Sure enough, they did. I don’t care how big a Giants fan you are, you hadda be watching that offense do nothing possession after possession, then settle for field goals, wondering, “Are they gonna choke?”

Luckily, this is the Eli Manning I was happy to see the Giants deal for back on draft day and pass on the chance at Phillip Rivers. Rivers may have great stats, but I always thought Eli could be the type of QB the Giants have needed since Phil Simms retired. Calm, no nonsense, efficient, and smart. No, he’s not the stat machine Peyton is, but…who’s got more rings and more MVP awards in the game that really counts? Who’s got the better playoff record? Who’s still got far fewer postseason starts, with the chance to keep getting better with more time left in his career?

Something else. And, I tweeted about this last nite to Adam Schefter. Hey, before people start lionizing Tom Coughlin as some legendary head coach, let’s remember, for the past 2.5 seasons, he’s been coaching for his job on a regular basis. Deservedly so. Yes, he earned credit for the 2007 Super Bowl season. But by the same token, he absolutely deserves the criticism that comes from having his team totally fall apart around him in the wake of the Plaxico Burress debacle, and then two second-half collapses during the regular season that *earned* him his place on the hot seat. This year? Let’s take off the Giants fan hats for a minute and look at this season. 9-7. That was it. And, that includes two horrendous losses to a Redskins team that wasn’t going anywhere, a reprehensible loss at home to the Eagles—a severely beaten up team playing with their backup QB, and that miracle game in Dallas, where they were losing by 12 with 3:30 to go. Dallas doesn’t choke (which they did a *lot* this season), year is over and done with right there. I know, I know, it *could* have been an ugly ending to the season. But, that’s something to keep in mind. This Giants team is pretty talented. But are they, with the beaten up secondary and Justin Tuck not being 100% a good portion of the year, and the various injuries on offense, *better* than the teams that absolutely folded like lawn chairs after starting 6-2?

Nope, and that’s the point. Coughlin was hailed by retired QB Steve Young a few weeks back after the Atlanta win as a “great motivator.” Okay, fine. Where was that motivation the past three seasons? I know winning the big one gives you the free pass the following year, I don’t mind that. But Tom Coughlin has been on the hot seat repeatedly in his Giants career for one reason—he belonged there. His teams weren’t performing.

Listen, winning a Super Bowl is hard. Everyone knows that. But…other Super Bowl winning coaches have gotten fired. Mike Shanahan won two in a row and still got fired. John Gruden won a Super Bowl and got fired a couple seasons later. It happens. And, if your team has a habit of being streaky and inconsistent (and, a 9-7 regular season finish this year, I would bet my writing career, would have been his last had he not won the division. (Largely thanks to the choking ways of the Cowboys and the Eagles absolutely turning in the underperformance of the past ten years).

This year was all about Eli Manning. His ability to bear down and do things on 3rd down you rarely see this frequently. I’m not about to go jumping for joy about Kevin Gilbride calling the offense, either. Let’s face it—you don’t draw up that David Tyree miracle catch from their last Super Bowl meeting with New England, and you don’t draw up yesterday’s Mario Manningham grab late in the 4th, either. The Giants offense, which looked amazing against the Falcons and Packers, was far from potent today. If Wes Welker catches that gimme touchdown? In all likelihood, game over. Tough to say whether or not the Giants offense would have scored another TD had Bradshaw gone down in the final minutes, too. I think it’s accurate to say the Pats gave them the score, because it made sense. But besides that first quarter touchdown and some nice, individual passing plays, did you ever get the feeling the Giants O could take charge? Nope, and I really think a better coached team would have run away with this thing early. Not often you get those kinds of gifts and possessions with the opportunity to tear out a team’s throat. And yeah, penalties are part of the game. But this Giants offense was going up against a pretty poorly rated D. Middle of the pack in points allowed? Okay, let’s just take that stat. Giants drives were bogging down regularly, they were inconsistent moving the ball, they got a 2 point gift on a Patriots penalty in the end zone. Hardly what we saw in Green Bay 3 weeks ago, was it?

