Will Hines Dot Net

Can’t sleep.

Today, I went running. I run occasionally, but never that far. I usually execute a hurried trot for four laps around a track near my house, and I assume that’s just over a mile. The track has been under repairs since the middle of last summer, so when I say around a track — I mean a good distance around it. I circle it like a shy wolf. You can tell I just woke up when I’m typing half-finished metaphors like that.

When it comes to exercise, the only way I get any done is to assure myself that a sloppily executed half-hearted routine is still infinitely better than none at all. So I run a mile, and it [...]

Man, look at that last entry! Will Hines all blabby-blab about the comic books! Don’t worry, true blog-ievers! I’m still going to wax ineloquently about matters of trivial import via tiny paragraphs!

I just finished reading Volume 4 of The Essential Fantastic Four — which collects issues 60-something through 80-something — back when it was done by Jack Kirby with Stan Lee. So awesome! Kirby never had a half-hearted idea in his life! I love it!

But more importantly, the night after I started reading it, I had a dream that Jack Kirby’s son (not sure if he actually had a son) was hunting me for sport. This was taking place in a hotel, down a hallway of conference rooms. I [...]

Well, I sang one of my favorite songs, Ana Ng by They Might Be Giants, at Terry Jinn’s 4th annual birthday concert this past Friday. Terry calls the show Enormous Television since Terry owns a really large telelvision. For these shows, Terry rounds up a bunch of his friends to sing songs while he plays guitar with the Enormous Television band (which has settled into Chris Kula on drums and Dan Goodman on bass). Other friends come and watch.

It’s fun. It’s amateurish by design on one hand, but on the other hand it’s not. There’s like, rehearsals and stuff. The band can actually play. Several of the singers can actually sing. The rest of us get [...]

The Project re-launched at The Magnet Theater this past Saturday. Twelve improv teams performed — roughly 15 minutes each. That’s a ton of improv. But it was a very friendly room with a high concentration of friends in the audience — so it was a fun, forgiving, positive show. Every team had great performances. I was especially glad to see “Fat Kitchen” so I could see Ptolemy, Terry, Jane, Fountain and Chris Himes improvise.

Is it good to have audiences like that, or does it encourage bad habits? I think The Project is actually a good balance of both. It’s forgiving enough to encourage gutsy moves, but still lets you know if you’re really delivering something fun [...]

I’m in Manhattan, sitting at a “web2zone” cafe, waiting for mechanics at a nearby garage to finish putting new brakes on my car. I have a garage that I love, which reminds of a list I once tried to make of essential services to know of in order to feel in control of your life:

• good auto mechanic
• good doctor, dentist
• good video store
• good music store
• good coffee place

And, until I buy a laptop with a wi-fi card, a good web cafe. I realize that I typed “good” before each item in that list, and that it’s probably understood that I want a “good” one of each of them. But it felt necessary each time. I don’t just need a video store, I need [...]

People say “Will, love the blog entries, but where are your opinions about the Red Sox? And where is the update on what you’re doing with your iMac?”

I’m sorry, friends. I’ve been selfish, holding back that info on you. Here you go:

• The Yankees beat the Red Sox last night in the first game of the 2005 baseball season, 9-2. It always sucks losing to the Yankees, but you might ask: Is it easier, having won the World Series last year, and having beaten the pants off the Yankees in the playoffs? And the answer is: Yes, absolutely. A lot of the sting is gone. And the teams are decently even, so it’s going to be a fun season. Kevin and [...]

I almost peed on my cat’s head just now. Long story. Actually, it’s a short story, but it’s more interesting to leave it unexplained. Maybe.

Recently, I daydreamed if Kevin and I had directed the Spider-Man movie — what extras would we have included on the DVD? I decided that I would include a montage of my favorite Spider-Man comics, and also a feature in which I would give a “tour” of a single issue of Spider-Man and describe what was important about it. It’s during thoughts like these that I’m usually approached by a friend asking “What are you thinking about?” and I respond: “Nothing.”

Today, I also daydreamed that instead of being born in Ohio, I was born in Kiev [...]

• Searched for and found sound effects and music cues for Fun Squad 2 and Kerry On.
• Brian arrived for Kev’s birthday.
• Brian and I went to the Tenth Street Russian Baths. We sweat. I drank 2 liters of water. Liters? Litres?
• Dinner with 30th Birthday Boy Kevin Hines at Paul’s burger joint near St. Mark’s. We met there for his 29th also. It’s a tradition now. The Hines Boys respect tradition, unless it’s hard to do so.
• Accompanied Kevin to his birthday bash at ACE bar, which has now hosted birthday parties for Will 30, and Will 31, Kevin 29 and Kevin 30. It’s the Official Bar of Hines Non-Birthday Party Planning.
• Brian and I got for Kevin: Special Edition Iron Giant DVD, Gwen Stefani [...]

I’ve been spending the past few days trying to come up with a starting Channel 102 web site (the NYC version of the fantastic Channel 101). It’s fun but as is always true when I bury myself in code, I’ve become a bit of a robot because of it. It’s like I can’t spend too long giving instructions to my computer without becoming one. So here’s a quick robotic rundown of the past few weeks:

• The Fun Squad, the five minute kids’ show pilot that Rob, Matt and I made (along with Kevin Cragg filming and Terry Jinn editing) won the first Channel 102 screening. That’s crazy, and also super-satisfying and fun. You’ll watch it and be like [...]

Met Los Bros Hernandez who write/draw the comic Love and Rockets. Also, the Red Sox won it all. And, I cleaned up the “Right Brain” section of my blog. One of these events is not as important as the other two. Hint: the last one.