you bought. “oh, just a cinerama 7″ I don’t have. Oh – this one here is a Beatles cover by Ted Leo….”

It’s so cool that a couple of weeks ago this was a show being workshopped in Matt’s basement, and now it is being unveiled in front of total strangers (minus 3 local friends), being documented, and. Oh man, I definitely have to stop. That’s not helping the relaxation.
Anyway it’s really inspiring that people can come together like this and support new and different things.

It’s an early morning drive to T-dot-dot-dot to kick off Catch 23. There are still plenty of surprises around the corner for us.

It officially began 3 days ago. We left Atlanta for Toronto.
First Stop : Richmond VA
Highlights include:
An ACDC cover band fronted by a guy who goes by the name Blaxl Rose.

That’s Angus Young down there in the corner. He actually looked a lot like Keith from The Office.
There’s no point mentioning any of the other cool shit we did while we there cause it will just pale in comparison. But our Cinco did get Mayoed.
Second Stop : Boston MA
Last night we hit Boston after a grueling 10 hour drive. I managed to stop at a gas station with a half hour wait attached to it. We also somehow managed to hit NYC at rush hour.
By some strange seriews of events, my friend Dave managed to find a house party that needed a DJ. So about 30 minutes after some R&R on Dustin’s couch, we headed out to the party. We got there to see the last moments of Husky and Musky freestyle hip hopping it over some beats. The makeshift DJ area was handed over to me in pretty bad shape, so we all grabbed my gear out of the car and hauled it back uphill (pretty stupid in hindsight) and I somehow managed to replace everything without missing a beat. We partied til about 2:30 and headed back where I paid a visit to the sandman via the sleepytime express. (after an egg and cheese croissant (from a gas station dunkin donuts, of course).

We realized about 40 minutes into the trip that we left behind the console and tech we built for the show we are doing tonight. So today we are taking a trip to the Boston Home Depot to get supplies and rebuild it all before tonight’s show in Providence.