Mike Browne’s Blog

I’m painting again. And damn it all we’ve run clean out of blue painters tape. It’s a good thing we have a roll and a half of Painters Mate Green {I can’t believe they a) have a website and b) I found it}. The problem is that 2/3 of today’s job will be blue tape while the rest will be in green. The horror! So dramatic. Mismatched painting tape. I can’t take it! Argh! Wait a minute… *counts to 10* … I’ll be okay. I think I’m overreacting a bit.

Perhaps it’s the film scores that I have playing in the background. The first one I listened to was the Dust Brothers – Fight Club Sountrack, then it was Rosemary’s Baby. The current choice is the third in the awesome Hannibal Lecter trilogy, but prequel to the other two, Red Dragon (which is thoroughly creeping me out by the way). Later on I’ll have a listen to Sleepy Hollow, Dracula, Vampires and Jaws. I should be completely out of my mind with fear and curled up in the fetal position on the stairs when Carol comes home. Seriously though, the soundtracks are more than just to keep me company. They help with ideas. I keep running over here to the laptop to write down another doozy. The creative process can really be fun when you just let go.

CBC News: Sleeping senior ends up at B.C. morgue
Whoops. That’s quite the little booboo. Interesting that this old woman didn’t wake up when she was being transported from the old folks home to the morgue. Must be some great tranquilizers being given to the seniors there.

When I was working security in a number of these places, I did notice that a lot of the people seemed there but not there. If you know what I mean. I used to think of the living dead frequenlty when I had to patrol these little care facilities dotted all over the lower mainland. You’d hear moans and people mumbling in the dark. Creepy as being stuck in a room with Anna Nicole Smith and her weird kid.

My time as a guard was fantastic research for writing zombie/horror flicks. I still shudder to think what I saw in morgues (yup occupied ones), holding cells in former mental institutions, abandoned nurses residences 11 stories tall with wonky wiring that turned lights on and off, operating suites and former (supposedly haunted) burn units in closed off wings of VGH and procedure rooms for God knows what kind of horrific torture in all the different facilities. My mind had a field day with me. I scared the shit out myself numerous times. Being afraid of hospitals to begin with didn’t help me enjoy my job any more, but it does help with the writing.

MSNBC – Ready for your close-up? Here come the vlogs
Hey, wait a minute… I have a sony miniDV cam. Prepare to be tortured.

Check out Mindfulness In Plain English. I’ve been reading tons of spiritual books lately. Buddhism seems more accessible than I thought. These kinds of translations are especially helpful to my western mind’s understanding of these eastern thoughts.

Here’s another one for Carol and her sharkophobia:
CNN.com – Shark tears man in half – Mar 20, 2005

Check this out. I stole it wholesale from MetaFilter:

It rubs the lotion on its skin (10mb MOV file but worth the download) is a song by a band called The Greenskeepers, with an effectively creepy music video culled from clips from The Silence of the Lambs. Full lyrics here.

I must say it’s got a catchy beat and it’s easy to dance to. They really did a great job with editing the footage from the film to match the tune.

The coolest part of this find is that we were just laughing and quoting Silence of the Lambs, specifically Jame Gumb aka Buffalo Bill, today. Let’s just say the conversation was rather twisted. We were at the butcher’s shop after all.

See this post for more on my obsession with this character and links to actual movie dialogue and ‘that song’ he prances around to. *shudder*

I saw the following ad (it was animated but I couldn’t capture it from the ad server) on Variety.com this morning:

Woohoo! Curious George in 2006. I can’t wait. I loved Curious George stories as a kid.

It sounds like a hit in the making with Will Ferrell offering his voice talents as the man in the yellow hat. Other involved talents of note are, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Dick Van Dyke, Joan Plowright, Ed Ross with original songs by Jack Johnson. All the right ingredients are there for a hit and with Ron Howard and Brian Glazer attached it’s bound to do big box office. These stories appeal to kids of today and yesterday (oh God I’m getting old). Count me as one ticket for sure.

Pirates are taking over and Hollywood’s losing cash… aaaarrr. There has to be a better way to distribute films and music. Embrace the future Hollywood. Come on into the techy pool the water’s fine.

Today’s a big day in Ireland. A day to celebrate the life of their patron saint, Patrick. The clothes I’m painting in aren’t green, but we’re going out tonight so I’ll put on me wee green shirt and go looking for four leaf clovers and leprchauns. No green beer for ol’ Mikey but I think I’ll have me another Diet Coke with lime. Hell it’s got some green on the outside of the can and the lime flavoured chemicals must be green as well. If they’re not they can kiss my smelly arse.

Here’s a couple good Irish blessings for you today:

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

and…

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
A full moon on a dark night,
And the road downhill all the way to your door.

and finally…

May your troubles be as few and far between as my grandmother’s teeth.