Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Poetry...just because.

I won an award for this anthology once, since it does me no good to have it sitting on my computer I thought I'd share.





A Love Poem About Several Girls:


I am sick of seeing you

Stop existing near me

Stop looking beautiful

Stop smiling, it kills me

Don’t remind me how lucky your man is


How dare you talk to me?

How dare you be sweet?

I don’t want you to laugh at my jokes


Please don’t be perfect for me


Knight Falls on Gotham

Walk down any street at night

You may not notice it but you call upon your bravery

You may not notice it but you tense in the shadows

You may not notice it but you clench your fists

Until you are back home in the familiar

No one is a friend


In my city I am always watching

In the dark alleys and on the murky docks

I see uptown high rises where an upper class criminal feels hidden by politics

I see the shady burrows where the hopeless feel hidden behind filth

Those that should; will not seek them, they let them prey

Survival of the fittest has bred a strong evil

This city would be theirs


But I watch, unlike the others; I’ll do more than watch

In the ghetto where crack heads kill in daylight

They fear me

On the wall-streets where drug lords have armies

They hide from me

I will win this fight


I am a Bat; I fly with armored wings and race with speeding tanks

While flashes of light explode smoke all around you I strike

You reach for your weapon and your wrist snaps, your legs fill with metal when you run

In the dark of the night and the shadow of concrete giants I was invisible

You never heard me make a sound

The police will come soon, you will go to jail

As soon as you get out of the hospital


Ginger

It’s going to be different without her

I was afraid of this day for years now

After 16 years still way too soon


People say I am overreacting

Those people are dicks

That dog was my favorite person

I’ll cry as much as I want


Family members frustrate

Friends constantly stray

Ginger dog was always there

Damn I will miss her


Who will jump on me when I get home?

Who will be so happy to see me?

My little brown mutt

This one will be tough


Graduation Day:

Bye Education

Thank you for trying

I am not too smart to need you

Just too dumb to learn


Try Hards:

Baby blue silk shirts

Long, baggy, black FuBu jeans

Tucked proudly in shoes

Gold chains we know they can’t afford.

God help me I hate teenagers!


First Day of High School:

The uniform never looked worse

Grey cotton pants too short to hide white socks

Wrinkly white shirt too small for gangly arms

Skinny, young body not ready to grow up

A hesitant walk doesn’t exude confidence

Heading down long busy hallways


One of a hundred dressed the exact same

Somehow this pimply little dork stood out

People laugh, has to be about me

All I can do is smile; pretend I’m not the joke

Just make it too the classroom

Find a seat in back where no one will notice


Where the hell is my classroom?


Five minutes late

One chance at a first impression

I walk inside a room with a thousand eyes

And I cower into my seat

High school was over before it began



Ode to a Nice Vagina:

Anyone that has ever been with you

Is willing to go through years of pain

Just to get with you once more

I hate you

Kind of


Little Bastard’s Last Ride:

California State Highway 46 streaks eastward from the city of Paso Robles, leaving behind the last remnant of city. Windblown barns and oddly beautiful desert is the only view for miles, for most this is temporary. Most travel east through Cholame feeling a slight sense of adventure as the highway parts the powerful Temblor Mountains which have a reputation for being the epicenter of earthquakes past. Soon the road splits, both ways lead back to civilization, both lead back to the friendly out of the way towns found by more tourists than it seems possible. He was just like the rest of them, heading toward Bakersfield on the same highway he had been on for hours, he saw the same sights and had the same urge to get back into town. When another car heading toward him made a simple turn onto the 41, a shockwave would be sent; picked up on by every youth in every country around the world. He was not like them. On a hot day in the middle of nowhere, a few miles outside his destination, James Dean became a casualty, a cautionary tale and an icon. He was not like them.


-Thomas Holler-

BACK

Comedy - The Beautiful Episode 2 - First 3 pages (20 pages)

EPISODE 2 – “Pretty Sure You Would Have Lost Even If It Was A Little Korean Guy”




Scene 1 - Tom and Chip are in the doorway of their apartment, they are in mid-argument with a man who is dressed in a white dress shirt and a tie. Tom and Chip have already reached a level of agitation by the time we join in on this argument, frequently interrupting.

Tom:

Well I am not going

Man:

No, sir…I wasn’t sent for you specifically..

Tom:

Well I am not an alcoholic so I don’t even need AA

Man:

Sir…please…

Chip:

Oh YOU please. (throws a coffee on the guy)

Man:

Ok…alright, just stop. Once again, I am here in your building talking to EVERYONE about the dangers of alcohol and about how the Church of Jehovah saved my life.

