The Voices in Frank's Head

For months now, I've been bashing President George W. Bush for, well, pretty much everything. And if I hadn't been busy filming a documentary , I probably would have bashed him even more often then I have. Now, however, it's Senator John Kerry's turn to face my cyber-wrath. Senator Kerry has been bashing President Bush over the economy and the war in Iraq even more frequently than I have. He's the Democratic nominee for the White House so one has to expect that. However, I profoundly disappointed in how little he has done to present the American public with a viable alternative. He's done relatively little to give me the sense that he has a plan to do things better or offer us a better solution. Take the war in Iraq for example. People have been pestering him for details on how he would do things differently ever since he became the Democratic nominee. He finally put forward his plan . Sort of. The thing is only 3 pages long; consisting pr...

There's a funny thing about porn. When it's good, it's really good. But when it's bad, it's beyond terrible. I was watching this live web cast earlier today (because I was sick of cranking out yet another meaningless report for work). There was this web cast of an amatuer couple having sex so I tuned in for the heck of it. The guy never took his long sleeve shirt off (I don't know, maybe that was a blessing in disguise). The chick has obviously not scene the inside of a gym in years. The two of them spent more time discussing what they were going to do then actually doing anything. And I'm not talking about that hot, steamy bedroom kind of talk either. I'm talking about conversations about camera angles and room temperature. Boring ass stuff. All said in with this dull, clincial kind of tone. My thought was, "is the person you're f***ing really that bad that you're gonna think about this stuff?" After a few mi...

Dang, it's been almost an entire month since I've had a chance to post anything in this blog. I've been super busy -- getting ready to film my documentary, dealing with my Mom going into the hospital (she'll be fine), fighting to preserve a historice building that the City wants to tear down and, of course, work. There've been a few times where I thought of something that I wanted to post about, but, I didn't have a computer handy at the time. (Yes, I know -- I need to get a laptop). Anyway, I've got a moment now -- but nothing overwhelming to talk about. As a result, this is going to be Random Thought Day . A collection of a few thoughts that popped into my head when I didn't have a chance to post. None of this is connected by anything other than the fact that it's what I think about when I try to remember some of the posts that I wanted to make over the past month. Every now and then, I think about moving out of Detroit. Chicago is o...

I was walking downtown the other day when I saw a certain face that looked kind of familiar. I soon realized why this person seemed so familiar, I had seen him a television a couple hundred times -- it was Geoffrey Fieger . A part of me wanted to say something to the man, but he was gone before I could figure out what. Of course, after he was gone, a tiny part of me wanted to plug my documentary to him since he's now chair of the Michigan Film Advisory Commission. Oh, well -- maybe next time.

It's odd how simple tasks can get very complicated. Today, for example, I left to get a haircut. I don't really have that much hair to begin with, but what I have left was starting to flop around more than John Kerry's stance on the Iraq war. Anyway, I'm on my way to the barbershop when I get a call on my cell phone. It's a certain aquaintance of mine who works for the City. She says that she's faxing something over to me but, as she put it so dramatically, "it didn't come from me." My curiosity gets the best of me so I turn the car around and head back. I pick up the fax, still warm. It's a letter from Amru Meah, director of Detroit's Buildings & Safety Department, to the City Council. He has declared the old Madison-Lennox Hotel to be threat to public safety and wants to tear it down expeditiously - without the usual procedures and oversight that normally comes with demolishing a historic structure. I'm still not ...

Now is one of the parts of filmmaking that I hate. I've put out a couple of last minute proposals that, if they're accepted soon, will enable me to make my documentary and get it done -- and done right -- in time to submit for Sundance 2005. I've done everything to best of my ability. Now I just have to wait a few more hours to find out if my best is good enough. I hate this part. Waiting truly sucks.

