“Hibbard Casselberry was an unusual man, and a lot of people thought he had a lot of unusual ideas about how to run a community. He was controversial, as they say. But when you pause and begin to list the men whose contributions have made Central Florida the great section of the country it is today, Hibbard Casselberry’s name always is up there somewhere at the top.”  – Orlando Sentinel, August 29, 1969

I stumbled upon this site about the man who was the driving force behind the city of Casselberry, Florida.  I grew up knowing Casselberry as the place where they had lots of strip clubs.  And while a couple still survive, most of them are gone now.

But this guy, Hibbard Casselberry, has some progressive ideas in his day.  Read about it here:  KING OF CASSELBERRY.

Times are tough everywhere, and so I thought I’d try a little street performing.   As it was my first time, I thought I’d ride the coattails an Orlando institution…Dr. Geek.  If you haven’t seen him performing on the streets of Orlando, South Beach or New York, you probably know Dr. Geek from the Blubocker’s sunglasses commercial…

For more info on Dr. Geek, check out this blog…. Dr. Geek Interview.  Pic courtesy of Underdog.net

Rob Volpe from Howl at the Moon and The Orlando Show joins the Crew again and talks about Lonely Island’s “I’m On A Boat”, Diggz pranks his Facebook Status, and talks about attending the Hitchens/DeSousa religion debate at UCF and much more.

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CS 73: Painful and Bloody Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rob Volpe from Howl at the Moon stops by to talk about his Internet show, The Orlando Show, his American Idol audition, and the two play a game that Ryan thought would have gone much better.

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CS 72: The Orlando Show Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

PoNuclear Power Plant Operator and all around swell guy Vance Johnson joins the Crew to talk about Submarines, Easter, Water, the Weeds, and Diggz’ decision to quit Howl at the Moon.

Episode 69 Page Link:  http://www.thechannelproject.com/crew-show/2009/9/4/cs-69-easter-rules.html

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I will be playing 2 nights at the Red Fox Lounge in Winter Park next week…Wednesday and Thursday nights….

Michelle Wargo joins Drew and Crew as Drew discusses the death of director John Hughes, takes calls from listeners, and catches up with the Sexy Savannah.

DS 67: A Little Shell Fish [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My production company website hasn’t been updated in a long time but occasionally I’ll get an email, mostly from aspiring screenwriters looking to get their big break.  I’d say I get 2-3 a month on average. Generally I don’t respond to these but I had to share this one I received today. Believe it or not, this is one of the more respectable inquiry letters I’ve seen. Many times they’ll just blindly send you an unsolicited script (which is where I get all my best ideas).   I’ve changed the name to protect the guy’s identity…

“my name is john smith. i am a young writer/director. i have a script that i would like to make about my friends and my hometown of orlando. i want to know if your company would like to take a look at the script to see if there is any interest. the script doesnt call for much finance and i believe i can shoot this in a timely schedule. if you would like to hear more about the project, let me know and we can further discuss.”

First of all, John…you just can’t go around calling yourself a writer/director unless you’ve actually written and/or directed something. I’m pretty sure you haven’t because if you had, you wouldn’t be sending emails to asshats like me. I even looked you up on IMdb (just in case) but, surprise-surprise, you weren’t listed.

Secondly, when crafting an inquiry letter to apply for a WRITING position on a film (or any writing position, for that matter), it’s probably a good idea to use proper sentence case. Typically sentences in English begin with a capital letter (you have to hold the shift key down to capitalize a letter).  Proper names (including cities) are capitalized as well. I know that it may be hip these days to write in all lowercase to sound as if you’re from the “streets”, but unless your name is ee cummings, you should use generally accepted business style for your inquiry letters. William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White wrote a handy little book that explains all these crazy guidelines (I know…reading...what a drag, right?).

While we’re on the subject of style and grammar, a quick side note on the use of contractions. Personally I’d recommend you stay away from using them in a formal business letter.  But, we’re all human here so let’s just accept their use and move on, shall we?  If you’re going to use a contraction, please use it with proper punctuation. Doesn’t is a contraction of does not, like this sentence:  Doesn’t your ass hurt from having your head shoved up it for so long? Doesnt isn’t a contraction of anything.

Regarding your script, do you have one? Because the sentence, “i have a script that i would like to make about my friends and my hometown of orlando,” sort of makes it sound like you haven’t written anything yet. And I’m sure your friends are a hoot, but really…you should meet MY friends. My buddy, Dave, is a real character…do you think you could put him in your script? (seeing as it’s not yet written?)

I have to admit, it’s encouraging that you don’t think the script will “call for much finance.” That’s certainly a plus. I could wallpaper my nonexistent mansion with the thousands of scripts I’ve read that are bogged down with way too much finance (I hear that’s what almost killed Wall Street).  Finesse over finance…that’s my motto!

I’m not quite certain what a “timely schedule” is, but it sure sounds like something. It also sounds like you’re talking out of your ass (or wiping it), which is exactly what any legitimate producer would certainly do with the screenplay you’d like to make, had you actually written one.

My suggestion for you is to take a class in screenwriting, and/or read some books on how to properly write an inquiry letter, and never, never admit to ANYONE you sent me this email.

I’m sorry if your feelings are hurt, but hopefully you’ll walk away a little wiser and also know that first impressions are lasting. Even via email, there are real people who get these. Don’t waste our time without doing the minimum work. It’s insulting to me, not as a producer, but simply as someone who uses English to communicate.

Best of luck in your future endeavors,
Johnny Diggz

Just stumbled upon this piece of journalistic preciousness:

Explosion at office building near OBT, Sand Lake Road deemed ‘minor’

No injuries reported

Amy L. Edwards and Susan Jacobson Sentinel Staff Writers

8:31 PM EDT, July 31, 2009

An explosion this afternoon forced the evacuation of a building at a south Orange County business park.

Nobody was hurt in the 4 p.m. explosion, which several workers witnessed in the courtyard in the 7700 block of Southland Boulevard, the Sheriff’s Office said. The park is near Sand Lake Road and South Orange Blossom Trail.

Investigators said the device was thrown over the building into the courtyard, but they made no arrests. Damage was minor and the device was weak, although some debris landed in front of the building, they said.

That’s the whole thing.  So let me get this straight…

Several workers witnessed an explosion.   The source of the explosion was a device of some sort (weak device…apparently not a bomb?) that “was thrown over the building into a courtyard”.   Presumably by someone but they don’t know who.

Excuse me, but WTF?????

Is somebody bombing buildings near the Florida Mall?

Possible explosion reported: Bomb squad responding to OBT, Sand Lake area – OrlandoSentinel.com.

The City of Orlando is killing its much-hyped (and often snickered about by locals) Downtown Ambassador program.  That’s right…no more will the Segway Ambassadors be cruising from corner to corner, seeking out wayward tourists to assist with their esteemed Ambassadorness.

They still haven’t figured out what to do with the 6 Segways the city bought for the program.  Earlier this year, one former ambassador who had been fired sent the mayor a report calling the program “a perfect example of financial excesses, government/management failures, and failed policy-making.”

The one-time ambassador, who asked to remain anonymous, said they didn’t have much to do, and on daily work logs some exaggerated the work they had performed.

“The majority … of our day or evening consists of riding on our Segways without performing any real job services that benefit our public,” he wrote.

I still think if they had just made them all wear fancy sequence sashes that the program would have been much more of success.

So long, Segways: Downtown Orlando guides ride for last time – OrlandoSentinel.com.