mikefotis.com

Podcast and Oh My…

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Happy Tuesday!

1. New podcast is up! Enjoy!

2. I bought a new hat yesterday and by doing so, officially became an old man.
I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I will tell you this. This hat is the most comfortable thing I have ever worn. Ever. I feel like I should apologize to those I love for ever purchasing a hat like this because surely I will be an embarrassment to anyone I share public spaces with from here on out. What can I say? I have now officially reached the stage where I choose practicality over style.

Mike

The Great Hall Of Comedy and A CD Review

Friday, November 14th, 2008 | Plugs, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Happy Friday!

1. First preview of All I want For Xmas Is 700 Billion Dollars is in the books, left to judgment of history as to where it belongs in the great hall of comedy.  There’s a great hall, didn’t you know that? Every comedy that’s ever been done ever, is judged by history, ranked and then sent to the great hall of comedy for inventory.

Anyway, preservation of that which makes us laugh aside, the first preview went pretty well. All the best of stuff hit exactly like we thought it would (can you imagine how annoying it would be if it didn’t?) and the newer material, when put in front of an audience stood up well and bent at the weak points.  Now, we clean up or remove the weak points and try again.

It’s a science really.

2. Have you guys heard of the band Parts and Labor? They’re pretty great.  I’m not sure how to describe them, but you should give them a listen if you like your rock loud and messy and layered. All of the songs on their latest album, Reciever,  might be best described as carefully busy, always building to a frenzied finish.  FOTIs. It’s been a while, huh?

Mike

Thank You Cable.

Monday, November 10th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Happy Monday!

1.  Thank you cable. Thank you for making it possible for me to watch Sunday Night Football in all its static free glory. Thank you cable and TIVO for giving me the option of watching Saving Private Ryan and allowing me to rewind the movie to watch a soldier blow up multiple times. Thank you for allowing me to watch Sportscenter so I could watch highlights of games I had already seen earlier in the day. Thank you for allowing me to watch a show on Food Network about a bunch of inner city kids who have been given a new life all thanks to a loving and kind chef named Jeff.  Thank you for allowing me to watch Kill Bill  Vols 1 and 2.  Thank you for giving me a legitimate reason not to participate in National Novel Writing Month. Thank you for everything. I love you.

Stuff

Friday, November 7th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Happy Friday!

1. Hi snow! How’s it going?

All the potted flowers in my backyard that I meant to plant into the ground before the first snow have now died due to my  negligence.  Sorry  perennials.  I’m a dick. I guess there’s a chance that they may still be alive come tomorrow, but I doubt it. I’ll be honest, I have no idea how nature works. Maybe as long as the ground is soft, I can still plant. But that doesn’t seem right.  Maybe, come next spring, they’ll just re-appear. Right? Maybe? Right?

2.  Closing weekend of The Lion, The Witch And The War Hero begins tonight! If you haven’t seen this show yet, you should really come on down. It’s awfully funny.

3. New podcast is up! Check it out!

Randomness.

Thursday, November 6th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Happy Thursday!

1. Man, I’ve got nothing today. I wish I did. But I don’t. Oh well. I will try to come up with a few more things to talk about.

2. Cable is great. So is internet that works. No fibbing, my blood pressure has dropped considerably since I’ve said goodbye to mpls wi fi. Nothing fuels the rage like not being able to connect to something I pay for.

3. I have zero words written for NaNoWrMO or whatever it’s called. I will catch up. Hopefully. If I understand this contest correctly, I am 60,000 words behind.  Man, if you replaced the word “behind” with “ahead” and “words” with “dollars”, I would be so happy.

4. I am pleased that Southwest will be offering cheaper than the competition fares to Chicago. I am sad that this will begin after the holidays have already passed.

5. Last night after a cable/wi fi glutton fest. I read a book just to make sure that I was still capable of doing something that didn’t require a start up disk.

6.  Six. Six, I forgot what six was for!

7. Norm Coleman chiding Al Franken for going ahead with a state mandated vote recount by saying that it’s time for the country to heal is soooooo fucking dicky. I think I am a fan of instituting an election runoff. I think.

8. Bought a new coat the other day. This coat replaces my favoritest all time coat in the world which was lost during my otherwise awesome trip to Toronto. Replacing that coat (I had other coats, but none as awesome) was hard, because it meant officially saying goodbye. If you see me in my new coat, say hello and then take a moment to think about a piece of clothing that you’ve loved and lost.

Mike

It’s Pretty Amazing Isn’t It?

