the groundhog day project

The year Shine (today's movie) was nominated for Best Picture was the first year I actively tried to see as many of the Oscar-nominated films as I could. I had been watching the Oscars since as long as I could remember, had been obsessing a bit about them for a few years by then, but the 69th Academy Awards (for films from 1996, nominated and awarded in early 1997) was the first time I really made an effort. In case you weren't around in 1996 or were not then (and maybe are not now) a lover of film, Shine is the (disputed in the details) true story of pianist David Helfgott who suffers a mental breakdown after, as the film seems to play it, getting obsessed with being able to play Rachmaninoff (and dealing with an overbearing father). The film was nominated for Best Actor (Geoffrey Rush), Best Supporting Actor (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Best Film Editing, Best Original Score* (David Hirschfelder), Best Original Screenplay (Jan Sardi and Scott Hicks), Best Director (Scott Hicks),...

Let us leave (presumably) the evil high school girls behind. ( Presumably because I haven't seen Struck by Lightning before.) Today, our focus is a high school boy, Carson Phillips (Chris Colfer). (And, admittedly, this movie was recommended by my daughter a good while ago and I have put it off. Which really shouldn't be parenthetical, actually, because I want to take this opportunity to a) write a bit about the movie as it plays and b) out my daughter as a crazy fangirl... except, as you will see, my point below is probably going to be that fangirls are not crazy. Plus it's a bit sexist to separate fangirls from fanboys, anyway.) Carson is rather amusingly sardonic and sarcastic--i.e. the best kind of cinematic high school character. I don't need someone who is you know, nice, and genuine. Less Rita Hanson, more Phil Connors. Just how I like a character... at least a comedy. (So, Saer--my 12-year-old daughter, for those of you who have not been following alo...

There will be few words typed today, because today I spent a good portion of my day writing some… other stuff related to Groundhog Day . That is, the cards for Groundhog Day: The Board Game are pretty much done—playtested a cards-only version with the kids, didn’t like it, sketched a version of the board design and playtested that as well. The cards weren’t labeled well at that point, just their categories… You can see some cards that didn’t survive the playtesting in those shots—DISCARD, GIVE CARD, FORECAST and an I’M A GOD card that was a great idea that just doesn’t work in a game with categorized cards. And, that big white board in the upper right of those last couple shots—that will soon be the board for the game. I have the design, I just have to… draw it, I guess, on the board. (My copy of All You Need Is Kill , the novel on which Edge of Tomorrow is based, can also be seen in those last two shots. Only got it yesterday, haven’t had time but to glance through it.) ...

Fewer words today than yesterday . Today’s reason to repeat a day forever: to not obsess about the details.

No words today… except these. And these: Today’s reason to repeat a day forever: to get some sleep.

My daughter accused me of being obsessive today. Not specifically because of this project, but because also today, taking a day off from grad school work and other busy life stuff, we went to Disneyland and I spent a good amount of the time looking through my copy of the 4th edition of Disneyland's Hidden Mickeys to find the titular items-- (While there are decorative Mickey Mouse heads all over Disneyland and California Adventure Park, there are also hidden ones in and around most of the rides as well as some stores and restaurants, and this book is a guide to locating them.) --though it was also because of this project. I'm not so sure that being a little obsessive is a bad thing. It certainly works for Phil Connors when he's in the time loop. He can remember things pretty readily or his adolescent phase wouldn't go so smoothly... of course it also wouldn't end so painfully (with all those slaps and then the depression and suicide). And, his good deed phase...