The Voices in Frank's Head

I've come to the conclusion that I really ought to stop paying attention to what is happening around town. The local newspapers can essentially be summed as "Things that Mayor Dave Bing and Governor Rick Snyder  are doing that piss me off today." I'm tired of being this pissed off all of the time. It reminds me of the old adage that ignorance is bliss. If I simply forget that we have a local or state government, maybe things will be better for me. Nothing will be better in my neighborhood or in the surrounding area, but I can't help that. They seem determined to fuck things up and give lots of my money to their friends in the process. Bing and Snyder. There's a reason why their initials are "B.S." Collectively, they are the B.S. Twins.

A woman walked up to my Mom the other day, she told me. "I don't know if you remember me, Mrs. Nemecek," this woman said to my Mom. "I used to teach your son, Frank, in Sunday school." "I'm not sure how to take that," my Mom reportedly replied. "Why is that?" "Well, if you remember my son from having him in your classroom one day a week more than thirty years ago, that can only mean one of two things: either he was a very helpful and exceptionally well-behaved student or he was a serious pain in your butt." "And, as his mother," my Mom continued, "I think we can rule out the first option." Ah - a mother's love.

I met this woman recently. At one point she said, "I'm pretty sure I'm older than you." I brushed the whole subject of age off and didn't think too much of it. That is - until I checked her Facebook profile. Based on when she gradated from high school, she is roughly eight years younger than me. And now I wonder: how do I break this to her? Or do I even bother to?

Katie Wech , one of the writers behind Prison Break and Prom , wrote an essay in The Wall Street Journal about what makes a good script. WSJ is not normally the go-to source for screenwriting advice. However, this is an outstanding piece, in my humble opinion. If you're interested in writing for the movies and television, I recommend reading her article entitled Why a Good Script Is Like a Thong Bikini . It is available here .

I was playing around with some stock footage and music last weekend. The end result of it was, well, this short video below. I was experimenting to see if I could create an interesting video that was done with nothing but stock images. This isn't the greatest example ever, but I think it's interesting.

I managed to cut out of work early this afternoon. This meant that I was able to go see Captain America: The First Avenger instead. I loved this movie. It was, in my opinion, the best comic book inspired movie.

Atlantis and the STS 135 crew returned safely home to Earth early this morning. They arrived at the Kennedy Space Center just before dawn today. Their safe return brings to a close the 30 year long space shuttle program. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden  outlines what is next for the space agency here . It is an ambition agenda of leveraging partnerships with the private sector, sending a manned mission to explore Mars, continuing the success of the International Space Station, conducting a multitude of scientific research missions, and maintaining its leadership role in aeronautics research. I look forward to the next chapter in NASA's great story.

I was flipping through Entrepreneur  the other day and noticed an article about the dramatic profits that "breastaurants" are able to bring in . These, of course, are restaurants that are inspired by the Hooter's model of good food and attractive waitresses in skimpy outfits. Would You Like Fries With That? I'm convinced that if someone were to open a restaurant like this in downtown Detroit and give it a sports theme, it would be huge. The place would capitalize on all of the traffic from the Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings games as well as any activity at Cobo, Hart Plaza, or elsewhere nearby. It would be huge. In fact, I remember a couple of years ago when Hooter's was fighting with the City of Troy (approximately 8 miles north of Detroit proper) for the right to open one of their restaurants there. Troy did not want them. When I saw the back and forth debate, I remember screaming at my television for them to forget about Troy and open downtown. Oh...

TheChive.com posted its collection of 39 women with future lower back problems recently. All of them, of course, were photographed in bikinis or skimpy lingerie. I was actually a little surprised by the photos that they posted. A couple of those ladies might have actually had real boobs.

Pink by Victoria's Secret introduced a new collection of outfits this afternoon that are inspired by the National Football League. This goes along with the ones that they already have for Major League Baseball.  I have to admit that I'm partial to their ones for the Detroit Lions, all things considered. They look sassy, original, and downright awesome. Of course, since this is Victoria's Secret and these are the Detroit Lions, I have to say that the Victoria's Secret crew will probably score more wins this season that the Detroit Lions will. But I doubt anyone will complain about their success.

I've completed a couple of screenplay and submitted one for competition at the Toronto International Film Festival . I suppose it was because of those two things that I got an email this morning asking if I had any advice for a newbie screenwriter. I have to admit that I still feel like a newbie because I haven't had a feature length script made into a movie yet. Regardless, I wanted to share my thoughts with anyone else who finds this post through the wonder of the interwebs. First, I recommend picking up a copy of Story  by Robert McGee . It's an amazing book that will tell an aspiring writer most of what he or she needs to know. Second, I recommend downloading a copy of Celtx, which is available at www.celtx.com . This program will help to format your screenplay and do a lot to help make the process go smoother. Celtx is not as good as Final Draft, which is by far the most popular writing software on the market. However, Final Draft is expensive and Celtx has a full ...

