Do You Believe The Universe Sends You Signs?

I’m not one of those “New Age” people who sees signs and believes in crystals and all of that.

My Last Tour Ended On 11-02-17

A lot of people ask if I miss the road and when am I going out on tour again?

Not going into an office everyday has cut people’s expenses, leaving more money in their pockets.

She hit the roof! She believed we were totally fucking everything up because we didn’t have a trio of Oscar winning mixers at the controls. She stayed for a few hours (which were very tense), then hopped a plane back to LA. At that point we weren’t sure what was going to happen so we just kept working.

So many artists say they don’t want to be involved in the business side. That’s too bad because if you’re not aware and involved with the business side, people are going to take advantage of you.

I’ve been brainwashed!

I’m sitting at my desk attempting to get work done. It’s going slow and I’m getting down on myself for not accomplishing enough yesterday, or the day before. Hell, I’m looking at my writing output and I’m pissed that I didn’t bring out a new book in 2022. It’s December of 2023 and I still haven’t gotten the new book out.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Visions of the Moonchild And Other Strange Tales is the newest collection of short stories by Jeb R. Sherrill.

The first sentence in Cupa’ Joe is “It had been a half an hour since death and we still hadn’t been seated.” You quickly find out that the narrator has died and gone to Denny’s. It appears that an afterlife Denny’s is pretty damn similar to the ones that exist here on earth. Good luck getting service in the afterlife.

I can wander around my house and be swept up with all of the things I’ve accumulated over the years that have stories that I’m always happy to share when asked.
No matter how many times I move or decide to declutter, I end up hanging on to many of the things that are “clutter”.

I’ve decided on occasion to post about a book that I’ve read or a film I’ve recently watched. I don’t plan on doing this with any regularity but who knows if the response is good maybe I’ll make it a regular thing.
Here is my first one.
Sometimes you just need to back up, take a break, and read some Mark Twain.
I decided I wanted to read some of his shorter works so I picked this up and was not disappointed.

“The first draft of everything is shit.” — Ernest Hemingway
Okay this may be a bit extreme, although not having read any of Hemingway’s first drafts, he may be right. My early drafts are not great, but they’re not supposed to be. They serve more as an outline, a rough path for me to move forward.

Jeff Bezos doesn’t need any more of your money. And it’s not just him, all of those big companies and CEO’s don’t need your money either.
Don’t get me wrong, they want your money, all of it. But they don’t need it.

Do you know who needs your money?

This is the very first film book I ever purchased that was not assigned. It’s also the first book that wasn’t about “movies” it’s about making films.
I found it at Larry Edmunds BookShop in Hollywood right after I had moved to LA in 1977. Larry Edmunds BookShop became my go to bookstore for film books that were not assigned for a specific class. The selection was and still is amazing.

Hey there! I have decided it’s time to (re)introduce myself and since I’m starting up a new blog on Substack, this seems to be the perfect time.
I’m Kelley Baker, also known as The Angry Filmmaker.

I think we all look back every now and again and ask ourselves, "What if?" What would have happened if I would have gone to a different school, married that person, taken that job that was offered, or not gone out drinking that night? We run all of these scenarios through our minds but the truth is, we didn’t do those things for whatever reason at the time. We ended up where we are based on the information and the decisions we made at the time. Using “What if?” is a great thing to do when you’re creating characters and forging their paths, but ultimately I think if you spend too much time thinking about it in regards to real life, then it’s a waste of time.

“I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true - hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it.” – Ray Bradbury

Do you ever feel like there’s a really cool party going on and you’re not invited?

When I was in elementary school our teacher read aloud a story that took place on the planet Venus. My first “science fiction” story. I don’t remember the title or the author.
The story has stayed with me since then. We’re talking 50+ years. I remember so many things about the story and how moving it was especially the ending.

I read a lot. In my mind (and Ray Bradbury and Stephen King’s minds) it’s important if you’re a writer that you’re also a reader. I re-read books that I enjoyed when I was younger.
A short time ago I re-read Johnny Tremain and I’m currently re-reading A Wrinkle In Time.
I’m seriously thinking about getting a copy of the Newbury Award winners list again and re-read a bunch of the books I loved on that list.

I've been very lucky. I have gotten to work with some amazing actors over the years. They have all been wonderful and Portland has an amazing pool of actors. Today I want to write about one of them.
Lately I've been thinking about my old friend and mentor, Tom Lasswell. It's hard to believe that he passed away back in June of 2003 at the age of 71.

When I was at the University of Oregon I saw a class on Satire so I signed up for it. One of the best things I ever did.
The instructor was B. (Barbara) Clark Mossberg. She walked into the class with so much energy. When she handed out the syllabus we all started laughing. That nervous, “are you kidding me?” laugh.

You know when you’re growing up and people always say, if you do such and such and get caught it will go on your “permanent record”? We all laughed because there’s no such thing as a “permanent record”. It’s just something adults used to scare you into submission.
We were wrong!