Chip:

Yes but why did they send you to us?

Man:

(under his breath) God. Because I believe that you and everyone else should be able to benefit from the teachings of the book of Jehovah. Listen, before I found the Church I was a mess, alcohol had ruined my life. Alcohol caused me to crash my car into my bosses car, it caused me to have multiple affairs and even be violent with my wife, it caused me to set my garage on fire, it…

Tom:

Why do you keep bragging about that?

Man:

I am not…

Tom:

(To Chip) The way you say that it’s like you are telling us points of pride

Chip:

Oh, I thought that was what he was doing, I thought that was like a list of accomplishments you were just bouncing off of us…maybe get some positive feedback

Man:

That wasn’t my intention

Chip:

Because I was going to say, you should stop doing things like that

Man:

Well…thank you for your…I am just looking for a small donation..

Tom and Chip: God!!

Here we go. Is this what this was about?

The man hands his clipboard to Chip

Chip:

Holy SHIT. Look how much money he raised.

Tom:

What????? How much of this do you get?

Man:

We are personally entitled to a mere 30%

Chip:

THIRTY PERCENT!!! That’s like…

(he tries desperately to do the math in his head)

(eventually he gives up trying to do the math and stares back at the man as though it is his turn to speak)

Tom:

Ok (Clasps hands) How do we get in on this? Give me Jehova’s number let me talk to him.

Man:

It’s a religion so it’s not something you can just become. There is a tradition and an initiation process

Chip:

Talk to me
(gestures for the man to come in)


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Comedy - the Beautiful - Half Hour Pilot, first 2 pages (26 pages)

Script

SCENE 1 - EXT – DAY - ALLEY

TOM is walking through an alleyway counting his money out loud (to $700); TOM cuts through an alley and a slightly feminine disheveled homeless man approaches him from behind.

ROBBER

HEY!

TOM turns and puts the money behind his back.

TOM

Sorry dude, I don’t have any change on…

The ROBBER pulls a gun from his waistband.

TOM

…me.

ROBBER

Oh, I’m interested in one hell of a lot more than your change.

TOM looks confused.

The ROBBER looks exasperated.

ROBBER

(to himself)

I can never rob the smart ones.

(Out loud)

Your wad, I want your wad!

TOM Looks even more confused and disgusted at the ROBBER

ROBBER

The money

TOM

OH!

Tom laughs over the confusion, then remembers he is being robbed

ROBBER

Jesus Christ!

The ROBBER calmly gets down on one knee and takes aim

TOM turns to run down the alley in slow, dramatic fashion. His arms flail widely as his panicked eyes dart for an exit. He stumbles and screams before we cut back to the ROBBER, watching Tom stumble like an idiot in real-time, squints confusedly before he pulls the trigger.

TOM lunges forward dramatically his face in shock, his heart pounds in his ears before we zip back to real-time in the same shot.

TOM

Ow.

TOM falls out of frame.

CREDITS ROLL


cont'd


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Philosophical - Short Script, CG needed.

Scene

EXT. – FRONT OF LOCAL BAR

We watch as two men leave a bar during the last hours of the night, the two look slightly worn. The two men are in total contrast; Man #1 seems wide eyed and awake, Man #2 looks like he is completely ready for bed and can barley keep his eyes open. As they begin their walk away from the bar they take a moment, an extended hesitation as this is something they clearly do not want to do. They begin their walk through the parking lot.

Man #1

I don’t want to go to work

Man #2

(Slightly more emphatic)

I don’t want to go to work. If we go home right now we can get about 5 hours sleep before we have to be up. You just crash at my place.

Man#1

(Kicks a can on the ground)

Sarah won’t get mad?

Man #2

(Uncaring)

I don’t know

The two men pass the bar and head toward the park

Scene 2

EXT- LOCAL PARK

The two men cut the park on the way home, the mood is still gloomy. Its late they are tired and neither is excited about seeing another work week begin.

Man #1

Are you glad you moved in with Sarah?

Man #2

Well, it’s not like I had a choice, I couldn’t afford to move out on my own and no one else wanted to move in with me.

Man #1

Who did you ask?

Man #2

No one. Sarah would have gotten pissed if I moved out with anyone other than her; she takes that kind of thing to mean that I don’t want to be with her.

Man #1

So than why would you…

As he begins his sentence the sky lights up a shade of purple and both men are startled.

Man #1

Whoa, what?

Man #2

Holy.

