What's Up

Ok. so I haven't posted anything new for a while. Not to say that there is nothing to report...or a story to tell. Oh no...far from it
I'll give you an overview and a couple snippets of what to expect in the near future.
The best news ( scary, exciting, intimidating, thrilling ) is that a couple weeks ago an idea that has been rolling around in my head for years...has finally seen the light of day.
I stepped up and asked the major players in the story about the "Mexican Billionaires Yacht", if they would participate in my writing a full length book on the adventure. They all said yes...and a new path opened up for me. I've never attempted anything like this, but it certainly feels right. All the people involved are enthusiastic and glad to help. Interestingly enough, all the various players are learning new tidbits and facts, as others tell their part of the tale.
At this point, the search for a publisher is on....and the research and interviews ongoing. I'll keep you posted on how this one unfolds.
If you haven't read the blog post about the salvage of a 14 million dollar super yacht...it is here.

 http://adventuresinmikeslife.blogspot.ca/2011/10/mexican-billionaires-yacht.html

And a note...as the research has progressed, it has been revealed that there are a few minor inaccuracies in my re-telling of the grounding and salvage. These will get polished up as the interviews move forward.

There are a few other projects on the go....but the details will have to wait until later. These are also exciting and somewhat scary. Definitely going down a new and different path, could be career altering...possibly life altering...we'll see.

On the entertainment side of things...I'm currently reading the Warren Zevon story " I'll Sleep When I'm Dead..the Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon" written by his ex-wife Crystal Zevon.
I'm kind of regretting picking the book up from the library...I had no idea that WZ was such a complete asshole.
I love digging into the history of well known songs and the people that wrote them...it's always been a fascinating journey for me. This time the back story of this musical genius/badboy is changing the way that I look at his music and how I hear it with new ears now.

However...I'm going to see how long I can keep referencing back to the 60's rock group "The Turtles". It started with me watching "My Dinner With Jimi" on Netflix. Then it took off down the path of people connected to the band, friends, song writers, producers and other rockers.
As it turns out there is a direct connection between the "Werewolves of London" and the Turtles...in that Warren Zevon wrote a song for the Turtles called "Outside Chance". Some music aficionados have labelled this "the first psychedelic rock song".....maybe yes...maybe no....but still.

Another interesting sidebar in the book, is that all the people involves in the writing and production of "Werewolves of London"..thought that the song was of low quality and basically crap, compared to other material available to put out.

In other entertainment news...I watched a hilarious movie that I had been circling around for a while...and finally looked at a few days ago. "The Middle Men" brings us two of the biggest loser/doofus's ever...and sees them go on to make millions of dollars by getting involved in processing credit card transactions for online porn viewers. There isn't any serious visuals on the whole "porn" issue...but there is a lot of epic, world class stupidity ( funny...not "groan" stupid )...Russian mobsters, crooked lawyers ( there's a stretch )...private jets and mansions.
This movie is based on a true story ...but when I wiki'd the real guy  Christopher Mallick of Paycom and EPassporte fame....I'm thinking that the true story part is a serious stretch. Very funny movie....just watching the two drugged out bone heads fall into a multi-million dollar business...is worth the effort.

In other video news...I enjoyed "Taking Woodstock"...also based on a true story....somewhat closer to true this time. When you have time...look up Artie Cornfeld and Mike Lang..two of  four guys who thought up and produced the 1969 Woodstock festival.
Also check out Woodstock.com if you need a new tie-dyed t-shirt.

Here is a video of Warren Zevon's son, Jordan and Bob Dylan's son Jakob....playing a WZ classic...to cap off this entry...
Oh...and you better be on my good friends short list if you call up and say "Send lawyers, guns and money...the shit has hit the fan ".....just saying.

and a clip of Billy Bob Thornton and Warren Zevon during some of the last recording work as WZ was dying of cancer..