So, not to be overly critical, because all that counts is getting the W when there’s only one game left to play. They did it, and deserve the congrats and the free pass the coaching staff gets next year. But lets at least be honest about how this team played over the entire season, remember why it was that the coaching staff were getting hammered by fans and pundits alike, and remember that the Giants are the first 9-7 team to win the Super Bowl. Giants have two Super Bowl wins with Coughlin and Manning. Belichik and Brady are now only 3-2 in Super Bowls, but…wouldn’t you want the Patriots kind of consistency and a *shot* at having Coughlin and Manning in *5* title games as opposed to going 9-7, 8-8, 8-8 over the past couple of years?

I know what I want, and that’s for a Giants 2012 team that should only get better to get at least 10 regular season wins, play tough game-in, game-out, and make the playoffs. The D should be improved, as Jason Pierre Paul keeps getting better, Osi and Tuck get time to heal up in the offseason, the secondary can get back to 100%, and management shores up the LB position. There’s the draft, and a good corps of receivers we can add to. Maybe some O line help and finding a piece or two to help out at tight end. We just won a Super Bowl—and there’s plenty of room to improve. We don’t have to win three in a row, but I’d sure like the chance to be in the playoffs as regularly as a team like the Steelers or Patriots have been the last several years, wouldn’t you? I’m a lifelong Giants fan. I bleed blue. But I’m also a realist. The playoffs are where the Giants have made noise, and getting there regularly?

That’s the kind of thing that usually keeps your coach off the hot seat.
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Currently listening to: Dragula by Rob Zombie

Anyway, while I endeavor to keep mucous from getting all over my space bar, here’s a quick update on what’s happening on this end.

My novel, Torn to Pieces, is being proofed by friends and fellow authors, as we ready it for release on Kindle, NOOK, and whatever other e-book options exist. Not being a Kindle or NOOK user myself, I’m sure there’s other means of getting e-books into the hands of readers, so feel free to clue the blind guy in on what’s available by dropping me an e-mail.

As well, we’re scheduling the photo shoot for the CHASERS upload (if you missed the chance to download it for free for Xmas, relax, it’ll only be .99 cents when we put it up again). That one generated some really nice responses, and to everyone who gave it a look-see and commented, you have my thanks.

Stuff Out’a My Head 2 is in the works, which I’m really jazzed about, because with the growing acceptance of e-books, now I don’t have to worry about the cost of printing if I want to make the thing 300 pages…or more. I guess once we format it, I’ll have a better idea, but I’m going to put in a lot more than I was able to with Stuff 1.

So, that’s it. Just a quickie report so loyalists don’t think I’ve abandoned the blog completely. Next update’ll likely concern the upcoming release of my debut feature film, The Bunker, and what international fests/markets it’ll be offered at. Yep, international film markets, The Bunker is headed overseas!

‘Til next time…

Hawkeye
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Currently listening to: Immigrant Song, covered by Karen O feat. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, from Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (which I highly recommend.)
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Like horror? Mystery novels? Thrillers? Well, click FOLLOW here & keep up with everything the blind guy’s doing—including breaking new ground in the film industry:

http://www.twitter.com/josephmonks

1) Herman Cain
Loser. Announced his bid for the republican nomination for president. Took the country by storm (and surprise), quickly rising to the top of the polls. Then, rumors of affairs, accusations of sexual harassment, and a series of embarrassments drove him to the sidelines. Welcome to politics, Herman. Maybe try running for a House or Senate seat first next time.

2) Albert Pujols
Winner. At 41, in all likelihood he’ll be well, well past his prime, but the contract he just signed with the California Angels will still be paying him more than 25 mil per season. Who knows? By then the economy might even turn around. Which leads us to…

3) Anybody looking for a job.
Losers. Let’s face it folks, the stimulis plan was a disaster, and it’s been three years. The man at the top and his economic policies blow. My guess is even the most rabid Bush-haters’d trade 2011 for 2005, with it’s 5.3% unemployment rate and a booming housing market. As the twitterverse would put it: #EpicFail

4) ebook authors
Winners. E-publishing is finally viewed as legitimate, and as a result many quality writers have been able to carve out a spot for themselves without the hassle of needing an agent to beat down the doors of a traditional publishing house. Unfortunately, this also leads to…

5) ebook readers
Losers. No, not the Nook, Kindle or other devices—I’m talking actual readers. Human beings. All you folks who like to turn a page, be it pulp or pixels. The market’s been flooded with more garbage than the average river near a chemical plant, and trust me, no matter how many .99 cent offerings you plod through, there are a lot of non-quality writers doing the same thing they did when self-published chapbooks were the order of the day. True, they’re no longer killing trees. Just brain cells.

