Ken Hanley's Blog-O-Matic

Power Hour

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:19:02 -0400

The self-proclaimed bitch king of kicking ass is back, and he’s here to help you lose weight fast! Watch something I helped make!

Power Hour

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:19:02 -0400

Power Hour:

The self-proclaimed bitch king of kicking ass is back, and he’s here to help you lose weight fast! Watch something I helped make!

Sober: Hate, Van Halen and Screenwriting

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:15:00 -0500

It’s 3:43 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012. I woke up around 11 a.m. this morning, watched a terrible Hellraiser sequel and then the season 2 finale of Mad Men on Netflix. A very 50/50 kind of morning, although that sort of is the theme of this journal entry.

The past couple days has had a rather surprising amount of sobering moments in the past two days. The first of, which I haven’t addressed publicly yet, have been the hate graffiti and death threats that have been going around the MSU campus. These have been incredibly sobering for me, as even though my past transgressions were not of hate but rather a desperate need for shock value attention, I have learned much more about the weight of those words from these recent incidents than from any previous punishment I’d had.

My mentality and my conscience have long been at war over what’s right and wrong. Personally, I was raised to know that any act of hate against anyone is wrong, unnecessary, and shameful. I’ve also been one to defend with my life the right to joke about whatever you want, as no subject should be off the table. Yet the line between making fun and torment is incredibly blurry, and with these threats against the Black and LGBT communities at Montclair it’s so easy to see how words and thoughts can be used for outright evil shit.

What bothers me the most, believe it or not, is that this shit is going on at college. Who the fuck is in such dire times at college that they have to torment gays and blacks? College should be the best four years of your life, period. Years of enlightment, passion, exploration and most of all, fun. And the fact that people, and I state people because these are the acts of a group mentality, have to “teach a lesson” via grammatically incorrect death threats make me realize there is a seriously misguided view of college life. How about instead of writing death threats you spend your time, I don’t know, ENJOYING COLLEGE? Go out. Meet people. Meet women. See a movie. Pirate a movie. Fuck, just don’t do that, you idiots.

And to the members of MSU who probably aren’t reading this, you have to realize this isn’t about stopping hate. Hate is here to stay, like it or not. And when you have a college that allows students from around the country to attend, you have to realize that hate is bred within regions just as much as it’s in people. It’s about quarantining the hate. Give these kids something else to do besides writing “nigger black bitches” or “Fags will die” on a dorm room door. Unite our students by giving them alternatives to bring them together. Maybe if these scumbags go to an event and meet a black or gay kid and think they’re cool, maybe that does more to prevent these things than anything else.

And I’m the last person to talk, knowing my track record. I’ve said and done terrible things in my life, and probably shouldn’t have gotten such a weak comeuppance. But I’ve learned from many of these mistakes, and I hope that these people can better themselves as I’ve tried to do.

But I digress. I’ve got other things to bore you people about than just hate crimes. For instance, Van Halen’s new album dropped yesterday, entitled “A Different Kind of Truth.” And here’s what I gotta say about it: It’s 50 percent of a great album. Diamond Dave’s voice is not for the digital era, and is nowhere near as good as his heyday. The riff’s are harder than vintage Halen, but some songs are really fuckin’ catchy and, dare I say, good. Just as many are good, others are goofy, ill-paced and even a chore to finish. Tracks like “China Town”, “Blood and Fire”, “Outta Space” and “Big River” feel like the Van Halen I know and love, whereas “She’s the Woman”, ”You and Your Blues” and “As Is” are so close to being great songs that I wish there was just a great producer like Rick Rubin or The Dust Brothers to reign this album in.

Meanwhile, tracks like “Tattoo”, “Bullethead”, “Honeybabysweetiedoll” and “Beats Workin” show us there are still flaws in this restored vehicle, and “Stay Frosty” and “The Trouble with Never” fall into a bizarre grey area where the lyrics/delivery derail what had potential to be a good goddamn song. If anything, it’s not a bad album at all, but it’s not good. If anything, it’s half and half, but then again it’s got twice the songs that these guys are used to releasing in their prime. So I’ll call it a victory, and I hope them better success with this resurgance than GnR had.

Lastly, I’ve been having a very awesome past couple weeks. Opportunites may be opening soon, and the next chapter of my life may soon begin. My creative juices have been stronger than ever, and I really do love my new screenplay, even though the latter half should use some tweaking. I have to run to work now, I’m hoping I can start tumbling again on this temporary computer. Thanks for reading once again.

This will always be my wedding gifts.

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:32:24 -0500

This will always be my wedding gifts.

"In a life or death situation, I will always choose the prostitute over the retarded child."

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:24:40 -0500

“In a life or death situation, I will always choose the prostitute over the retarded child.”

- Me, when discussing an island survival question with my own mother.

I will not eat cat poop.

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:19:57 -0500

I will not eat cat poop.

“Have you ever met… Dracula?”

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:12:14 -0500

“Have you ever met… Dracula?”

