Tech Geek Makes Good on Promise to Get Regional Exposure for Nerdy Friend

Fact. I live in Central Florida.
Fact. I have only been to Sacramento, CA. once.
Fact. I have no idea how a Doppler Radar works.

So how in the heck did I wind up on 'Good Morning Sacramento'!?

Because I was smart and bought a Mac, that's how. You too can be on morning shows such as this; with the right technology and the right friends, anyway. My lawyer/hermano, Scott Fera, featured the iChat app as part of his Father's Day gift ideas segment, and I was the fortunate friend on the other end who got to cheese it up for the cameras.


Click here to witness my appearance
as Good Day Sacramento's "Friend of
Game Expert" correspondent.

I'm sure after you get a chance to watch this clip, you'll be amazed to find out that it was unscripted on my end. Yep, I was shootin' straight from the hip. And yes, the perma-grin was the real deal. I was just happy to be there (via webcast). I've already made plans to secure an agent this week and have found some reputable names in the yellow pages. I know I should strike while the iron is still so red hot. And yes, a SAG card is in the works too.

Certainly they will be calling me back any minute for a follow-up, you know, to see if the weather has changed at all, or if I have changed careers or what not. I know that some or most of you will return time and time again to replay this soon-to-be highly demanded clip, but please view sparingly as I am limited on my bandwidth. Thank you.

I Wish Paul Giamatti Was My Uncle

Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti was born June 6, 1967. Six years to the day before my first breath on Planet Earth. I had no idea Paul G. and I shared the same birthday until five minutes ago.

This is the icing on the cake of what I feel to be a kind of karmic connection with one of the greatest character actors I've ever witnessed on the big screen. Until 'Sideways', I never gave his acting much respect. Just another character actor collecting a paycheck and delivering his lines to bridge the moments when the two leads needed info or a breather. This of course does not include his nasty and energetic turn as Howard Stern's no-respect-gettin' boss in 'Private Parts'. And okay, he did a great job in 'Man On The Moon', now that I think of it. Just most everything after that. To the surprise of some of my friends, I even disliked 'American Splendor', by virtue of the fact that it kept playing cutesy by jumping in an out of reality by showing the real Harvey Pekar alongside poor Paul G., who was trying to do his best rendition of Harvey. I just didn't buy into it. Besides, I hate when a picture is so aware of itself. It might work for a Mike Myers movie, but not so for a biopic that already contains a boat-load of its own irony.

Finally, 'Sideways' gave Paul room to stretch his wings and convey his full range of emotions, from light to dark in seconds flat. His character, Miles, does a great job of pretending things are okay on the outside, while systematically breaking down on the inside. He is truly a sympathic character in the real-life sense and not some kind of "Hollywood-ized" version. Miles is such a real person who is just trying to find something in his life to make it all seem worth a damn. Why Pauly wasn't even nominated by the Academy will bother me for a long time. Screw you, Oscar.

I heard Paul call in to Howard last week, and he is just the coolest guy you'd ever hope to meet in Hollywood these days. Completely unpretentious. Extremely humble. He was promoting 'Cinderella Man', in which he plays boxing legend Jimmy Braddock's manager. Again, not a huge part for Uncle Paul, but damn if he doesn't bring so much to that movie.

I hope that after everyone has had a chance to see his latest films, they revere him as much as I do. Both as a world class actor, and one helluva nice guy. Paul, if you'd like to celebrate our birthday in '06, send me an e-mail. We can crack open a 2003 Merlot from my collection. Just kidding! Make it the Pinot!

My Uncle Paul

"With our love we could save the world"

George Harrison said that.

And I'd bet my parents probably believed that notion for a brief moment, before utilizing said love to have me instead. And thus, the pressure of saving the world fell into my lap. I apologize to those of you watching the clock, but I have very limited resources.

But give me some credit. Don't you remember when I gave $10 to Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Humanity? And it wasn't just because they sent me those wicked cool address labels either (How did they know I liked kittens?). Also, not too long ago, I gave a little kid at Ray's apartment a brand new Darth Maul figure because he was wandering around the parking lot looking bored. The poor boy couldn't even speak English, for goodness sake. Or at least he didn't know the English words for "Thank You".

Getting back to my original point of this post, I have stared at this picture for minutes at a time since it came into my possession. The subjects, Mom and Dad; the clothes they're wearing; the couch they're sitting on; the way Mom seems to be shying away from being photographed. I'm trying to create a context for this image using what I see inside the frame. I showed this to Mom yesterday to get the backstory on it. She looked puzzled for a second, obviously having never seen this photo, and simply replied, "Interesting." Gee, great backstory, Mom.

Who knew that the spawn of this couple
would eventually go to art school. What
are the odds?

June the Sixth, D-Day, My Birthday

What a terrific day. Birthdays were never this fun as a kid.

My family never spoiled me as much as my wife has in the last five years. I am ashamed to list the entire showroom of fabulous prizes and merchandise she has bestowed unto me for, a. being born, and b. hanging around at Christmas time.

"If this is Lincoln Logs, I'm gonna lose
my $#!%"

The First Time I Met My Wife

Once when I was a small boy, I walked to Sweden. As I stood alone in a grassy field, staring into the sun, I heard the sweeping sound of small feet moving behing me. I turned to my left and saw a curious looking girl about my age, swiftly skipping past and giggling like a fool.


The First Time I Met My Wife