Kristin Cavallari in a Glass Bikini The folks at Diesel rolled out cobalt blue glass bikini for fashion week in Miami. Yes, it's a bikini that is made out of glass. I presume, of course, that they did this as a publicity stunt because, well, I can't really imagine any woman buying and wearing a bikini that's made out of glass. And it worked by the way. A quick check of Google shows that there are 41 million search results for "glass bikini." Almost all of those are for the bikini that Diesel showed in Miami. Now, I could make a wise crack about how it would take a diamond to cut a bikini like this. However,  Kristin Cavallari , the woman who modeled this glass bikini, just announced her engagement so that diamond wisecrack is just well... I won't go there any farther than I already did.

I really need to stop saying that I've seen it all. Every time I do, the universe comes up with some new way to surprise me. For example, while surfing the internet the other day, I came across a yacht that converts into a seaplane. Or a seaplane that converts into a yacht - depending on how one wants to look at it. Anyway, more information on this magnificent piece of technology - along with lots of photographs - is all available below. Flying yacht - OCTURI - Design & Interior, Fictional aircraft, Light

Have you ever had this sudden desire to do something, even though you can't explain exactly why  you're doing it? Well, that's what happened to me last night. I had this sudden desire to submit an updated version of my screenplay for The Roswell Chronicles  to the Toronto International Film Festival . It will be in their screenplay competition as a feature length science-fiction film. I didn't have any plans to submit the film when I woke up yesterday. I was doing something completely different with my life when I had a sudden desire to visit WithoutABox.com . Once there, I saw that TIFF was accepting screenplays for consideration and that yesterday was the deadline for regular submissions. At that point, I simply got hit with this desire to submit The Roswell Chronicles  that quite overwhelming. Anyway, I ended up submitting my script just a couple of hours before their deadline. Now, I wait to find out where it will go from here. Thankfully, I have several...

I've always thought that solar energy had a lot potential. However, I never thought I would see the day when an aircraft took off and flew an international voyage using nothing but solar energy to power itself. But it has happened. The top speed for this aircraft is only 50 m.p.h. It's not about to replace conventional aircraft engines anytime soon. However, the simple fact that it came this far shows that there is a lot more potential in solar energy than most people ever would have thought. More information on this, as well as video of the aircraft, is available via the link below. Solar Plane Takes Flight with First International Trip | Renewable Energy News Article

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 opens in theaters today around the world. It is widely expected to smash box office records, both in the U.S. and internationally. The bad news with this opening is that the Harry Potter movie franchise is coming to an inevitable close. It has been a fantastic series of 8 movies over the past 10 years. The good news, however, is that now that she is 21 years old, it's now acceptable to lust after Emma Watson .

I uploaded a video late last night that featured a series of photographs of women in French maid costumes. (The video, of course, is available below.) It was my tongue in cheek toast to Bastille Day, which is today. That video has since received more than 100 views in under 24 hours. To put that in perspective, most of the videos that I put on-line only get 20 - 30 views in a 24 hour time period. ( Philip DeFranco I am not.) Why it's as if the internet is populated by people who enjoy seeing beautiful women dressed up in French maid costumes.

Today is Bastille Day , which is a French holiday to commemorate the storming of the Bastille  in Paris on July 14, 1789 and the founding of the modern French Republic. Since I happen to live in a former French colony, I thought I would take a moment to commemorate Bastille Day with a short video to showcase some of the greatness that France has given us, particularly French maids. Some very well find this inappropriate. The only consolation I can offer such people is that this is hardly the least inappropriate thing I have ever done. Happy Bastille Day from French maids everywhere!

I met this new woman over the weekend. At one point, she said to me, "I feel I should warn you up-front that I'm bipolar." Of course, I was disappointed to learn later in the evening that this did not mean that she worked at two strip clubs.

PBS recently declared that Detroit is the new Brooklyn . Several other commentators have espoused a similar view in recent months. All of them, I'm afraid, are wrong. Detroit, unlike Brooklyn, still has a Major League Baseball team.

Kirsten Haglund's Outfit is 65 Years Old Today is the 65th anniversary of the introduction of bikini by French engineer Louis Reard . In honor of this distinct anniversary, I thought about posting a photo of a 65 year old woman in a bikini. Or maybe a 65 year old man chasing a young woman in a bikini. However, it suddenly occurred to me that it would be much better to simply post a photo of Miss America 2008  Kirsten Haglund  in a bikini instead. You're welcome, internet.