Bill Bodden's Blog, page 16

That Guy Who Was in That Movie

There are TONS of actors working in Hollywood. Most go unknown, with credits like "Waiter #3" or "Woman Reading Newspaper." Forgettable roles to be sure, but background actors and those who play bit parts are really important to making films more realistic and more enjoyable. Being a character actor like this isn't easy, and it's a difficult way to earn a living. Most don't; they frequently need to have side jobs just to keep food on the table.

I'd like to point you all to a film I saw a year or two ago titled "That Guy... Who Was In That Thing" . It's a documentary from 2012, and among many other actors it features...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/02/12/that...

Safe Spaces and Why We Need Them

There's been some discussion in recent years about safe spaces. Women-only, People Of Color-only spaces that allow those folks to get away for a few minutes or an hour, to decompress and refresh. Arguments have been made for years that these spaces are...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/02/05/safe...

Finders, Keepers?

I found a violin today.

In my daily walk around the neighborhood in search of wild Pokemon, I happened upon a violin case, sitting on a capped vent near my house. The case was pretty ordinary, and a cursory inspection revealed that there was, in fact, a violin inside. There was no one in sight...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/01/29/find...

What Do You Want To Read?

I've been trying to provide a good mix of content for people to read here on my blog, but after more than four years of weekly posts, I'm running out of ideas again. So I'd like to ...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/01/22/what...

Midwinter Blues

I attended Midwinter Gaming Convention over the weekend, and sitting in the hotel lounge on a Monday afternoon, the post-convention depression sets in. I had a good time this year, and it was over too soon.

I was able to be part of the reprise of last year's successful...
to read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/01/15/midw...

Gratitude

It's terribly easy to go through life feeling jealous and resentful of the things others have that you yourself do not. Instead, I want to take a few moments to call out some of the great things and wonderful people in my life who help me -- sometimes daily -- to get through the tough times.

Matt McElroy and Monica Valentinelli
One of Gaming's top power couples...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/01/08/grat...

Ringing In The New Year!

Happy New Year!

The new year brings new excitement and new challenges, but first I'd like to take a moment to recap some of the highs and lows of the past years blogging efforts.

First, I'm proud I posted as often as I did in 2017. My goal was to blog once a week, and while I didn't quite make it, I did post new blogs 45 out of 52 weeks - a new best for me.

I had 17,099 page views this year -- more than two-thirds of those views came from a single post back in April. The amount of views I've had this year is more than half-again the number of page views I've had for the previous thirty-nine months of blogging since I started. I hope that means I'm doing something right!

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/01/01/ring...

Front Lines of the War On Christmas

I work in retail as my day job. More specifically, I work at a game store, and as you might imagine, it gets pretty busy this time of year. Games are common Christmas presents every year, and with the popularity of tabletop gaming it's no surprise that the store would be packed with shoppers looking for that perfect gift.

One of my least favorite things about working in retail during the holiday season is the non-gamers who ask "What's the hot new game this year?" Speaking from more than 25 years working in that very same retail gaming establishment, I can tell you that...

To read the rest of this post, please visit http://billbodden.com/2017/12/18/fron...

Living Through A Dry Spell

As a freelancer, it's important to keep hustling. Work rarely comes to you; you have to seek it out, and the first rule of seeking out work is networking. Make contacts: sit and talk with colleagues at conventions. Talk about anything you want, just be sure to be polite, and try not to dominate the conversation too much. Let other people have the chance to talk, tell stories, and share anecdotes.

I'm going through a dry spell myself right now. I have...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2017/11/27/livi...

Show Biz Part 2: Oh, Rocky!

Last week I wrote about getting a job at a movie theater when I first moved to Madison, Wisconsin many years ago. The theater was an "Art house," showing foreign films, documentaries, and basically filling a niche that other theaters had ignored at that time. The theater I worked at -- the Majestic -- was technically part of a chain: the chain also managed theaters in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee, among other cities.

One of the things this theater was known for, regionally, was showing the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" every Saturday at midnight...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2017/11/20/show...