Tuesday, August 18, 2009

A contest and some nostalgia

Today I went into work hoping to get the VHS tapes onto which a coworker of mine has been recording True Blood Season 2. I am nearly done with Season 1 and I am hooked. I LOVE the show! Sadly, I might be adding HBO to my cable in time for the next season.

She had lent the videos out to another worker, however, so I stayed around and chatted with some others. There is A/C in the break room! As we were all sitting around the table, one of them said, "Hey Peter, don't you like to write?" He slid a section of the newspaper over to me. There is a contest being held by the Seattle Times to promote the musical Wicked that will be here in Seattle next month.

The contest is a challenge to write the back story of a character from literature. The examples they gave were "Why was Humpty Dumpty on the wall" and "Why did Little Bo Peep lose her sheep". The grand prize for the contest consists of two free tickets to see the show on September 15, an copy of the book autographed by the author, a backstage tour at the Paramount (I'm guessing to meet some of the actors?) and "Wicked prize pack". For those of you who may not know, Wicked is the musical based on the book by Gregory Maguire that tells the story about the Wicked Witch of the West from Oz. So you can see how appropriate this contest is!

Now, I have already bought a ticket to see Wicked. But I LOVE to write and several ideas started popping into my head as I looked at the contest details. If I like the show even half as much as people say I will, then I'll probably want to see it again anyway! I rushed home and in an hour had a story written out. I as going to post the story here, but I realized that it might be against contest rules to do so. Besides, do I really want anyone else to see (and possibly copy!) my award-winning idea?

So, if anyone out there wants to read what I am planning to submit for the contest, send me a message and I will send you the story - along with a contract you must sign that states that you will not steal the idea and submit it so you can win those tickets to see Wicked! I trust you! I promise! hehehe

The other excited news for me today came in a text message from my friend Neil. He told me that Pete's Dragon was released on DVD today! Now, I've had it on DVD for several years now and Disney has been really bad about re-releasing movies on DVD with stupid "new bonus features" that just aren't worth another $20. But I did a little snooping on the Net and discovered that on this new edition there is a brand new documentary about the making of the movie narrated by Sean Marshall (the boy who played Pete) as an adult today! There are also some "pop" versions of the songs from the movie and a deleted song with storyboards!

Okay, truth be told, I probably would have bought the new DVD even if there hadn't been so much new stuff on it. This goes against my belief of supporting the movie companies who consistently re-release movies on DVD to get more money out of people like me who crave new special features. I usually won't buy a new DVD of a movie I already own. People who know me, however, know how much I have always loved the Pete's Dragon. It is one of my favorite movies from my childhood and it will always hold a special place in my little gay heart.

Is it really surprising that I rushed down to Best Buy to buy a copy?

5 comments:

Gavin said...

We've been talking about introducing "Pete's Dragon" to Bronte. She has a thing for dragons and we have a great storybook of "Puff the Magic Dragon" that she loves... so we think it's about time for her to enjoy "Pete's Dragon". I just hope she can make it through the opening number with the villains trying to catch Pete.

Benj said...

I've always struggled with the horrific things that the Gogan brothers said they were going to do to Pete in that song. I was babysitting kids many years ago and the girl asked why they would do those things to Pete and I said, "It's so sad that there are bad people like that. Thank goodness Pete has a dragon to protect him!" That seemed to do the trick. I hope Bronte likes it! If she is into dragons, you might also see if you can find the Reluctant Dragon. I think it's out on DVD.

marQy said...

Good luck on the contest! I'll be patient and wait till you post it here.

Dori said...

Can you please email me the information about entering the contest at dodemonkey@yahoo.com please? I was looking forward to entering the contest, but my mom recycled the newspaper with all of the info on it and I can't find it anywhere online. Thanks!

Benj said...

I don't have the address or anything any more. There was a slip of paper on the page I was given in the paper that had it, but I had to mail it with my entry, so I no longer have it. You might try calling the Seattle Times and seeing if they can help you? I tried looking online for information, too...especially the contest rules, but couldn't find anything - except my own blog lol. I'd try calling the Seattle Times and trying to get the address from them. On the slip of paper they had me put my name, daytime phone and birthday. Good luck!