In my blog, I've ranted about one stupid politician after another. I've even ranted about stupidity in the private sector. Today, however, I feel the need to vent about stupid celebrities. Britney Spears was recently spotted wearing a T-shirt with the message, "I'm still a virgin." You know, it's a shame that I didn't get a chance to mention this Britney during any of our numerous conversations. However, the world has certain rules to it. One of them is that after you chose to celebrate your 18th birthday by fucking 18 different guys in one night, you can no longer properly claim to be a virgin. Another one of those rules is that it's no longer proper to claim virgin status once the number of guys you've had sex with reaches the triple digit mark. I know, I really should have mentioned all of this to her. But somehow, I just didn't think of it at the time. Hopefully, someone else will take a moment to explain a few things to h...

When I first got interested in making movies, I did a little research and learned that most Hollywood productions take two years to go from concept to screen.  When I first read that, I thought, "My God -- two years?  How can it possibly take that long to put together a movie that only lasts an 90 - 120 minutes?" Now, I understand. Casting. Financing.  Clearances.  The crew.  Contracts.  Research. And more financing. As I've tried to put together my documentary, the first time I've ever been writer, director and producer on a feature length project, I've discovered just how challenging it can all be.  I keep thinking about that old circus act -- the one where a guy has all of these plates that he's trying to keep spinning.  The second he gets one of them set, another one or two of them start to fall. I'm still doing it.  Absolutely committed that, even if I drop a proverbial plate or two, I'm going to make this film happen...

Once again, I feel the need to vent.  This time, though, it's not about some idiot politician or anything like that. Instead, I want to rant about people who lie.  I know, most people lie at least everyknow and then. But there are folks, including one woman that I'm really ticked off at, who lie at least once everytime you see them.  And tell really stupid lies, too. Lies where I know there lying, because it's painfully obvious that they're lying. And so, I have to stand there -- looking at a blatant liar and wonder if I should (a) call this person out on her lie or (b) let it slide and have her thank that I really am stupid enough to believe her. Totally frustrating.

It's odd how there are simply some things that I can't bring myself to write about.  Being there as my Dad received the Last Rites.  The cat I saw get hit by a car.  My Dad's funeral. I've tried writing about them a couple of times in this blog over the past couple of weeks.  However, each time I do, I end up with this desire to smash my head into my computer monitor.  I can write a sentence or two, but nothing more.

My Dad is in the ICU right now with a terrible case of pheumonia that's made even worse by the fact that he also has asbestosis. The man can't even breath on his own at the moment. They have a trach tube in him and he's on a ventilator. They have him on other medicines to boost his blood pressure because it's too low to sustain him as it is. And as if that weren't enough, I heard from the doctors that there's signs that his infection may have spread into his blood stream. They say if it hits any of his other major organs then he won't be with us much longer. I think the part that's worst, from an emotional standpoint, is the constant see-sawing of it all. Last week, he was doing much better and they were talking about transferring him out of the ICU and into a regular hospital room. This week, they're talking about him not living much longer. Along the way, he's had two emergency surgeries. A bunch of small improvements came a...

For quite sometime now, I've ranted and raved about the blatant stupidity of various politicians. Now, I guess it's time for me to turn my angst on the private sector. The State of Michigan requires insurance agents like me to earn 30 credit hours of Continuing Education every 2 years in order to keep an insurance license. (Yes, I've always thought 30 hours of CE was a dumb idea -- but that's another post). My deadline for earning those credit hours was June 1, 2004. I finished earning them on May 15, 2004 through a private company -- eMind.com. One would think that this was the end of it, right? Wrong. I got my certificates in the mail, showing that I earned 30 credit hours. I assumed that this meant that everything was hunky dory and went on about my life. Selling insurance by day. Trying to put together funding for a film and public access TV show by night. Then I got surprise. In the mail, shows up a notice from Michigan's Office of Fi...

Okay -- my Dad is still in the ICU. I'm still depressed and basically convinced that life is little more than a hopeless, series of existence until one day we get lucky and die. But I'll get over it. The way I always do. By ranting about stupid politicians. The latest thing to piss me off is the Michigan Broadband Development Authority. Turns out that when you live in some of Michigan's more remote areas, there's is a limited number of providers for broadband access. Some people in northern Oakland County, for example, only have standard dial-up and satelitte based broadband access. The standard DSL and cable providers aren't interested in them because the number of potential users per mile of cable is too low to make it economically viable. Those poor bastards. They made a decision to live in an area where there's not a lot of Wi-Fi access to the internet. And now they have to actually live with the consequences of their decision. What...