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Happy Wednesday!

1. Yesterday was amazing. No matter who you voted for, I’m not sure you can deny the power of last night.  Here are some thoughts!

-McCain’s concession speech was really amazing. It was a reminder that the man I admired still lingered, not completely destroyed by the morally compromising rigors of a campaign.  It wouldn’t have changed my vote, but can you imagine how different this campaign had been if the discourse between Obama and McCain had been at such a high level throughout?

-Obama’s speech was stunning. Tears flowed, which is what happens to me when I hear about 106 year old women and the struggles they’ve been through. What an amazing touch, to put the scope of the American experience through the eyes of one citizen. His ability to make the gigantic personal is one of his truly great strengths.  The room I was in, was completely silent during his speech (the room was half actors, so that was kind of a mini miracle in and of itself), all of us taking in both what he was saying and this once in a lifetime experience.

-I couldn’t help but wish I was in Chicago last night.

-Last night I went to bed and wondered if all of this hope, this very real hope, would manifest itself into progress. If it doesn’t, then there was no point to any of this.

Mike

I Am A Hero. A VOTING Hero.

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Happy Tuesday!

1.  I waited in line for two hours at my polling place in order to vote. Normally I am in and out within ten minutes. Normally waits in line bring out the the worst in me. But not this line. Not this wait. Nobody whined. Nobody left the line. We all stayed. We all talked. Being in that line felt like we were part of something.  It was great.

I can sense the eye rolling right now.

You can be cynical if you want. Say that your vote doesn’t matter. Complain about all the “vote now” statuses on Facebook if you so choose. Rail about the annoying campaign commercials and how disconnected the candidates seem to be. You can get angry at celebrities and daydream about knocking them off of their Prada designed soapboxes. Fuck, you can even choose not to vote. That’s your right.  Who am I to tell you what to do? But I’m telling you, if you don’t stand in line today or tonight, you’ll have missed out on a great experience. A community experience. An experience that I argue is more of a once or twice in lifetime event than a every four year kind of deal.

Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 31st, 2008 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Happy Halloween!

1. I was wondering what I was going to be this year when I was given an awesome bit of costume inspiration by a gang of pretty resourceful folks. Granted, one of those people doesn’t know that my blog exists, so this shout out is 1/3 unnecessary, but still, the inspiration is much appreciated.

Plus, I now have an excuse to buy that awesome multi pocketed vest that everyone on the planet hates but me.

2. I have a new roommate moving in tomorrow. While, I’ve enjoyed having this month or so of solitude, I am aware that conversations with my cat have sky rocketed. It’s always weird getting a new roommate.  There’s lots of questions to be answered. Will we get along? Is he crazy?

Either way, he has an Xbox 360 so everything should be fine.

3. Finally, thanks to all of you who were able to come out to see Creature Feature this month. We had great crowds and we’re really grateful.

Have a great weekend!

Mike

My Last Night. Also Creature Feature Tonight! 8pm! BNW!

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | Plugs, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Happy Thursday! Last Creature Feature is tonight! 8pm! Get your tickets! Here are the things I did last night in no particular order.

1. Watched a three inning conclusion to the World Series? That felt wrong. On the plus side, the game was super short.

2. I started sobbing 10 seconds into Obama’s ad buy. The man inspires me, what can I say?

3. Last night’s NOVA was about fractal geometry. Guess who doesn’t get fractal geometry? Me.

4. After NOVA, I watched a Frontline about Afghanistan that was also kind of about Pakistan.  Point of the show? We are all fucked.

5. Played almost 1,000 games of free cell.

6. Talked to several people online, including the Little Chicago Warrior.

7. Read 5 pages of a book about John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln assassination. Fell asleep.

Another Day, Another Plug…Creature Feature Ends Tomorrow!

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 | Plugs, Solo Show Stuff, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Happy Wednesday!

1. The plugs are almost done! Creature Feature! 8pm! Thursday! BNW! Get your tickets online! Thanks!

2. Last night’s Rockstar show went well. All of the acts were great, with Joe Scrimshaw’s set really sticking out in my mind as excellent. As for my story? It was meh. I liked it. It was funny. But at the same time, it never really seemed to gel into one cohesive piece. It felt like seven minutes of setup for a one minute joke, which can be fine, unless the seven minutes seems like nothing more than filler. That seemed to be my problem. Oh well. It was still fun to do.

3. Tonight I might go see a movie. What movie? I don’t know. A good one.

Mike