May 9, 2013: Kickstarter round-up! Recipe round-up!

Paul and I have been in a holding pattern for months now, waiting to hear word on not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different projects – three pilots and a feature. What’s interesting is that, in all four cases, the scripts are with someone(s) who likes them and has expressed interest in seeing them produced.  We’ve received very positive word and been told that a decision is imminent.  That was months ago and we’re still waiting.

We can’t be too upset because no one has passed.  And we can’t be too happy because we’ve yet to be given a green light.  We CAN, however, be cautiously optimistic.  The network loved the changes we made to the urban fantasy pilot and it has been bumped up the chain of command.  The other network loves the Dark Matter pilot, we have the other players in place, and word is imminent (yesterday according to one source).  Yet another network loves that non-genre pilot, loved the game plan I talked them through a couple of weeks ago, and just (today) requested a written document outlining our plans for the show’s first two seasons.  And a production company loves the premise of the horror script and have been looking do something very similar for a while now.  It seems as though we’re close…

Of course, that’s how I felt in January.  Yep.  I remember thinking: “Any day now…”.

Realistically, it SHOULD be any day now.  But if it’s not, Paul and I have travel plans to L.A. for some meet and greets, while Ivon and I have plans to go the Kickstarter route and simply shoot the horror film ourselves with some old Stargate friends.  In an ideal scenario, we could fund the movie through crowd sourcing and deferred payments, produce it, land a distributor, then pay everyone back with the profits. However, according to Ivon, I think this runs counter to Kickstarter rules.  If we want to go through Kickstarter, we should instead be offering investors alternate rewards like signed scripts, set visits, perhaps a cameo as a colorful victim (Disembowelment or defenestration?  YOU decide!).

Anyway, Ivon have discussed the possibility off and on over the past couple of months.  And, the other day, my buddy Cas mentioned a Kickstarter project he’s involved with – an SF web series its creators have dubbed “The Office in space”. Intrigued, I headed over to Kickstarter and checked out their project – along with several others that I thought I’d bring to your attention…

NOBILITY

An SF web series – “The Office in space” – headlined by Babylon 5′s Claudia Christian and my friend, Cas Anvar.

NobilityTheSeries.com

Kickstarter: http://goo.gl/rLERO

KILL ALL MONSTERS

Kill All Monsters: Ruins of Paris is the printed first volume of the hit webcomic about monsters and the giant robots that kill them.

Kickstarter: kill-all-monsters-volume-1-ruins-of-paris

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

Cthulhu eats your childhood in this Lovecraftian spin on classic children’s literature. What can a cthulhupillar eat in a week?

Kickstarter: the-very-hungry-cthulhupillar

BENSON BYE

Benson Bye is a heart warming short film about a man with autism who must transfer to a new facility leaving his younger sister behind.

Kickstarter: benson-bye

PRETTY GOOD NUMBER ONE: AN AMERICAN FAMILY EATS TOKYO

An American family spends a month in a 260-square-foot Tokyo apartment in this humorous food and travel memoir.

Kickstarter: Pretty Good Number One: An American Family Eats Tokyo

THE HOGBEN CHRONICLES OF HAROLD KUTTNER

This project is a labor of love to bring the unique work of Henry Kuttner to a new generation of readers.

Kickstarter: The Hogben Chronicles of Henry Kuttner

So, hey, how did you all do with the Puerco Pibil recipe?  Mine was a resounding success…

Big, bold, delicious flavors.  I wonder how it would work using an even more marbled cut like, say, the pork belly?

How’d you all do?

Next up = Shiny’s sancocho!

Mince a little garlic (2 cloves), onions (1/4 cup chopped), parsley and devil weed aka cilantro and roast in a sauce pan with a little olive oil; toss in slices of polska kielbasa (enough for 2 servings) and add some white pepper and paprika. If you have shrimp, toss them in now.

Once the bold sausage oils have mingled with the gentle olive oils and the onions are sweated you can pour in a can of plain ol’ Campbell’s chicken soup (low salt) and yes, a can of water (see? I know it’s low rent but it is tasty).

Stir that up and let it simmer for a few minutes, then add: 1/2 cup of gnocchi, 1/2 cup of cabbage, and a firm ripe plantain cut into medallions; the plaintain should be a nice yellow color, not too dry but not so ripe that it’s mushy. Toss in a 1/2 cup of chickpeas or sweet peas if you prefer; the bean of your choice.

Let it simmer until the plantain turns a bright pretty deep yellow and the gnocchi are nice and fat, prolly another 5 to 10 minutes.

Serve with Whole Wheat Grilled Cheese sandwiches, made with lots of butter and Gouda cheese.

Tagged: Benson Bye, kickstarter, Kill All Monsters, Nobility, Pretty Good Number One: An American Family Eats Tokyo, Puerco Pibil, The Hogben Chronicles of Harold Kuttner, The Very Hungry Caterpillar