Argh! I feel like a zombie. I've been this way ever since my Dad went into the ICU. I don't know. We've never gotten along in that "Leave it to Beaver" sort of a way, but still -- the fact is that when I was growing up, he's the guy that I looked to for some sort strength and guidance. And now to see him, not even able to breath on his own. Needing a ventilator. Heavily medicated so he doesn't try to pull any of his tubes out. (He's always been a stubborn bastard). I guess the worst part of it is the constant sense of wondering when the next shoe is going to fall. First, he's going in for a doctor's appointment. Then he's in the hospital. Then he's in ICU. Then he can't breathe on his own. Then he's in emergency surgery because there's no circulation to his leg. Now there's another round of surgery this week and the possibility that he may have to spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. No...

Okay, I suddenly feel old. I came home from work today. Waiting for me in my mail was an invitation of to my cousin's high school graduation party. A cousin that I used to baby sit for, once upon a time. I feel old. Really, really old.

I swear, if I hadn't seen the video for this story with my own eyes, I simply wouldn't have believed that it was true. A bunch of college students in merry ol' England riding a roller coaster in the nude. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5032279 My first reaction was one of disbelief. After a few seconds to let the mental dust settle, I couldn't help but wonder how the laws of physics would impact various body parts. Would the G-forces compress a young woman's breasts to the point that they're not even noticable? Would the gentlemen in the crowd notice an extreme amount of shinking? Or the centrifugal force cause certain body parts to become overly elongated? Oh, the things my mind ponders. Of course, I doubt any of the riders at this event even noticed these impacts on their intimate parts. They were too busy being whipped around the track with 3+ Gs. And, of course, the report from MSNBC failed to shed any light on the subject. (Those guys never...

Wow! I can hardly believe it. It's been over a month since I've posted anything on here. I feel like a total slacker. I guess it's just that every time I've felt writing something down, I wasn't anywhere near a computer. Last weekend, for instance, I was thinking about a lot of stuff as I drove home from Chicago (thinking so much that I darn near got into an accident, but that's another story). But I didn't have my laptop with me, so no blog post came about as a result of all those pensive, introspective moments. The big thing that I've been thinking about as of late is the idea of losing a parent. My Dad has had these dizzy spells for awhile now. He'd keep falling all the time. My Mom told me that one time he even fell while trying to sit up in bed. After a lot prodding, he finally went in to see a doctor. His neurologist wasn't sure what could cause it, so she did an obscene amount of testing. Blood work. An MRI. You na...

I want to move to Australia. Or at least get some Australian ice cream. There's a new kind ice cream on the market down under that's actually vodka flavored . The simple fact that someone thought that up gives me hope for the human race. And it makes me want to visit Australia.

It's been 10 years since the world changed. It was on April 5, 1994 that Kurt Cobain took the easy way out and left this world. I never bought a Nirvana record or attended a single one of their concerts. I thought labeling him as the Great Spokesman of Generation X was an act of outright blasphemy. My generation is, and was, simply too diverse to ever have any one person as our spokesman. Consciously, I didn't even pay that much attention to his music. It was always in the background. Always there, but never something that I paid that much attention to. Still, when I heard that he had left us that April day a decade ago, my heart sank. I felt that the world would somehow never really be the same. When Courtney Love read his last words in public, having an argument with him from beyond the grave, it only drove the sense of loss and bewilderment home in a way that still resonates with me today. I actually feel sorry for everyone who was born too late to have alb...

Woo-hoo!! All of my ranting in this blog seems to be paying off. The White House announced today that Condoleezza Rice will indeed testify under oath in front of the 9/11 Commission. And it's been at least a good week or two since I've heard anyone complain about Senator Kerry not revealing the names of foreign leaders who would prefer him in the Oval Office over George W. Bush. Now, if only I can get them to stop trying to blame the out of control gas prices on Senator Kerry. Or convince them to stop claiming that exporting American jobs is good for the American economy. http//groups.yahoo.com/group/FrankNemecek