Pumpkin carving night at Daniella's was the perfect way to cap off an extremely long week.  

Josh did a Pac Man inspired design, Nikki went with a traditional ghost, and Steve and Andy talked business in the corner. I went for a tribute to my hometown.

Here it is in all it's glory.* 

I really wanted to add a coyote, a kachina doll, and the entire  1996 Phoenix Suns starting line-up, but decided to save myself a challenge for next year.

*In no way is it intended to be an endorsement for a certain Arizona senator.

My dad got a Wii Fit for his birthday. My sister and mother were responsible for rendering Wii versions of our entire family. If you can look past the giant gloved hand that's violating me in the picture above, I'd say it's a fairly accurate interpretation.

I come back to LA tomorrow and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again for the first time in three weeks. LA friends: let's make up for lost time and hang out this week. I miss you all.

Anna and Brad got back from Indonesia two weeks ago and spent the night in LA before heading back to Phoenix. I don't think I'll ever know a more inspiring married couple. Seeing them together is almost enough to undue the multiple viewings of Husbands And Wives* that scared me to death in college.

All of a sudden Duckworth lives down the hall too, which means that my apartment building now has all of the required characters for a 90's sitcom about twenty-somethings in the big city.

I'm happy, tired, and content with the ridiculously unpredictable nature of my life. I'm reading a book about the Great Depression. I'm praying more. I deleted everything on my ipod except for A Tribe Called Quest and New Order. I've got a weird hankering to play pick-up basketball. I'm surrounded by great people. 

* Regardless, still, a really great movie.

Our location for the Xbox spot I shot on Wednesday was a Masonic temple in Scranton, PA. A secret society having a giant headquarters in a city that's known for being a haven for all things bland is an interesting juxtaposition. Shouldn't these guys be meeting at the base of an active volcano in the Falkland islands? Or in a secret briefing room in the Statue of Liberty's torch? 

The day before the shoot we had a pre-production meeting at the temple and I asked the location manager if she'd give me a tour of the rest of the building. We were only supposed to be shooting on the first floor so I expected to get a polite refusal, but instead she spent the rest of the morning unlocking secret doors and accompanying me down weird passageways. We saw some bizarre things, but my favorite part of the whole temple was the wall of photos that displayed the Mason leaders of the past 100 years.



This guy was my favorite.

I can't claim to know much about the Masons, but I have a hard time believing that this nice old man was ever secretly plotting anything remotely sinister. It looks like the biggest secret that he's keeping is that he's planning to surprise his grandson with a Werther's Original. Please also note that the font used in his portrait is the same one you'll find on the Smile Now, Cry Later t-shirts that they used to sell at lowrider shows in Phoenix.



Jason Mraz was the featured artist in the XBox spot. He was like some perfect amalgamation of every guy I ever shared a dorm room with in college. He was a totally nice guy, super considerate, and really funny. 

Is anyone else noticing that I'm down to about three plaid shirts? It's time for a serious laundry session.

We shot some destruction-filled Nintendo spots in Riverside, CA yesterday. Shredders shredded, anvils crushed, and steamrollers rolled.

Of course Steve will teach the actor and the stunt coordinator how to properly operate a steamroller. Our 2nd unit camera operator got dangerously close to receiving a face full of metal during this setup. Also, our DP, Marc Ritzema will probably need a tetanus shot after yesterday. 

First we dropped an anvil, 20 minutes later we dropped a fridge.  

Our art director, Mike Beamer, made some really beautiful sketches.



The day was so busy that I forgot to apply any sunscreen, so for like, the 10th shoot in a row, I ended up with a radioactive sunburn. Shouldn't I have a sweet California tan by now?