Blogessence

"Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't."

Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), in "Little Big Man"


My crude (but free) Google software reports a lot of new eyeballs stopping by “Blood, Sweat, and Tedium” these days. Some stick around to read, while many more hit and run. So it goes -- if there's one thing I've learned thus far, it's that this blog isn't going to please everybody. My own wandering explorations of the internet have taught me how daunting it can be to wade through the dusty archives of even the most intriguing blogs, searching for tasty kernels of wheat amidst the inevitable chaff. My goal of putting up at least one post every week means I've produced my share of the latter for this space, but it’s the nature of the beast that some posts will be more successful than others at connecting with readers.

This post is an attempt to cut to the chase in creating a user-friendly shortcut for new readers who lack  the time or interest required for archival exploration. The ungainly title -- "Blogessence" -- came about mainly because I couldn’t think of anything better, and because the posts listed here really do represent the essence of this blog. If you don’t like any of these, then you should probably keep on cruising through the cyber-void to greener pastures.

Deciding what should be included here was not solely up to me. The Google software I mentioned in the opening pointed out the posts readers liked along with those they chose to ignore: so really, it’s they -- the vox populi -- who made the decisions.

I did, of course, get the final vote.

So here you go, a guide for new readers to posts they might find interesting, and an easy way for any regulars to find ancient posts that might otherwise have been overlooked. There are lots of other posts you might find worth reading, though, so I hope you'll view this list as a doorway to my little part of below-the-line Hollywood, rather than the sum total.

But that's up to you.*

Disclaimer: the leadoff post is the very first I wrote back in 2007, and meant to serve as a introduction  for visitors who stumbled across this blog while wandering through cyber-space.  Thus it's a bit long and wordy, and maybe not the best place to start unless you're curious as to how and why the blog came about.  I should probably re-write it, but until that day comes, you might find yourself half way through and wondering when the damned thing is going to end… and in that case, bail out and give the next few a try -- they're all shorter and more to the point.  But if nothing in those posts resonates either, then maybe this blog isn't for you.  It's not for everyone, but as the Aussies say "No worries, mate." 

Welcome to the Dream Factory

Stunts

Industry Romance

Do NOT Look the Monkey in the Eyes

A Little Magic on the Boulevard

Just Another Day in Paradise

Working Sick: The Post that came in from the Cold

Stranger in a Strange Land

What the Hell is a Best Boy?

The Circle of Confusion

Living the Dream

Have Gloves, Will Travel: Working on Location

Parade Magazine's Glamorous World of Hollywood

So You Want to Come to Hollywood...

Small Miracle on Laurel Canyon

The Biggest Asshole in Hollywood

The Joe Frazier School of Higher Education

Generation Wireless: Across the Great Divide

April is the Cruelest Month

Promo Land, and the Return of Pilot Season

Oscar’s Big Night

Forever and Throughout the Universe

It's the People

Light

Feed the Beast

Three Hundred Seconds of Freedom

Time Traveler



Mike and Kevin's Not So Excellent Adventure (a series)

Genny Trouble -- Part One

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

Twenty Miles of Bad Road

Long Nights Journey into Day



The Making of a Pilot (a series)

Gulliver’s Travels: A Pilot Unfolds

Pipe Grid Clusterfuck

A Monday by Any Other Name

Kill the Pig

Pilot Season 2016


Directors (a series)

Directors: Part One

Directors: Part Two

Directors: Part Three

Directors: Part Four

Directors: Part Five

A Brief Return

I Can See by Your Outfit


*Note: Although there are no hard-and-fast rules for this blog, I try to post something relevant to the Industry every Sunday.  It doesn't always work out that way, though, so if you don't feel like stopping by on a regular basis, sign up for e-mail notification in the box on the right side of the page under the photo of the gloves.  All future posts will then be delivered straight to your in-box.