It's time to put all my talents in one basket

Okay everyone, it is time. I think the vacation is coming to an end and its time to start on my next big project. Something to combine all of my talents, my video skills, my musical talents, my writing skills, and my screen presense. IT IS TIME TO MAKE A MOVIE!

It's time to make a movie I have been wanting to make since about the time I started working on the mother jokes. A great sci-fi (science fiction) epic the likes of which are rarely seen this days. Something with heart and drama and bold artistic direction.

I don't want to spoil anythign for you but I will tell you it is going to be about a really alien planet, a forest planet, will be driven by emotion and special effects, and will by my greatest acomplishment so far! I am off to research it but I wanted to get the exitement going as fast as possible so you can start watching my blog for more details into the creative process. I wont reveal everything but I will definitely give you some good creative insights.

Now I have to think of a title!

When the internet was invented?

I just had a thought last night that I havent really had before even though I do a lot of thinking about technology and computers obviously. I was thinking "when did the internet get invented?" So I looked it up on the internet itself. It is kind of funny if you think about it. What I read about it was really interesting.

Let me set the scene for you (I have been thinking about how to do things like Hollywood movies lately), it is the late 1960's. There are three kinds of people in the world, hippies, common people, and government/FBI kinds of people in suits. The common people just work all day and try to get by. The hippies wear tie-die, listen to music like Sarah McLauglin and The Beatles, and smoke incense (it was a funny time if you have ever seen movies from the time it is crazy), and the goverment suited people were not trusted (have you ever heard of Richard Nixon? My grandma has said things about him that are hard to believe, but there was a lot fo that going on). People of all kinds listened to music and watched movies and there was no internet!

You would think the internet was younger, early 1990's or something but it was actually at this time I was describing, the times of the hippies. The first email was sent in 1971 according to the research and the internet existed then too.

You are probably asking "why did it take so long to get the internet everywhere on phones and things" and the answer is that it takes a long time to make enough computers to be fast enough for the internet and to get those computers in your phone. Some day maybe I will have a phone with the internet, but texting is sort of like that too.

It is always fun to learn new things like that, isnt it?!

How does humor work?

Have you ever wondered about what makes things funny? I have been thinking about it all afternoon. Why do I laugh when something is funny? Why don't I cry? My body probably doesn't know the difference so what makes it do one instead of the other?

I will tell you. The key to making things funny is by changing expectations from what you think to something else you wouldn't guess. That is the formula.

You need examples to support a formula plan like this one so I am going to use a favorite show of mine FAMILY GUY for examples. I am going to provide a few examples.

Example 1, The title FAMILY GUY.
The title being a funny title is realy key to setting up the show being funny (although in truth it sometimes gets serious). In this case there are many jokes at play. First the show is about a guy named PETER (which is funny to me because it is my name too) who is always screwing things up for his family. So he is not really a family guy! Another way of looking at it is that the baby Stewie is the guy who runs the family. And that's funny because babys never run families!

Example 2, Talking dog BRIAN.
I think one of the more classic jokes (commonly called "meta") is the classic talking animal. When an animal is in life it makes animal sounds and sometimes understands human commands. Having a talking animal like a dog in this case is one of those things that just changes expectations! And even better in FAMILY GUY is that the family can talk back and in some cases he is another example of a guy for the title joke.

Example 3, Historical inaccurates
Every now and then in the show there are quick flash-back scenes that show the family in different situations but the key here is that the scenes are from other movies or history that the family was not involved with. So this is the kind of humorous arrangment that keeps the show on its feet and keep the audience guessing!

So as you can see as I showed you for FAMILY GUY, we find things funny when we expect one thing and get another that is a clever twist on what we expected. I bet you hadnt thought about that!

I have many more examples from FAMILY GUY but I want you to share your own thoughts and examples below!

Double LIFEs!

If you had read all of my blog posts and are a regular reader you know that my friend Judy and me play THE GAME OF LIFE by Milton and Bradley very often. I might go so far to say that it is both of our favorite game. You never know what you are going to spin on teh wheel and how that is going to effect your family in the game. And the pay days are really fun way of spicing it up with some fake currency. If you havent played it you should go get it now. And you can do it at TOYS "R" US.

I don't know if you can get it other places but you can definitely get it at TOYS "R" US. How do I know? Well, it had been a long time since we had played. I think since before Judy wanted to find Pam Jenkins again. I was sure I put it back in the game closet near GUESS WHO and some of my old PLAYDOES and things. But it was not in there no matter how much I looked. It wasnt in my room or near the tv which would be the other places I would put it. Judy couldnt find it either and she double checked where I looked to even though I said that I was sure it wasn't there.

We drove down to TOYS "R" US and found it straightaway in the game isle. It was only $30 which is a great deal on a new copy of my favorite game. We left and came back home to open it and start playing. It has a couple of changes, mostly different designs and colors, but very much the same classic game play.

Do you know what is funny? after we finished a game, I lost a $50 GAME OF LIFE replica dollar bill under the couch. When I reached under it, I felt a familiar box! It was my original version of the game! Judy and I started laughing alot because of the fact that we didn't look there to begin with.

So we now have two games two play. And we have done some really great and inventive things. We have played them back to back but we have also done something that you really should try, we played them simultanously. While I took a turn on one Judy took a turn on the other! It is double the fun.

Have you ever played GAME OF LIFE by Milton and Bradley?

Dominoes (not the pizza)

I have news for you, having some simple fun with Dominoes can really make time fly.

I am still taking a brief highatus from the many videos I was releasing for the mother jokes and Pam Jenkins work, so I apologize for the waiting for the next video. BUT I just wanted to have a little fun post suggesting a fun activity for you to try at home.

Have you ever seen dominoes before? They are little rectangel things you can set next to each other in a long row very carefully and then just hit the end of one and watch them all fall down in order. It is a mezmerizing thing to watch happen, but it is even more fun to do yourself. Go look for someon line and you will be very amused.

Here is your big tip for the day though, you can do this at home with a bunch of household objects. How do I know? I did it today! If you have enough you can use cereal boxes, cracker boxes, DVD's or CD's matchbox's, or other things. We actually made a long dominoes out of all of these and then ended it with baby carrots that we bit the ends off so we could set them flat on the ground. It took about 3 hours but it was an amazing site to see. I can't recommend it more for you to try.

I wish I would have made a video of it but I was so focused on the dominoes I couldn't be distracted. It was amazing.