Kitamura’s first book focuses on Cal, a mixed martial artist who’s just crested the hill of “this kid is great” and started the descent into “this kid’s a has-been”. The story takes place over the course of a few days leading up to a big fight, and witnesses the slow tension build with Cal and his manager Riley as they prepare to face the sport’s most dominant fighter, Rivera.

…but the Bengals have now won four games in a row! Unfortunately, they’re playing ultra scrappy come from behind football. I’ve never known a team to earn the nickname “Cardiac” to perform well into the playoffs. I remember Commander Cody and his Cardiac Kid Oilers, the Cardiac Colts, the list goes on and on. None of those teams went to the Super Bowl, and few of them were in contention come playoff time. The Bengals need to buckle down as bye week approaches, and find a way to command and control a game from start to finish.

I’m not big on mystery/detective fiction, mainly because I’m not a super fast reader. My busy schedule means longer books can take me 2-4 weeks to read, and trying to retain names, clues, and multiple plotlines isn’t easy. In most detective stories, everyone is a suspect, so every name and every action gains heightened importance.

In an effort to up my fitness regimen, I bought a bicycle last night. I searched Craigslist at first, but was disappointed by what I saw (ie bikes that look nothing like the photo in the listing). I figured that I could spend around 200 on a good name craigslist bike (Giant or schwinn or some such), or just spend the same and get a new “lower-end” good bike.

I’m pretty much a mountain of fail this weekend, and every project fell short except for one. I’m not a happy camper at this prospect.

I’m trying to be a bit more consistent here, even if there’s not much to report…

I’m planning to shoot a short film later this year and had need of a rooftop location. Why not an abandoned jail? Well, that’s what e in the business call “a hook”. The jail isn’t abandoned, per se, rather it’s not used as a jail anymore. However, the city does allow people to film there. My friend Adam told me about it and invited me over to scout it while he was monitoring a film shoot. Seems like the perfect place. I was having trouble moving forward with my script, so Adam invited me out again, this time to hang out on the roof and do some actual writing. Right through the door, there’s a constant reminder that you’re in a place designed to keep people in…

…and once you hit the stairwell, you realize that assorted gangs and homeless people have been all over the place in here. The last level going up is in pitch darkness, and I caught this little graffiti on my ascent into the shadows…

It’s an interesting exercise, sitting on a roof, surrounded by barbed wire and chainlink, the sun mercilessly beating down from above… but it gave me a few breakthroughs.

I’ve scrapped the new direction I had going with the script and brought it back to my original concept. I also managed to get ideas for a couple of other things to shoot up there, conceptualized a film festival/screening idea of sorts if I can get everything to take off the way I’d like… At any rate, here’s the location.

One guy, one girl, one last chance at romance (if impending suicide doesn’t ruin the whole thing). With any luck, I’ll be blogging about how you can get your hands on a DVD copy of the whole thing soon! on the way down, in the pitch black stairwell, I couldn’t help recalling the rumors of the haunted nature of the jail. This tag on the ceiling (H LP – surely a gang tag, and not the last frantic scrawlings of a poltergeist victim HeLP!)

Emboldened, I did a little more Scooby–Dooing around the place for spooky pictures. Hopefully my next report from jail will be an “on the set” piece!

Perhaps next time I’ll see what’s at the bottom of these stairs…never to return…