They both freeze there for a moment looking upward

Man #2

That had to have been a comet or something

Man #1

Meteorite

Again they fall silent while looking toward the sky, after a few moments they begin to walk again. Neither man can look away from the sky.

Man #1

Jeez

Man #2

That stuffs crazy

Man #1

I know, when I was I kid I was really into that stuff. Space and stars and other planets, I used to just stare at the sky at night.

Man #2

Same. I had friends that knew a lot about it, I remember laying on the grass a lot with them looking at outer space.

Man #1

Yeah.

Man #2

Yeah. We should get home.

Man #1

We SHOULD get home.

Scene 3

EXT – A PARK BENCH OUTSIDE A LOCAL SCHOOL

The two men are sitting on a park bench outside of a school, both men are now fixated on the sky, both men have the curious smile of two children lost in imagination. The shot moves from the in-front view to behind them looking upward and sharing the view of the stars that both men are enjoying.

Man #1 breaks the silence

Man #1

Y’know how you take the stars for granted?

Man #2

(Enthusiastically)

Totally

Both men feel like they reached an epiphany and everything that follows is said with a tremendous sense of both discovery and importance.

Man #1

We never really look at the stars with everything we know. Its like we know all about them scientifically but we never think about that knowledge and look at them at the same time.

Man #2

(Looks at him quizzically)

Man #1

I am going to go into a rant here....just be quiet 'cause it doesn’t work otherwise.

Ok

(Takes a second to compose his thoughts)

I mean...you remember “Light Brite”, that thing where it was this giant light; then you got special black paper and put it over the light so that when you poked the colored pegs through; the light would go into the pegs and they would light up?

(He doesn’t wait for any answer)

Man #1

No one ever, ever got more paper when they ran out so they just reused the old ones. Then when they put the paper with all these little holes on the “Lite Brite”; you would see all these pin pricks of light poke through the paper. That’s kind of like how people look at the stars, like they are just these little pricks of light in the sky. AND NO (he gets confrontational, as though he is defending himself to no one) I AM NOT SAYING that people think the sky has holes in it or anything like that. I am just saying. People don’t really think much about those lights.

Man #1 breaks into a confident smile

Man#1

My point is it’s amazing to think; when you really do think, how impressive that little light is. Just in terms of distance; that thing is hundreds of billions of miles away. That is totally inconceivable to people, all we base distance on is distances we can travel on earth. That’s like walking the whole earth a million times, it’s like we KNOW that’s a lot but we can’t really conceive of what that would be like. If you walked as far as you could toward it…

With that it appears as if Man #2 begins to walk toward the star, climbing upward as though there were and invisible staircase. He keeps walking until he is in space and keeps walking toward his target getting further and further out of distance.

… then when you died; you had a kid that walked as far as HE could toward it; and so on…

This time we see Man #2 in outer space he has made some distance between himself and the earth but is still relatively nowhere, he is an old man now. When he collapses and dies, a man looking relatively similar to Man #2 begins his quest; taking up where his father left off. Through a series of dissolves indicating the passage of time we go through many generations.

… it would take a million generations of you to even get close…

In space now we see a man wearing futuristic clothing indicating that hundreds of years have passed, when the camera pulls out we see that he is still a long ways off from reaching that star.

Reality snaps back, the focus is back on the bench.

Man #1

IT LOOKS LIKE ITS RIGHT THERE. Even the moon is so far away; like... (Makes a gesture, a hand wave saying "forget about it"). Plus since light takes so long to travel to earth; what we are looking at is all in the past. This is ALL one big rerun and in reality the sky up there looks nothing like this.

We step out of reality again as when Man #1 reaches to the sky he grips stars and moves them all over the sky to make his point, occasionally tossing a few away.

…some stars are gone over here some new ones are over there, it’s something else entirely AND we won’t even know for another hundred years or so…

Back to reality

Man #1

What’s really crazy is how BIG that little thing is, those stars are way bigger than the sun. If we were to drift close to one, ignoring the fact we'd all be fried; as soon as we got within a million miles one star would fill up out whole sky and then some. It’s like comparing the size of a rock to a lake, it’s so messed.

A black hole floats into view

One black hole or one star explosion happens a long way ways and we are toast; there really is NOTHING we could do. There would never be any record of any human existence ever.

The world is quickly sucked into oblivion; we are left in complete blackness.

Man #2

(Through the blackness)

Do you believe in aliens?

Back to reality

Man#1

Don’t know

Man #2

(Far too serious)

I am just saying that a lot of people think that we are being documented by other creatures.