6) The Indianapolis Colts
Losers. Sure, they may get their own version of Aaron Rodgers in Andrew Luck, who’ll learn behind Peyton Manning. But boy, how the loss of one guy really put this franchise into the toilet. Sure, other guys have been hurt and put on IR, etc. But…come on. This team started the season in pretty decent shape aside from quarterback. Until a couple of weeks ago, they were looking like they’d match the Lions from a couple seasons back and go winless. (The Tennessee Titans sure wish they would have). Still, the biggest reason the Colts are losers? Simply because of how quickly they were exposed without Manning under center. In 2012, I expect the bulls-eye to be on a still-recovering Manning, regardless of how risky it’s been to blitz him in the past. Put him on the sideline for a couple series, this team isn’t just different, it’s gutted.

7) Casey Anthony
The only person to make this list in both categories, Winner and Loser. Sure, she got away with the murder of her child. In doing so, however, she avoids prison only to face death threats and be the most hated woman in the United States. Probably some other countries too—and she doesn’t even live there.

The Occupy… movement
Losers. “What?!” you say. “But…look at what they accomplished!” Exactly. They burned bright, burned brief, and…where are they now? They’ve been run out of almost all their encampments. They managed to tick off the very people they wanted to have on their side. They’re getting virtually no ink at present, and my guess is they probably won’t be able to recapture the media’s attention without doing something extreme—which would only marginalize them further. So, yeah, for a short time they held the world’s attention. But you know what? Justin Bieber has more staying power. What’s that tell you about the mark Occupy… has left overall?

9) Drew Brees
Winner. Breaking a record is one thing, but breaking a record that’s stood for 27 years, and was held by one of the greatest passers of all time in Dan Marino…with another game left to add to it? Well done, sir, well done.

10) Creators & Intellectual property holders
Losers. You’d think that congress wanting to crack down on piracy would be a good thing, at least in principle. But, this SOPA bill is so poorly crafted that you now have creators and rightsholders clamoring for its defeat. No wonder congress’ approval rating is lower than Mel Gibson’s…

and, just outside the Top 10…

11) You—if you like readin’ horror stories
Yep, for fans of extreme horror, I’m leaving up CHASERS, my grim Xmas tale, for an extra week. Scroll back to the last column, or click here and grab it:

http://tinyurl.com/cy835zp

Thanks for stopping by, here’s wishing you a safe and healthy New Year’s, and all my wishes for everything in 2012 to be positive for you! (Well, maybe not an HIV test, but still…)

–Joe

Been shooting a lot of music video stuff, and working with a band and a solo musician on two songs for an upcoming project. Not being a musician (I played the cello in HS, but that was about the last time I picked up an instrument with any level of competence), that’s been alternately thrilling and frustrating, but great progress is being made.

As for the horror. On the video shoot a couple of weeks ago, we dragged out my casket (yep, it’s a real authentic post-mortem 1 room apartment), and shot a little anniversary shout out for the fine folks at LatinHorror.com. You can check it out here:

Very happy to contribute to the anniversary well-wishes, and to do something creative in just 20 seconds. The whole run of videos will be shown prior to the Anthology Film Archive event next week in New York City, so if you’re gonna be there, you can wait. If not? Click the link and let the guys at LH know you dig it.

Big announcement coming in the next day or two, been finalizing arrangements for the past few weeks. Keep checkin’ in, I’m chompin’ at the bit about this one.
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Currently listening to: Diffuzion – Dbd (While You Can)

Tomorrow I’m meeting up with our makeup F/X artist to pick up some new gory goodies, and we’re going to talk about some more work I’m throwing his way for the next shoot. I’m hoping we can arrange that before Zombiecon in mid-October.

Tomorrow night, I’m hooking up with two of the band members, too, and the lead singer for another group who’s interested in getting a video shot. I caught the band a couple of weeks back in Naples, we shot some performance footage, and now I’m hoping we can start working out the details for one of their originals. Between festivals and some upcoming travel, it might be hit-and-miss, especially since they’re scheduling a bunch of gigs. Still, I think we ought to be able to make it happen.

