This afternoon I had a second meeting with John Ardussi who wants to be a film producer/writer. Actually, I say “wants to be”. In the American sense that seems to mean already sees himself as this person and is taking the steps along the path. Anyway, producer/writer is great because I want to be director/DP so if this works out it will be perfect. Okay, I am a director/DP; it’s how I see myself. Perception is everything.

John has a script called American Short Film which is a parody on a longer feature. John gave me a DVD of the feature to watch. It won a prize at Sundance. Frankly, I think we can kick it’s butt in the comedic arena. I’ve come up with a general treatment for it which involves parodying several other films and genres. Working on that treatment put me in such a great mood, I can’t begin to express how satisfying it is to come up with a whole string of improbable creative ideas. So I won’t.

I blame Quentin Tarantino for this whole parody culture. We went to see Kill Bill a couple of weeks ago. It was excessively violent. It was undeniably art. It was the work of a master in the same way that sculpting in poop is art. You can’t deny it’s pushing the envelope but you don’t want to look for too long.

The blue backlit fight scene is balletic. I can’t decide if I loved it or hated it. It was infinitely better than the flawed Matrix Revolutions (which we saw on Thursday) or the ill-conceived T3 (why, God, why). Kill Bill provided far more stimulation on all sorts of levels than anything else I’ve seen for ages. It was, as I say, art. I want to make art on this level while telling stories. I want to explore themes and enjoy the process. So I will.

Today’s meeting was over at John’s apartment in Scio township. I want to pronounce this “Ski-Oh” but Laura tells me it’s “Sigh-Oh” like sci-fi. Still that makes more sense than pronouncing water as “wodr”. I order beer later when we go out for “genuine Louisiana barbecue” over at the Smokehouse Blues in Ypsilanti. 24oz beer and enough food to feed six. We eat enough for four and take the rest home. Note for future: kids eat free Monday to Thursday.