The 2nd Annual Peter-Rafi Weekend starts tomorrow. 

This afternoon, President Barack Obama announced that after “going through an evolution on [the] issue,” he officially supports legalized same-sex marriage. Additionally, he’s been “thinking about a lot of other stuff, too,” and would like to amend his positions on the following:

1. After careful reconsideration, he doesn’t think MAD MEN is really that great. Every episode seems to end on these weird shots of nothing and, following a long deliberation with his cabinet, he would like to “call bullshit.”

2. Skinny ties are out. It was cool for a bit, but c’mon. We’ve beat this horse to death with a rolled up GQ.

3. “Let’s Stay Together” is officially illegal. After singing it at a fundraising event in NYC, Obama “can’t get that shit out of my head,” and “people keep asking me to sing it.” 

4. In honor of recently deceased MC Adam Yauch, the 2012 Obama campaign slogan will be changed from “Forward,” to “Straight Illin’.”

5. Bin Laden’s death was maaaaaybe an accident. More on that to come.

My uncle sent me this commercial for French film studio Canal+.

YES. YES YES YES.

This is the best thing I have read in a very, very long time. 

%100 accurate.

Thanks, stephenwildish, for this Horror Film Alphabet: now I can teach my newborn niece her ABCs as they were meant to be learned.

“R is for Re-Animator.”

From a great interview with Senior Development Exec Mary Coleman comes the following description of how Pixar goes from idea to script:

MC: John [Lasseter] chooses someone he feels is ready to direct—in most cases an artist who has been part of the family for many years. Most have come up as animators or story artists. They are asked to come up with three original, totally different ideas — different worlds, different characters, different genres. John hears those and chooses the one he feels has the most promise for Pixar.

Once an idea is picked, we spend the first year researching that world and digging into the types of characters found there. We lay a strong foundation through research, whether that means meeting with entomologists for Bug’s Life, scuba diving for Nemo, or apprenticing in the kitchens of great restaurants for Ratatouille.

But the most important work of that first year is finding the core of the story, what it is the director wants to communicate to the world.

That starts with very rough outlines. You pitch those to the Brain Trust — a group of the other Pixar directors. One of the most unique aspects of our studio is that you get feedback from their peers. And peers who are very committed to your success, as much as you are to theirs. You get this incredible input before there’s even a first draft. You can call on individuals or the whole Trust at any point to get the feedback you need. In that first year you’re pitching twenty minute overviews of the story, getting feedback, and rethinking it. We often spend a whole year in outlining before going to a first draft. A lot of time laying that foundation.

Sometimes there’s a table read—either with pro actors or more often just tapping the Pixar community for people who like to act. Then while the writer is incorporating the Brain Trust notes into a second draft, a team of story artists begin drawing out the movie, like the comic book. Then the comic book becomes like a flip book when the drawings are scanned in and edited together to make our “reels”. It’s a visual rough draft of the whole thing, so if your movie’s an hour and a half long your reels are too.  The Brain Trust watches these reels and gives very frank—sometimes painfully frank!—feedback. But with no other agenda than helping you make the best movie you can. You spend the next 2-3 years in the process of putting up reels, getting feedback, and going back to the drawing board before going into full production for the final 1-2 years of this year process.

SM: When does the screenwriter get involved in the process?

MC: Historically they’ve been brought on at many different points, but my strong preference is to bring them on as soon as the idea is chosen. Not only for all the outlining, but also to join in the in-depth research and become part of the team. Dan Fogelman got to know the Cars team on a road trip across route 66.

Mike Arndt, I’m really happy to say, was with us from the start of Toy Story 3. Having one writer through the whole process, there from the ground up, really shows in the final movie.

One of many reasons that the writer being part of the creative team is so important is that while writing that second draft they’re working side by side with the eight or so story artists who are drawing the movie. There’s a lot of back and forth. It’s really a unique experience for a screenwriter because they’re not only collaborating with the director, but also with this very talented group of visual storytellers. The drawings feed the written word just as much as the written word feeds the story boards. The writers who have lasted here love that process. And then there are the ones who ran out of here screaming “too many chefs!!”

So the second draft of the screenplay is also the first reel screening. And it’s always bad. It’s just bad. That’s okay. Andrew [Stanton] likes to say “Be wrong fast.” On the one hand, we’ll take a whole year to get to a first draft. But once we have that, we put it up on reels an average of eight times and that’s eight visual rough drafts of the movie. That translates to many more than eight drafts of the script. At a certain point the back and forth is so fluid you lose count.

A YEAR spent playing in the world that the script might investigate? A YEAR of twenty-minute pitches, peer review, and outlining before even going to draft?

And we wonder why their movies are good? If only the luxury of this process could be afforded everywhere.

(Source: gointothestory.blcklst.com)

In light of the events of January 7th, 2012, Delta Airlines and the One World Alliance would like to issue the following reminders to passengers purchasing a one-day pass to the Delta Lounge.

Please refrain from disturbing your fellow travelers. Statements such as  “THESE COOKIES ARE FREE?!” need not be loudly exclaimed.

The Lounge is for travelers seeking a refined, relaxed travel experience. Delta Employees will not inform you as to whether or not there’s a “sexy vibe up there.”

Changing the channel on the lounge television is strictly prohibited, especially if you are tuning it to a rerun of The Vampire Diaries and especially when that TV is the Departures screen.

Newspapers and magazines are available for a nominal fee. Please do not ask other lounge-occupants whether they have any good “toilet reading” and if they would mind watching your bags.

The complimentary cheese is to be enjoyed in the lounge, and not packed into a laptop case for later consumption.

Do not address the room by loudly exclaiming “THIS CHEESE IS FREE TOO?!”


Other Important Advisories:

Waitstaff are forbidden from pretending that the Delta Lounge is an Interstellar Cafe on the Starship Adventure, nor will they refer to your credit card as a “Galacticard.”

The Delta Lounge does not accept the Discover No-Risk Student Advantage Galacticard.

Delta Employees will not “wake you up” in time for your flight in case you accidentally “snooze it up near the free cheese.”


We thank you for choosing Delta and hope to see you soon.*

*Unless you have received a Denial of Service letter from our legal department.

31st Birthday (2012), Visit By Pet Sloth—Hysterical Crying 

Christmas (2009), Vitamix Blender—Loss of bowel control, temporary blindness

Valentine’s Day (2004), $15 Spa Gift Certificate—Rage blackout, sudden baldness, crime spree, tongue tattoo

Martin Luther King Day (2012), Egg McMuffin in Bed—Uncontrollable time travel, X-Ray vision, recognition of Past Lives, Spontaneous Combustion 

This morning’s highly-informative Google Voice transcription of a recent Matt Paley Voicemail (TM) inspired me to look up the last one.

In this one, a message about how busy I’ve been while writing is miraculously transformed into a surreal, Murakamian meditation on technology and communication. Highlights include my replacement by a little man behind the screens, children replaced by remarks, and the curious invitation to “strap me,” said the machine.

Enjoy. Rain foreign accent.

While Google Voice’s transcriptions of everyone’s voicemails are generally funny, Google Voice Voicemail Transcription and Matt Paley are a match made in Heaven. The combination of fast talking and two-minute-minimum message time make my dear friend Matt’s voicemails ripe for the Google Voice misunderstanding. 

In this week’s edition, Google Voice turns a simple message about a YouTube video into the crazed rant of a stalker ex-wife with the gall to bring up what happened in that Alabama restaurant.

Rafi sent this to me and I can’t stop watching it. Aside from being completely spectacular, it reminds me of hanging out in Rafi’s basement after school and watching surf/ski movies.