Okay, back to the grind. Got more cast and crew to schedule. As Pam and I get to go over the raw footage and stills, we’ll be uploading more pics here and then into a Facebook gallery. Check back for links to that once it’s posted.
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Currently listening to: Rebels by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
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Speaking of Facebook, if you’re there, give us a Like or become a friend or whatever it is people do when they connect. I’m at:

http://www.facebook.com/JosephMMonks

and

http://www.facebook.com/joemonks

As well, the official FB page for my debut feature, The Bunker, is at:
http://www.facebook.com/thebunkermovie

Yours truly giving DP Eric Valdes the lowdown on what I want in the next
shot. Alex Wilson is seen running docu-cam.

“Listen, it’s simple. Alex, you fall off the catwalk and land face-first on
the concrete floor. Eric, you dolly around him in a circle Matrix-style.
What’s so tough about that?” Okay, not quite, but we did get a good take. I
was happy, at least…

Eric doing a little hand-held, stalking Monique (actress Stella Ruiz)
through a creepy warehouse.

Tomorrow I’m meeting up with our makeup F/X artist to pick up some new gory goodies, and we’re going to talk about some more work I’m throwing his way for the next shoot. I’m hoping we can arrange that before Zombiecon in mid-October.

Tomorrow night, I’m hooking up with two of the band members, too, and the lead singer for another group who’s interested in getting a video shot. I caught the band a couple of weeks back in Naples, we shot some performance footage, and now I’m hoping we can start working out the details for one of their originals. Between festivals and some upcoming travel, it might be hit-and-miss, especially since they’re scheduling a bunch of gigs. Still, I think we ought to be able to make it happen.

Okay, back to the grind. Got more cast and crew to schedule. As Pam and I get to go over the raw footage and stills, we’ll be uploading more pics here and then into a Facebook gallery. Check back for links to that once it’s posted.
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Currently listening to: Rebels by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
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Speaking of Facebook, if you’re there, give us a Like or become a friend or whatever it is people do when they connect. I’m at:

http://www.facebook.com/JosephMMonks

and

http://www.facebook.com/joemonks

As well, the official FB page for my debut feature, The Bunker, is at:
http://www.facebook.com/thebunkermovie

I work out of South Florida. Tropical storms and hurricanes come with the territory. It’ll be a hassle if we need to resched the music video shoot planned for this week, but it won’t kill us. Sucks, but what can you do? Pretty much everyone here is in the same boat. Actors, my crew, everybody. This happened with The Bunker, not once, but twice. Bad weather ripped up our shooting schedule and tossed it, quite literally, into the wind. Not only that, but an equally brutal winter storm trashed a shoot up in New York/New Jersey, so for me, it’s nothing new.

It’s quarter of 7 and I’m running on about 5.5 hours sleep, which ain’t all bad, considering. Already sent out e-mails to start figuring out what kind of juggling will be necessary to work around everyone’s availability. We were shooting some stuff last week when one cameraman had to change dates, but we still got some good stuff for The Bunker documentary. Now the sets are being repurposed for something new, and between now and the maybe-landfall predicted for Thursday, I’ve got time to do some more building.

Let the rain, wind and splinters bring it on.
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You on Facebook? Give these pages a like & keep up to date with what’s going on with the world’s first blind feature film director:

http://www.facebook.com/thebunkermovie

and

http://www.facebook.com/JosephMMonks

If you’re into Farmville, I got a hurricane I can send you, starting later this week.
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Currently listening to: Every Me, Every You by Placebo

Got to see some folks I hadn’t seen in a long time, since I haven’t been up North to a Chiller show in a while. Kane Hodder was there, menacing as always, making fans happy. Spent some time with Tiffany Shepis and her hubby (and yes, finally grabbed a copy of Bonnie & Clyde versus Dracula for some home entertainment. Hooked up with director Chris Kahler, who’s currently wrapping on the official remake of Plan 9 From Outer Space (under the film’s originally-intended title, Graverobbers from Outer Space).

So, come back from the fest, where we had a kick-ass Bunker screening and Q&A, got invited to two other fests, started working on a proposal with Commodity Films’ Russell Hess for a new movie project, and began prepping here at home for some Bunker docu shooting. There was footage we needed to re-do from the original Making of… documentary, plus additional interviews to be conducted. With a new film composer on board and other aspects of the process of making the film we didn’t originally cover, I decided to flesh out the docu so it was more of a complete package. Since we’ve been talking to some potential distro partners for a wider release, that sounded to all like a good idea.

