Making the best parody movie EVAR, and other big news.

Tomorrow, I leave for The Amaz!ing Meeting 2013, but that is only my second-most exciting piece of news. First place belongs to my involvement in the movie version of Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone by Dana Larsen.
` I'll likely be working with Ed Ghertner (head animator/castle designer at Disney), so there's a good chance I can learn a thing or two about a thing or two. Maybe he can also give me advice on what color I should dye my hair next:

In addition, I've done some podcasting work here and there, and plan to do a bunch more recording whilst at TAM. With all this going on, I hope you understand some of my reasons for leaving my last several posts unfinished (for now).
` But wait, there are many other things going on -- and many more cute/stunning/interesting photos to see!

In reaction to all this recent activity, I've generally become reclusive much like Vada, my Cat Who Hates All Other Cats.

Git offa mai porch!

And now for the weather -- it has been sunny for most of the past month, although it occasionally it rains cats that say Myarh! Myarh! Maah!

Maahh!

Rocker/Superhero Lou Ryan and I went to Hempfest headquarters on July 3, where we paid for a fundraising booth (for Hairy Pothead) and hoped to meet the Big Cheese, Vivian McPeak.

Oddly, marijuana is not safer from the law than alcohol...

Lou Ryan left a copy of Hairy Pothead for Vivian to borrow, along with a note. Just as we were leaving, who should walk in the door but Vivian? Unfortunately, neither of us recognized him, so we left without a second look.
` D'oh!!
` As it turned out, our booth would wind up near the Hemposium: Later on, Vivian said that he would plug our booth each hour from the stage. Score!

As though that wasn't rockin' enough, I'd like to show you a video of how the house sounds when Lou Ryan has found the most awesome drummer/sound guy he's ever had. Although I wave at him through the door, I didn't quite get him on camera.
` For some odd reason, this video also reminds me of how long I have been waiting to have a decent carpet...

Same deal with this photo of Vada, which shows how much her new "mutant tortoiseshell patch" has grown in:

On a more serious note, our superhero Lou Ryan has been struggling since last September to get treatment for an injury he suffered while working aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz. Yes, really.
` He hasn't been able to go back to this government job since last fall because he's still injured, and he certainly can't afford the back surgery that he will probably need for recovery.
` If layers upon layers of incompetence had not occurred with Lou's case, he would have gotten the treatment he required and most likely would have entirely healed by now. Instead, he's had to get himself a law-talkin' sidekick.

I hope this lawyer also has some advice on what to do when you accidentally take out an enormous mailbox while attempting to get some damn exercise on the Fourth of July.

The hazards of being an injured superhero...

Of course, we can't forget the fireworks, which I got some ShakyCam(TM) footage of while out on the deck:

Those of you prone to motion sickness may prefer this wide-angle video, which I took much later. (It is not as striking, however, as my neighbor standing between his Texas and American flags, holding a road flare above his head. However, I didn't get a video of that.)

Alas, my camera is of such low quality that I cannot even zoom in or focus while recording a video. Fortunately, I know know that my ideal camera will be affordable exactly one month from now.
` Perhaps by the Lighthouse Party in August I will have a camera that takes much better video, and may even get much nicer pictures of fireworks:

Alas, I will not have this camera for TAM, though at least now I know what's happened to the inheritance money that Lou Ryan was supposed to receive back in January.
` Apparently, the person who was handling the paperwork on this had left the company, and so the money sat neglected for half a year until today, July 9! And that's really the only reason we won't be getting it until August.
` As for some other inheritance money that we were supposed to get several months ago, this requires each recipient having a document stamped. Lou Ryan got his stamped within three days of its being issued, but his insane brother still hasn't done so, thus holding up the inheritance for all three brothers. Really?
` If it weren't for either of these absurdly simple setbacks, much less Lou's having to pay for physical therapy out of pocket just to be able to walk, I would probably have made a short film already and would now be starting on a documentary of TAM.

Or at least, kittehs.

Although Fatty seems to have plateaued in terms of fat loss, she's still large enough to intimidate Dilly, even when lying down!

What other photos would you want to see? Here's one from when I was jogging through the park one day and went "splash"!

I also rather liked this photo of a really neat plant, although I'm not sure what it is:

Lately, Dilly has been jumping through my office window a lot, in order to get to the carport roof. Then, she jumps down to the ground, enters the house through the cat door, and jumps back out my window again.
` I think this may be explained by Dilly's odd preference of traveling via gravity, which she's been doing since she was a baby. Amazingly, she was still enough for me once to get an eight-second exposure of her out there at night:

Just after that, she jumped back down and came inside, pestered her best friend, Vada, and climbed up my leg (not shown).

Lest I forget to mention, there is one piece of big news left, and it's a sad one. It turns out that the surrealist artist Matt Skenandore isn't going to be with us for long after all.
` I was looking forward to learning more about art from him. Perhaps I still shall? This is really too bad, especially since his purple fur was just starting to grow in quite nicely.

Hang in there, Matt, you crazy monkey! I hope to see you after TAM!