(Looks hard at Man #1 and nods)

So at least if they were; than some one would know about us. I was watching this show the other day where they mentioned that there is a facility that sends out radio frequency signals throughout space and try and get one back from some other life form. One day they got one back…

Man #1

(Sits up)

Shit!

Man #2

Yeah.

(Another deep serious stare, head nodding)

It was a signal for about 3 minutes, after they confirmed it wasn’t their own bouncing off some asteroid and started trying to find it, the signal stopped. That was in nineteen-seventy… something. It’s the only success they ever had but the government STILL has them in business, that PROVES that the signal was real.

They both seem shocked, and maybe a little frightened. They look back toward the sky, this time as though they had suddenly become aware of some horrible truth.

Man #2

On the show they said that it’s most likely that they aren’t aliens but travelers from the future. But if you think about that, of all times that they could be visiting why now? Nothing has really happened in our time. If you think about it they have to know that something big is going to happen soon.

Hey

Honestly, if I had to guess I would say that they know that some huge catastrophe is coming that they have to stop.

With that both men stand up and walk, they head across the street neither one looking away from the sky. They navigate the lawn avoiding lawn ornaments, trees and gardens without ever looking down. When they get to the front porch they open the door, take one last look and head inside.


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Comedy - Personal Trianer Short Scripts

FADE -IN – INT: LIVING ROOM OF GORDON’S HOME- MEDIUM SHOT OF TREVOR STANDING OVER A TABLE FULL OF HAMBURGER WRAPPERS.

CLOSE-UP – TREVOR sees the wrappers and shakes his head in frustration.

GORDON ENTERS wearing a track suit, ready for his workout but looking lethargic.

TREVOR

Whoa! There’s the Hamburgler.

CLOSE-UP - GORDON SMILES, not really getting the reference.

TREVOR

FAT!

GORDON is startled and looks over to the table, he sees the wrappers and looks scared.

QUNITON

Where’d you find those?

TREVOR

In the kitchen. Are you going to try to tell me they aren’t yours?

GORDON

Yeah but they’re really old, probably there from like a month ago

TREVOR

The ketchup’s still wet

GORDON (lying)

The ketchup is new, I just got that on there when I reused those to wrap a nice healthy turkey parmesan sandwich.

TREVOR

A turkey parmesan sandwich doesn’t sound very healthy. Or real.

GORDON

Well I’ve been working really hard, I’ve been doing all the workouts you’ve been giving me. I feel great.


TREVOR

Well you look awful, even if you weren’t lying through your teeth right now about doing those workouts; there’s 700 calories in one of these burgers. Times three, do you have any idea how hard that’s going to be to burn off?

GORDON

I don’t care, I’ll do whatever it takes. I want to be better, this is the last slip up for me. I am sick of people being mean to me every time I want to have a seat on the subway, I hate having to buy new pants every month because the ones I have are two small and have sauce all over them…plus there’s all these ropes I want to climb. I just want to get healthier and those 3 burgers are the last time I’ll ever cheat on my diet. Promise.

As GORDON goes to shake TREVOR’S hand a CHOCOLATE BAR WRAPPER comes flying out of his pocket, the two are transfixed as it slowly floats to the ground. An uncomfortable silence follows.

CLOSE-UP – TREVOR’S angry face, GORDON’S terrified face.

CUT

GORDON is running up a staircase and is covered in sweat, he’s pushing himself with surprising motivation. Finally GORDON collapses, when he does the camera PANS OUT to reveal TREVOR coming up the stairs behind him. He has a menacing look on his face and a blunt object in his hands.

TREVOR

Don’t let me catch you piggy. Wanna find out what I do with liars; GORDON?


As TREVOR gets closer GORDON finds the strength to get up and keep running.

FADE-OUT

END


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Suspense - Untitled Murder Script - First 3 (of 8) Pages

GABE enters the hotel room, his black coat the only thing covering the large spatters of red on his white shirt underneath. His pale and panicked face is covered in red smears; he looks over to a single phone sitting in a dark corner of the room on a table. He’s fixated on it for a moment and then notices that he’s covered in blood. He rushes into the washroom and THROWS WATER on his face; he’s shaking and violently nervous.

THE PHONE RINGS this sends GABE into a panic, he’s terrified to answer the phone. After 3 long RINGS he finally answers; nearly in tears.

Gabe

Hello?

The Voice

You’re back? Gabe?

Gabe

Yes

The Voice

Both of you’re there?

Gabe

No, I don’t know what happened to Calin

The Voice

Did you do it?

Gabe

Yes

The Voice

Was it you or Calin?