Building sets is a bitch, I don’t care if you’re blind or not. Blind slows things down even further, though, as does working with only one or two other guys—as they’re available. Still…

We were at Backstreets the other night, talking about the footage I wanted to shoot, the different backdrops I wanted, etc. Since we’re in a full-sized warehouse, we decided that it’d be very easy to recycle one set into something different, and possibly use it for something else. Knowing as many bands as I do, it didn’t take long to start talking about a music video to make all the building really worthwhile. So now that’s on the table, too, on a tight turnaround, since I only have the warehouse through the end of August. Tell you what, though. If I hit the Lotto, I’m buying the unit right next door and turning it into a film studio. This place is awesome. It’s out by the small, private airport so it’s quiet, the walls are thick enough to drown out any sound, the A/C can run 24/7 without interfering with a take, and I already mentioned it’s huge. Full loading dock with dual truck bays, two enormous spaces for sound stages. Hell, I’ll be making sure to throw a buck at this week’s prize, no doubt. Somebody’s gotta win, right?

Also, progress on the eBook is coming along, as are two new screenplays. One of them would probably be done right now if it wasn’t for the warehouse space presenting itself and having to put things aside to get festival materials out and shooting the docu stuff. I’m probably at about the 70% mark on the horror screenplay, and a little over 10% in on something more mainstream. After all, horror might be my thing, but I already have a promising urban fantasy screenplay and biker flick script in the PITCH ME drawer. I needed something more accessible to round it out.

There. That’s the update for now, since I have a ringing phone on my hip and another on my desk. My guess is, I’d better answer one of them…
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Currently listening to: Turn the Page by Bob Seger

Well, yes. Because I’ve had it forever, and I really don’t want to go through the hassle of replacing it. Yeah, it’s old. But it’s simple, and for me, it works. How old is it? Well, it has rotary dial, that should give you a pretty good idea.

Okay, so maybe not quite *that* old. It isn’t coated in amber or anything, and it did come with a built-in camera. Was always a bitch for Pam to load in the black and white film canister, but still…

You see where I’m coming from. And, it’s not that I’m too cheap to get a spiffy new model. Fact is, on the plan Pam and I have, I qualify for an upgrade to pretty much anything I want. A smartphone. Droid, whatever it is that Verizon offers, I’m long overdue for one.

But I don’t want that. All I want is a phone with 14 buttons. The numbers, pound and asterisk symbols, SEND and END. I’d be happy with that and that alone. Being blind, I don’t need to surf the web, watch movies, do e-mail, text…none of that. I don’t want to play Angry Birds, tend a virtual farm, or to video chat. I just want to make and receive phone calls. I did, after all, get a phone, right? I don’t need it to be my MP3 player and audio book reader. I have devices I bought specifically for those activities, and I got those things for a reason. It’s nice those are available in a phone, but if all I want’s a glorified piece of waxed string with two very long-range tin cups on the ends…why can’t I simply buy one?

Anyway, Pam says she found me one on eBay, same as the one I currently have, which is disintegrating piece by piece. According to eBay, the seller has great feedback and I should get this thing in a week or so.

Now, if only Pam would stop reminding me she found it in the Antiques & Collectibles section…
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Currently listening to: Lowlife by Kid Rock

No, not a pre-screening test audience. But Mindy the dog is excited–come
out to the Fright Night Film Fest this weekend and see why.

My prep, as always, is going down to the wire. Since we just got the paperwork from Combichrist, Eric is retooling the sound in Miami, where I will be picking up locked-cut DVDs on Thursday. The film look has been completed and those who’ve seen it are really blown away. Thanks to the guys at Skrubahl for helping out on that end of things, particularly Charles, who’s been burning the 3:00 a.m. oil a lot lately. How do I know? It’s all about the late-night calls in the weeks leading up to the festival, and we’ve had plenty o’ those as of late.

So, the new & vastly improved Bunker rolls out this Sunday at the festival. New characters. New storyline. New twists added. If you were one of the folks who got to see the earlier cut, you’ll still be able to recognize the core of the film, although it is a much-changed beast.

Ready to be unleashed…come this Sunday. Hope to catch you there. I’ll be the guy in the dark sunglasses—who doesn’t need ‘em for the sun.
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Currently listening to: The Middle by Jimmy Eat World