THUMBS UP

Hi guy and gal. I entered a contest and now I need 150 thumbs up. That's where you come in. Please click HERE and watch my movie pitch, then give it a thumbs up.

Free hugs for everyone that does it.

Thanks.

Nick and Joe

A long time ago I had an idea to make a cop drama about two buddy cops. One day one of the cops is killed and his soul inhabits a coffee pot. This all stemmed from me noticing that if you press the lid open and shut on my coffee pot it was like a puppet.

Recently a friend of mine asked me to make a short film with a puppet theme and the coffee pot idea popped back into my consciousness. Now since I had the original idea years ago I have made The FNGR, The Evener, and Rob Boss' Death Stroke. I thought it best to step away from the gritty cop thing for a while. I ruminated more and more about what to do with this coffee pot idea and decided to take my first real run at a sit-com style show. I have a large aversion to roommate driven fodder, but this seemed different enough for me to change my views. I crapped out a script and got to work.

I asked my Dad's Garage improv buddies Rueben and Eve to lend their pretty little faces to the characters. I wanted an old school animated intro and song so I begged my friend Mike Geier to help me with the music while I doodled some terrible drawings. Please enjoy the fruits of my labor:

The Carpenters (not the band)

We've needed a bed in the guest bedroom/computer room for a while, but a futon was way to dirty hippie/college student and a full sized bed would've taken up way to much room. A Murphy bed would solve all our problems. After a little research we decided to try and build one ourselves.

We bought a kit off of Amazon for 250 bucks that came with the hardware, instructions, and a DVD. It was going to be a pretty involved project, but we were under the assumption that we were up for the task. At the last minute I had to work late the night we had decided to get the wood from Home Depot. We didn't make it there until 8:55pm. They close at 10pm. We had an hour to rent a truck, load it full of heavy wood, drive it home, unload it, and drive it back. We made it with 10 minutes to spare. Speed hauling should be the next Fast and the Furious plot line.

It took us three weekends to finish the damn thing. Murphy's Law is pretty bad, but it doesn't hold a candle to his bed. If your running out of things to argue with your wife about, might i suggest building a Murphy bed together.

Now we have a place for weary travelers to lay their heads when they stay with us. Please enjoy the video below, it's mainly for my parents, but you can watch it too, just keep in mind there are no fart jokes or off color humor, just bed building.

Dig It Baby

Sorry, long time no blog.

Work at the ol' toon factory has been relentless as of late. A lot of really cool stuff going on that I can't talk about. I've also been improvising at Dad's Garage a bunch. Not to mention that me and Nancy have been building a murphy bed for our guest/computer room at the house. Here is a bit of advice, don't ever build a murphy bed under and circumstances, ever. Although I have learned a valuable lesson, if you are running out of things to argue about, build a murphy bed.

We are almost done with it and I will be posting a video of the process soon for future generations to learn from.

I made a video of the dog again, she keeps digging crap up in the yard:

Faced Book

So I'm having one of those angry depressed moments in my life/career. I'm trying my damndest to get a show pilot bought. It's no secret, I started a facebook page a blog and told everyone I know about it. Toymageddon is the show if you haven't guessed by now.

Here's my dilemma. I have over 800 "friends" on the magical facebook. I have shared the Toymageddon facebook page several times and pleaded with people to "like" the page. It literally takes one click of the mouse button and does nothing else but sit on your page somewhere collecting dust. Of my 800 "friends", 60 have "liked" it. What the hell? That's a pretty shitty return.

I hate to sound like a baby, but I'm thinking of dumping all the "friends" that can't give me at least one click of the mouse. What are they all doing for me anyway? I'm not getting a bigger room in heaven because i have a bunch of "friends" on facebook. I hope not at least.

I know of the 60 "friends" that "liked" the Toymageddon page, only like 2 of you read my blog, but please let me know what you think I should do. Should I make one more enigmatic plea for acceptance then bring the hammer down or just not give a shit? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Love you.

This Video's Got Ballz!

It's been a while, mainly because we've actually been busy at work, but we finally made a fresh new facebook video for my office. Below is said video, please enjoy.

The FNGR bitch!

I have some terrible news friends. After a day of shooting and a day of editing, the latest chapter and complete retooling of the epic tale involving an alcoholic ex-astronaut who had his middle finger replaced by a talking bionic finger did not gain acceptance into the live screening of the coveted and highly esteemed Channel 101. It is with a heavy heart that I now share with you Dallas Houston's newest hobby, solving crimes in the evening, with the reboot of the beloved FNGR series entitled, The F.N.G.R.: Evenings.

Let me know in the comments section if you think the secret panel of Channel 101 judges was right or not. I promised myself I wouldn't cry...

Ricky Gervais Debate 2011

I've been reading all the crap that the media has been vomiting all over the web-o-sphere about wether or not Ricky Gervais crossed the line with his hosting of the Golden Globes. I watched his monolog and a couple of his introductions to get me up to speed. The only thing he did that I can tell is expose how incredibly inane and retarded anyone is who works for the media. Seriously? Cross the line? A joke about Hugh Heffner being old and marrying a young girl is over the line?

I love Ricky Gervais. I think he's an incredibly smart, shrewd and funny man. He's help create some of the best comedy ANYWHERE for the past 10 years. He makes me laugh, he makes himself laugh more I think, but in the process he makes me laugh. I don't know if anyone out there knows this, and I might be about to blow your mind inside out, but... comedy... is... subjective.

WAHHHHHHHHH?!?

You mean to tell us Nick, that each person has a different sense of humor. That every individual was raised in their own bubble, having different values and experiences that shaped them into a wholly original being? WOW! You just broke new ground in human understanding.

You're welcome.

Here is my take on his jokes. I thought they were just OK. Nothing spectacular. Definitely not crossing any lines. If anything they were basic A to B jokes. A. So and so is fat. B. so and so has to get building permit to put on make up.

I watch a lot of comedy. A LOT. More than the average person. I have to, I write and perform comedy. I've learned my craft from all the brave insecure soles that came before me. Ricky Gervais's monolog was just a simple night show monolog. He did nothing new or push any boundaries, he just made simple jokes up about people that everyone knows. It's not an insult if EVERYONE in the audience thinks the same thing.

Let me break it down:

Hugh Heffner is old and marries young woman. CHECK
Charlie Sheen has a substance abuse problem. CHECK
Robert Downy Jr. HAD a substance abuse problem. CHECK
Bruce Willis' ex-wife is married to a guy as old as his daughters. CHECK
The Tourist was a bad movie. CHECK

Nothing he talked about was new or shocking to anyone. He said things that Conan, Letterman and Kimmell say EVERY night of the week.

To summarize,
1. Did he cross the line, no,
2. Were his jokes main streamy, yes.
3. Was he entertaining, definitely.
4. Should he do it again? If he causes as much of a stink, HELL YES!

I would love to hear what you think in my comments section, but no one reads my blog so I won't hold my breath.