November 2006

 

Early birthday gifts from Jef & Sharon (Happy Birthday, Sexy Bitch)

Good morning, Tortugaholics! I say good morning because it is 5:57 in the a.m. on this muy frio (cold) December day. As per my M.O., I’ve taken to getting up sometime within the five o’clock hour. Actually, my alarm begins going off at 5:03 a.m., and I finally roll out of bed around 5:30 a.m.. Crazy, do you say? Yes, but I’m loving it - and I get both my writing work and my businessy work done this way. And, no, I can’t do those things at night. Nighttime is for television (Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip are among my favorite programs), World of Warcraft (look for me on Hellscream for those who play), and socializing with friends. Of course, because I wake up at 5 a.m., I usually begin dropping off between 8:30 and 10 p.m. Not much of a social life there, but I am getting a lot of work done. Which is a very good thing considering all the projects I’ve been working on.

We closed out the Carolina Renaissance Festival, leaving a bit of our props and costuming at Tortuga friends, Frank & Kelly DeFeo’s house. The final Tortugapalooza 2: Spies is looming ever closer. In case you have not heard (i.e. been under a rock), this very last performance of the five-show run is being played out in Charlotte, North Carolina. We are all looking forward to the show... and the vacation time off/holiday season that follows immediately afterward.

 

Cutting up in the principal's office with AZ & NC Ren Fest Producer Jeffery Siegel

Carolina Faire with Stephanie Haugen

Frank DeFeo - highly connected with the Tortuga Family

We are currently doing our usual three-weekend stint at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival, but not before your favorite turtle boyz had enjoyed some Carolina hospitality at a Panthers football game and another Tortuga Fan Club Meet-n-Greet.

It was a chilly Monday, November 14^th when our own Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced of against the Carolina Panthers on their home turf. Jef and I got two tickets from a friend (sorry Ronn), and had the pleasure of witnessing our beloved Bucs take a beating from the Charlotte-based home team. This is, of course, nothing new - the Buccaneers have strapped themselves to the NFL whipping post more than once this season. The Panthers fans were all good to us despite our Tampa Bay fan-wear. In fact, the only people to yell anti-Buccaneer profanity at us as we passed by were the women! Ladies, less testosterone in your Bud Lite beer, if you please. But seriously, we had a great time and we would happily do it again. Just, next time, we’d like to witness the Buccaneers winning a game. Yeah, that’d be nice.

 

Tried & true Bucs fans prepare to face the Panthers

Tortuga-Eye view of Panther Stadium

I am heavily entrenched in the Top Cats' enemy camp

We also took the opportunity to see Carlos Mencia (see Mind of Mencia on Comedy Central) at the Ovens Auditorium on Independence in Charlotte. He was doing The Punisher Tour with some very funny friends of his. Everyone had a blast! I was quite impressed by his availability - he was taking pictures and signing autographs with fans both before and after the show. True, we had to pay for the Polaroid - and, yes, we got one - but I was still impressed. We were even so bold as to put a Tortuga cinch pack and two of our DVDs (Swordfighting & Stupidity and Tortugapalooza 2: Spies) in his hands saying, "We enjoy your work so much, please have some of ours."

The Charlotte Tortuga Twins Fan Club Meet-n-Greet was an enormous success! All three Tortugaz had a very good time eating and bowling - yes, bowling - with fan club members new and true alike. We kicked it at the Dave & Busters in the Concord Mills shopping center. The topics ranged everywhere from NASCAR racing to what we were going to do for the holidays. There were many hugs & kisses and much laughter, and fan club member Ada Whitten even received the child’s bike Ronn used for his "Mission Impossible" segment in the Palooza 2 DVD. That’s right; we’re givers, people. It was a very fun evening, and special Tortuga thanx goes out to Fan Club members Sharyn Watson, Marcelene Watson, Kimberly Haynes, Debbie Stegall, Frank DeFeo, Brian Holloway, Tonya Greer, Emily Nelson, and Ada Whitten for braving the chill and the wind, dragging friends and family out for what turned out to be such a grand event. (Former Fan Club member Kerrie Harrington renewed her membership after attending soiree, so she gets honorable mention.) You touch our hearts with your friendship, and we thank you for it.

 

A fantastic meal at the Carolina Meet-n-Greet

Kerrie Harrington's not sure about her Fan Club Membership - Renew, Runner, Renew!!!

Jef preaches his bowling wisdom to the Tortuga Masses

And finally, we arrive at Louisiana. As mentioned last month, we spent a week shooting in New Orleans for a new cell phone game with Minnesota Tortuga friends Omar and Samantha. As I stated in my October journal, this game is Omar’s dream child, and you can check it out for yourself atwww.agentdisco.com.

Work, work, work? Was that all we did in New Orleans? Hell no! We had us some New Orleans-style fun while we were there, too. I guar-on-tee! We ate, we drank (soda for me, please), we laughed.... We even watched a preliminary of shooting of a new Brad Pitt movie. (Actually, he’s not scheduled to be shooting in New Orleans until January. But, what the hell, we saw what we saw.) It’s set in the 30’s, judging from the gorgeous vehicles they were driving back and forth before the cameras. More than that, you’ll have to wait and see... just like me.

 

Jef Hall as -Mon Pere- poses with Samantha and Omar, before the Agent Disco Shoot

Yes, it's a tire swing - but at least it's in a bar

Relaxing at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville on Decatur in New Orleans

Now, Riki, where are your pictures of said shooting? Well, I hate to say it, but I broke my camera this trip. I’m hoping to have a replacement before next journal is due, but we’ll have to wait and see on that, too, now won’t we? Fear not. I’ll have my camera finger snapping madly again in no time.

That’s all for now, my Tortugaholics. You have a wonderful holiday season. Don’t drink too much eggnog, but make sure you spend more time under the mistletoe this year. Not sure what my New Year’s resolution will be yet. I’m toying with no more soda, but I did that for 2005. We’ll see. This year was to keep all my books balanced. I did it, but it would have been far more difficult without the use of Quicken. Consider this a Tortuga endorsement - I highly recommend it!

Okay, I’ve blabbed on enough. Happy Holidays! Tell people you love them! Ciao for now, Tortugaholics!