Mike Browne’s Blog

Steve Irwin, Australia’s favourite daredevil, has died at the age of 44 after a stingray attack on the Great Barrier Reef.

I can’t say I’m very surprised at all. He did tend to take risks that left a lot of his fans wondering when this day would come. Now it has. Goodbye Steve. No more “Danger! Danger! Danger!” for you.

Pretty well done…
For a long time now rabid Star Trek fans or (anti-fans?) have been speculating on the true relationship between Captain Kirk And Mr. Spock. Are they gay?

Whether or not you like Nine Inch Nails or Star Trek the above video may bring a giggle. Be warned it is set to NiN’s Closer which, if you have heard it before, has a very nasty word in it and conatins very adult content. Not for kiddies!

Free Movies Fallen out of Copyright (Public Domain)

That’s right. Really free. Not for download, but free to watch nonetheless. Kind of cool. I could spend a week watching everything from Farenheit 9/11 to Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Night of the Living Dead (one of my all time favourite movies) happens to be one of the films you can watch. “They’re coming to get you Barbara.”

There’s also a number of documentaries and instructional films. With all the craziness in the world you might want to watch the film I’ve imbeded after the jump…
[continue reading…]

Sorry Pluto you just don’t cut the mustard any more.

CBC.ca: Pluto demoted under new definition of planet

I’ve been working like a dog putting in retarded hours (lots of nights) on the Xmas movie I’m ALM’ing for Director Ron Oliver. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m over tired, over worked or just plain distracted but I had an accident at work yesterday.

While dropping the tailgate of the truck we have to hold our gear my left pinky finger got caught between the tailgate and the chain that attaches it to the truck itself.

Here’s the result:

Underneath the bandage is a deep puncture wound only a few millimeters wide but very deep. I bled like a stuck pig all over the parking lot and my clothes (namely my favourite jeans and nice green shirt). The security folks who were luckily still on site assisted getting the bleeding stopped and then I drove myself to the hospital where I sat for (thankfully) only an hour before I got patched up, given a tetanus shot and booted. I then had to go and buy new pants and new jeans before heading back to work as I looked like a murder victim in my bloodstained duds. Not very Christmassy at all.

The people at work were very understanding, compassionate and helpful but I got so tired of telling the story I shortened it to “the location truck bit me”.

Question though… Why is it when you’ve had a tetanus shot (which is very painful for days afterward) those are the days that people choose to give you a friendly slap on the arm while chatting? Ouch!

Luckily I still have a finger. It could have been a hell of a lot worse, but it got my attention. What do I really want to do in this business? Is it put out cones, deal with the plunging of toilets, ensure garbage gets onto a flatbed or listen to people moan about how far a truck is from set? No. Is wounding and possibly maiming myself worth it? No.

I like working with Ron and the other directors I’ve met as well as lots of the actors. I enjoy writing and being creative and started off as an actor, but was not psychologically strong enough at the time to deal with the rejection that the job sometimes requires one to endure. I’m a little further along than I was back then and perhaps now I should take another run at that aspect of the business as well. I can keep working, making connections and forging forth with my DGC membership as I am becoming established in the small film community here and that means a lot.

Anyway, as my finger aches and the tetanus shot in the other arm throbs away I couldn’t sleep so I got up early and emailed Jason Bourque, another director I know and told him that I’d be a great delivery guy or some other simple part for one of his projects. I told him I would make a wonderful delivery guy as I am very good at pointing to a clipboard and saying, “Please sign here” and “Thank you. Have a nice day”. Hey you’ve got to stick it out there before someone will grab it. Right Schlemiel? Who knows?

I’d love that one credit to get into the UBCP as an apprentice member and then would need only 5 more credits (my year of acting school would count for another making only 4 more).

Anyway, it’s off to work. We wrap tomorrow morning. Another one in the can and 12 more days toward DGC membership. I’m over 1/3 of the way there.

If one is going to BBQ a 29.75lb hamburger one must have many friends around to share. Check out The Giant Burger. OMG! That’s huge. Even though I do consider myself a burger aficionado (read addict) the photos don’t exactly leave me craving ground beef on a bun. In fact it’s quite the opposite. That day would be a two Losec day for sure… Oh, the acid reflux.

The Official Record Store Cats by hnldesign

Okay. huh?

Nothing much says creepy pedophile like an underweight, waxy-skinned, pasty, white man with pants pulled up way too high.

Caught in Thailad while living in a hotel known to be frequented by ‘sex tourists’, John Mark Karr has essentially admitted to the murder of cute little six year old JonBenet Ramsey almost ten years ago. He says it was ‘an accident’ but that he is not innocent of the crime (whatever that means). He also has a history of sex offenses as his teaching credentials were yanked due to his being in possession of child pornography. How nice. What a dirt bag. Throw the book at him.

Let’s hope its not an attention getting hoax by some sicko. It’d be great if this case was finally solved.

UPDATE: A dead psychic sketched a pic of JonBenet’s killer that looks a lot like Karr.