The L.A. Dime

Sick of the Mac vs. PC commercials? Well even if you’re not, here’s a hilarious MadTV lampoon on Glumbert.com that takes on even more than Steve Job’s latest, greatest new iDea.

Welcome to “Job News Week” at the LA Dime.  I’ve recently been hired as screenwriting faculty in Spalding University’s brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program. Spalding is located in downtown Louisville, Ky.  The brief residency means I will venture to the ‘ville for 10 days each semester to teach, then correspond with students via mail, email, and telephone as they continue their work from home. I’m looking forward to this new opportunity to help develop and support film education in Kentucky, working in an exciting, innovative, and growing young program. And I seriously can’t wait to stay at the Brown Hotel for ten days!

Visit The Kentucky Film Lab for more info on my other big project in the Bluegrass.

Congrats to the Dime’s behind-the-scenes editor, my lovely wife Tina, on her just-announced very big promotion! She is now Senior Training/OD Specialist for Move.com. Way to go, babe! I look forward to hearing from our creative readers what they think the “OD” in her new title represents.

We’ve installed a bunch of Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs).

All told, this process has taken about a month, and much has been learned about these eco-friendly illuminators. First, it’s true that light bulbs are the top user of electricity in the US, and therefore contribute the most to pollution and climate change. It’s also true that CFL bulbs use far less power than traditional halogens and incandescents, they will save you money over the long haul, reduce your carbon impact, and the light quality itself is good.

Environmental Defense provides a calculator to help determine how much money you will save by replacing standard bulbs with CFLs, and how much CO2 you can keep from entering the air. By replacing twenty 60W bulbs in our home, and eight 75W floods, we will save $1,120 over the life of our bulbs, and prevent 5,287 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the air. Just think of the change we could make if everyone did that.

There are some drawbacks. Whether you’re using the 60W soft-serve-looking swirly bulbs in a lamp, or larger reflectors and floods overhead, CFLs take some time to warm up. With the smaller bulbs, expect about thirty seconds to reach full capacity. With the floods, it can be over twice that long. Light comes on when you hit the switch, but it’s not full blast immediately. It’s nice in the middle of the night or in the early morning, because it eases you into a lighted situation from a dark one, but sometimes it can be a slight annoyance in the kitchen.

There are dimmable CFLs. We tested a few in our living room and basement TV room, but found them to be incapable of producing the warmer, moody light we like in those environments. They also have a much smaller dimming range. Consequently, we had to go without CFLs in two of our most oft-used rooms. Hopefully they will improve soon and we can make the switch.

CFLs are best used in lamps, outdoor fixtures, bathrooms, and non-dimmable overheads (i.e. in the kitchen) that spend a lot of time in the “on” position. You’ll see greater energy savings, and will experience less “warm-up” annoyance in these locations. Places like closets and attics, where the use is minimal, don’t warrant the slightly higher expense of CFLs, which are rated to last up to 9 years at 3-hours of usage per day.

Home Depot sells a variety of CFLs at prices competitive with internet outlets. Weems Creek Solutions has great service, fast shipping, and decent bulk deals on a variety of bulb types made by a smaller manufacturer, Greenlite, including those hard-to-find dimmables and outdoor flood lamps.

www.LampRecycle.org has info on how to dispose of your old bulbs. Eartheasy is a great resource about CFLs. Energy Star offers a ton of other energy saving ideas. Make the switch for your pocketbook, and help the planet in the process.

“Tastes good. Bad for you.” The Cheese Fry is a clever blog written by friend of the Dime, Mark D, which focuses primarily on the media, and occasionally drifts into sports (see his rant against Peyton Manning). This week, The Cheesy Fry has posted the “Best and Worst Films of 2006.” It’s as comprehensive and well-written a review as any you’d find in a reputable newspaper or magazine. And it’s mostly dead-on.

Also on Cheese Fry right now, the true story of who the UPS White Board Man truly is. Check it out. The Cheese Fry can always be accessed through the Blog Roll on the right side of the Dime.

Today I went to the Aroma Café on Tujunga in Studio City to meet with a student. What a scene. It’s one of those places where you somehow recognize everyone there, and everyone there is talking Hollywood shop. Highlight of the visit was not the $5 mocha, but instead, seeing Jack Coleman, who plays Mr. Bennett on Heroes.

Got an email from Al Gore. Testifying before a joint committee in congress yesterday, he delivered 519,414 post cards from U.S. citizens demanding their government take action on the climate crisis. Why couldn’t this warm, affable, humorous dude have been the guy running for President seven years ago?

Tubby Smith is leaving Kentucky. I really, honestly, wish him great success in Minnesota. He’s a good man, a good coach, and he’ll build a competitive program for the Golden Gophers.  It was a classy move by Smith to refuse to fire his coaches in order to keep his job, but it was time for a change in Lexington, and I don’t think dismissing a few assistants was the answer. Recruiting had nosedived, we’d lost control of the SEC, fear was no longer struck in the hearts of our opponents, and the style of play was not competitive with the speed and athleticism of the better teams across the country.  When some fans cite a 12 point Kentucky loss to Kansas as a moral victory, it’s time to go.  Good luck Tubby.  Now let the coaching carousel begin to spin.

Al Gore will hand deliver a message to your congressman when he testifies this month in Washington about global warming.  To write a post card for Big Al to deliver, visit http://www.algore.com/cards.html.  It’s not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.

I still remember clearly the day I met my brothers, Brian and Chad, for the very first time. I was five. I held them as we drove home from the hospital. So you can imagine my tremendous pride in announcing the birth of my nephew, Sawyer, at an extremely healthy 8 pounds, two ounces (despite being two weeks early), to loving parents Chad and Mandee. I’m ecstatic for them, I wish them joy, comfort, and as much rest as possible in the coming days, and gladly welcome Baby Sawyer into the world! See you soon nephew! May you enjoy health, peace, happiness, and a long, prosperous life! And may you not inherit Chad’s big toes.

…when names like Brassow, Ford, Farmer, Pelphrey, Delk, Epps, Padgett, Mashburn, Walker, Magloire, Mercer, Anderson, Sheppard, Turner, and McCarty graced the back of royal blue and white jerseys. Players who recognized the legacy with which they were entrusted. Players who scrapped and bled and gave a damn. Back when a coach struck fear into the hearts of his players, and drove them to their best as they pressed opponents to exhaustion. This same coach who screamed at his team when they committed a foul, not because of the free throws awarded, but because the opposition got a chance to rest. Days when there were players on the squad who could actually hit a jump shot, open or otherwise. When three pointers went into the basket over ten times a game, and when 36 points was not too great a deficit to overcome — on the road. When the second string was widely regarded as the second best team in the country, and when eleven future pros filled out the roster at one time. Those were the days.

It’s amazing.  With Pops (formerly Fireball Rick) and Manfredo in town, things around the house suddenly got fixed, and my “To-Do” list was drastically reduced.  Locks work again.  Doors are tightened.  Caulk applied.  Holes filled.  Dimmers installed.  Plants repotted.  Leaks repaired.  And we didn’t even have to ask.  Thanks Dads, you rock and we love you!