Gabe

Calin killed him

The Voice

Stay there, wait for him. Wait for my call.

The Voice hangs up; leaving Gabe rattled

CALIN ENTERS, he’s slightly rattled but more composed than Gabe. He’s wearing a dark coat which covers all but the slight red stain on the collar of his white dress shirt underneath. He goes right to the washroom to clean up.

Calin

Did he call?

Gabe

Yes

Calin

And?

Gabe

He wanted to know if we did it

Calin

What did you tell him?

Gabe

I said you killed him

Calin

What did he say about the money?

Gabe

He didn’t say anything, he hung up

Calin

He’ll call back. We wait here until he does.

Gabe

What if he doesn’t, we can’t just sit here.

Calin

Yes we can

Gabe

The police are already going to be looking, hotels and busses will be the first places they start.

Calin

We stay and wait for that phone to ring, otherwise what the hell have we just done?

Calin pulls out a gun and examines it, it’s the murder weapon.

Calin

How many people saw you come back here?

Gabe

What?

Calin

How many people saw you running through the lobby with blood on your face?

Gabe

I don’t know, no one I think

Calin

You think?

Gabe

No one, I got back here fast. No one could have seen me.

Calin

You better hope not, get cleaned up. Take you stuff (he reaches underneath the bed and pulls out a bag full of clothes) Throw your clothes into this bag.


CALIN throws a black bag towards GABE, GABE picks up the bag and along with his things he goes into the washroom.

He rips off his bloody wardrobe and jumps into the SHOWER, the red water pouring down the drain. When he’s alone the images of the horrible things he’s just done are inescapable and the guilt and fear are written all over his face.

While he’s in the shower he thinks he hears the sound of CALIN on the phone, he sneaks out of the shower and inches towards the door. He can clearly hear that CALIN is TALKING OUT LOUD but can’t make out any of what he’s saying, as he leans in to listen his FOOT SLIPS AND SQUEAKS loudly along the tile floor; prompting CALIN to come through the door.

Calin

Get dressed

Back in the main room CALIN is putting his old clothes into the bag, he pulls out the gun.

Calin

There’s a bridge a few blocks from here, I need to get rid of these things

He puts the gun in the bag.

Calin

You stay here in case the phone rings.

Gabe

What if the phone doesn’t ring, what are we going to do?

Calin

We still have what he wants, he needs us. It’ll ring.


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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

House Arrest #3 - HAROLD is Sick (and Dumb)

House Arrest #3

SCENE: RICK and CHRIS enter the bathroom where a very sick HAROLD is lying in a nest in the tub.

RICK:
Hey, big guy. You feeling any better?

HAROLD:
Kinda, feel cold. Can’t really sleep. Pretty uncomfortable.

CHRIS:
Are you still throwing up?

HAROLD:
I throw up all the time

RICK:
That’s awful! We only have one toilet.

HAROLD:
I just feel really weak, I keep falling asleep. I am just wondering if you guys could maybe give me some medicine?

CHRIS:
Well we only have a certain amount of money and there isn’t really any wiggle room in the budget for HAROLD medicine.

HAROLD:
Well; I mean, you could move some things around. There’s probably some things that can be moved around.

CHRIS:
It’s very rigid, I’ve structured it myself. HAROLD; I’m in charge of the weekly budget and I can assure you everything on this budget is essential and cannot be moved.


(Cut to numerous shots of CHRIS using bug spray, tons of shots, shots of all the bottles lying around ,something that gets across he spends a TON of money on bug spray.)

RICK:
I have a few extra bucks, I can run out and grab you some food if you want.

HAROLD:
I’ll take an Oh! Henry.

RICK:
OH! No you won’t. You know what? I am not even all that convinced you need food.

CHRIS:
I am not even all that convinced you aren’t milking this whole thing.


HAROLD:
I am not really getting anything out of this though, you guys aren’t really helping me.

RICK:
I put cushions in the tub for you

HAROLD:
No you didn’t

RICK:
Didn’t I?

CHRIS:
No I wouldn’t allow it, that tub is filthy. It’s a waste of cushions.

RICK:
Well as long as you’re comfortable HAROLD (RICK walks away) that’s all that matters.


CHRIS and HAROLD are left in the washroom.

CHRIS:
Well alright.


CHRIS moves towards the toilet, he closes the shower curtain on HAROLD and sits down on the toilet.

HAROLD:
Maybe you could hold that until later

CHRIS:
I’d rather not, HAROLD do you have anything for me to read? Actually if you do; read it out loud for me. I don’t want to touch anything you’ve touched.


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