Mike Browne’s Blog

Last night was my first full shift as a driver for VIFF. I am so glad I did this. What an amazing experience I had. The BMW’s I had the pleasure of driving last evening were fine automobiles to say the least. The 325i was a peppy little sparkplug that shot up Granville St to the airport like a cheetah with its ass afire. The X5 (I must own one of these) was the most luxurious ride I’ve ever been in. I loved all the gadgetry on the console especially the 5″ x 7″ LCD screen that displayed all the vehicle’s vitals including GPS information.

The first person I met was Michael Cowan, a british producer who appeared to be a hybrid Fabio and Kato Kaelin type. He and his friend Peter, who has worked with Dario Argento, one of the great Italian horror directors, were nothing short of hilarious from the moment I emt them until I dropped them off at their hotels. They shared a variety of decadent move party experiences with me. There were tales of blackmail around XXX rated photos of famous actresses (names excluded of course) and talk of who’s done what in the ‘biz’ and what I need to do to make my mark. First of all I have to tell people who ask if I am in the business that “Yes. I am a writer, an actor and a director”, not that I’m a wannabe. LOL!

The last pick up of the evening was Thom Fitzgerald coming in from Halifax. Mr Fitzgerald is pictured at left with notables Olympia Dukakis and Parker Posey who starred in his film “The Event” that will be playing on Sunday the 28th in Visa Screening Room @ the Vogue at 8:00 pm. I am definitely going to go. He actually asked me to come!

I was shy at first and didn’t want to irritate him with questions, but he said that Canadians are strange in that we seek permission to talk to people about things they like to talk about. After he said that I felt more at ease. We had a great discussion about zombie movies like Night of the Living Dead, directing film, writing and film budgets, and other movie business related banter. He’s a man who chooses his words carefully, so I learned a lot from him during the trip from the airport to downtown. Especially interesting was that, if you want to and are creative enough, you can shoot a feature using any kind of video camera using your own cash. He told me I need to shoot some shorts (as was my plan) before I shoot my feature, but to go for it no matter what people say. I guess I’m headed in the right direction. I hope to buy my camera sometime this week or next.

I’m happy I volunteered already, and it’s only been one shift.

Take a look at Zombie Pinups. I guess it was just a matter of time before there was zombie porn as well.

World Beard and Moustache Championships Carson City 2003

My hat is off to the efforts of these rather hirsute gents yet I must say that personally facial hair is not for me. I’ve had a goatee and moustache before but felt like I was dirty all the time so I shaved it off. Tasting the soup you had for lunch in the evening is gross.

Of course, beards are better than back hair but I suspect some of the guys at the link above are sporting both.

Oh look it’s another movie based on a video game about zombies that will probably suck but I’ll pay to see anyway.

A pompous preacher was seated next to a Newfie on a flight to Toronto. After the plane was airborne, drink orders were taken. The Newfie asked for a whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him.

The flight attendant then asked the Minister if he would like a drink. He replied in disgust, I’d rather be savagely raped by a dozen brazen whores than let liquor touch my lips.

Thanks to Big Al Mac for the giggle.

The Newfie then handed his drink back to the attendant and said, “I didn’t know we had a choice.”

Injured David Lee Roth Cancels Shows

Poor Dave. What an awful time he appaears to be having. The guy got kicked out of Van Halen for being a jackass (twice), he’s losing his signature main of hair to male pattern baldness, he’s been busted in New York’s Central Park buying heroin and has gone from rock star to lounge act. Now he’s taken to beating himself with samurai staffs during shows that no doubt are playing to only 3 or 4 people wearing Van Halen T-Shirts and screaming for “Jump!”. It’s truly sad how far down you can go.

CBC News:Canada finally starting to produce funny movies

Gordon Jump of ‘WKRP’ and Maytag ad fame dies at 71

Thanks to Bill G for the link.

Here’s a picture of a stoner who used to love to listen to Stoner Rock (He still does but now because he likes the music not because he’s stoned). Rick here at work reminded me of a great site called StonerRock.com this morning. You can listen to K666 Radio or download tons of legal MP3z from the MP3Jukebox. He also turned me onto a band called Fu Manchu (their stuff is on StonerRock in the MP3 section) specifically the song Squash that Fly. There’s nothing better to wake you up in the morning than a little acid rock. I think I’m having flashbacks listening to this stuff.