Nachoooooo......!

How great is this?

A year and a half ago...dear God, has it been that long since I flushed my career down the toliet?...I met with a development exec from New Regency over a pet project of hers. She liked my script and handed me a short story that she wanted developed into a film.

It was a crazy story - written by a great modern author. One whose books I had already read. But it was a crazy crazy story. One that would defy most adaptations. And one that would almost be unfilmable.

We met in this really cool bookstore in Venice Beach. The producer, a really great producer she assigned to work with me, and me. The producer she assigned has gone on to set up films all over the place. He is a great guy and every now and then still throws me a bone - that in my brilliance, I usually let lie dormant until he moves on to someone else.

The bookstore was having a photography exhibit of Luchadore photos. How great is that? In my film- the bad guy had a Luchadore mask.

From what little I understand about Luchadores - they would fight each other - and the winner would unmask the loser at the end of the fight. The older you got without getting unmasked - the greater your prowess and fame.

Fascinating concept. How much do we fear each day being unmasked and the truth of who we really are being exposed? Scary.

Speaking of being slapped in the face with reality - I went to the big Howie B show last night. I got there at 9:30 and the show was to start at 10. I left at midnight and we were still in the middle of the third DJ and no sign of Howie B. The first guy did hip hop - and was cool. The second guy did sort of an industrial sounding techno - and he filled the floor. I liked his music - but just stood on one side watching everyone else.

The third guy had a very stripped down set of mostly beeps and clicks and after about a half hour - I had enough and came back to the apartment. At least I got out of the house.

How sad is it when my mask comes off and all that is revealed is a cynical old man who grows more boring each day...?

Tonight - I'm going to a play! I haven't done that in a long time. Its an original production - written by a girl who works at the US embassy here in Beijing. It's called I heart Beijing. We'll see how she does - but it sounds fun.

Maybe I'll go as a Luchadore.