Technically, he’s dead Meth Producer.

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:03:29 -0500

Technically, he’s dead Meth Producer.

I’m comin’ back, Tumblrsphere! GET READY! I WANT...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:46:13 -0500

I’m comin’ back, Tumblrsphere! GET READY! I WANT YOU!

This is a picture of Kurt Angle in ‘Dylan Dog: Dead of...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:37:35 -0500

This is a picture of Kurt Angle in ‘Dylan Dog: Dead of Night’. This is not a halloween mask. This is the product of a high-budgeted hollywood production.

R.I.P. Patrice. You’ll be missed.

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:59:56 -0500

R.I.P. Patrice. You’ll be missed.

I'll Be Brak...

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:41:36 -0500

Still dealing with a broken computer and little free time. Expect me soon.

Re: My Girl Likes To Tumblr All The Time

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:46:10 -0400

Expect erratic tumblring. My cpu is on the fritz. Must surf web discreetly.

Tumblr in the Bronx

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:14:36 -0400

It’s 1:43 p.m. on Thursday, and I’ve got work in less than 2 hours. I’m craving chinese food, I haven’t gone to community service the past two days and tonight is the highly-anticipated Karaoke Contest. It’s also 50 cent beer night, and I MUST do Community Service tomorrow, so my drinking is going to be limited.

The past week has been quite good, although my normal journal entries have lagged due to my all-too-busy schedule of drinking and eating late at night. I’ve earned a bit of money recently so I’ve been less depressed, except when I woke up this morning after a social nightmare that made me realize how cold and alone I am in the world. But that’ll probably get back to me in the future, so I’ll ignore it for now.

This week I also learned I’ll be seeing Book of Mormon for free within the next two months, so I’m very excited about that. As much as I love visiting the city, I love free stuff too and quality bonding time, so I’ve got high hopes. I also found my blu-ray copy of Insidious, which makes the fact that current film club president and professional buffoon Dandriola had to spend twenty dollarinos on a new copy. On the other hand, I must commend him for the HUGE turnout yesterday. That’s how you do a screening, motherfucker.

Other things that happened this week was a wonderful trip to the IHOP in Middletown, where we saw a Wig Store that was robbed. I wish I took the picture of the “Wig Store Robbed/Wig’s Stolen” sign, but I didn’t, and I’ll regret that forever. I also was able to enjoy my days off with my friends Danny and Big Daddy D, who accompanied me for several fun events, including last nights film screening and drinks at Fridays.

As for the contest ahead of me, I must decide what song I’ll perform for the contest. I came in second place last time, so I don’t know if I can win, but I hope I do. I’ll never turn down free money. So, I’ve been settled on Matisyahu’s “King Without A Crown” but I’ve also been debating Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time” and “What Is Life?” by George Harrison. It’s gonna come down to the wire, I know it.

I’ve got only so much time before work, and my 10 hour work day tomorrow is going to really blow so I need to enjoy the little time I do have. I’ll probably blog saturday and I’ll give you the rundown on the karaoke contest, my financial/love life, and of course, my impending work-exhaustion/nervous breakdown.

Too tired to blog. Please, accept this picture of evil...

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 03:16:06 -0400

Too tired to blog. Please, accept this picture of evil Christopher Lloyd as penance.

Admit it. You would.

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:47:51 -0400

Admit it. You would.

I will piggyback on any political cause as long as I can one day...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:55:06 -0400

I will piggyback on any political cause as long as I can one day marry an animal.

“It’s a tough world. These kids nearly got ...

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:12:45 -0400

“It’s a tough world. These kids nearly got Munsoned, but they’re back now. Through the Unified Fund, I found out that if you give a little, you can get back a whole lot more.”

Mr. Mac - Helping Young Painters become Young Models.

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:29:36 -0400

Mr. Mac - Helping Young Painters become Young Models.

The Indian and the Tumblr

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:25:00 -0400

It’s 1:41 a.m. on a Monday Morning and my tongue is numb. Night 1 of sleeping pills backfired and now I’m stuck with a numb tongue, sorta-not-really watching Paranormal Activity 2 and trying to get the opening sax riff of “Bakers Street” out of my fucking head.

In absence of yesterday’s journal entry, I’ll use this entry to recap my weekend, as well as air my grievance with the most popular new band in rock music and talk about my problems of writing both feature films and television.

First off, I had a good weekend. From my last blog entry, I didn’t get any sleep that night so I went to work as a sleep-deprived grump. Luckily, the day wasn’t too bad, and although it was very busy at times, I was on break during most of that. I also had a short shift today which, thanks to three missing employees, was pretty terrible and rushed.

However, everything non-work related was very good. I spent Saturday Night with a Chevy’s drinks and movie trip to see The Thing with my good friend Garrett. The movie certainly wasn’t the best and certainly not the prequel that the Carpenter film deserved, but it had several inspired moments and was better than I expected. Then again, take the praise with a grain of salt because I was drunk as shit. I’ve gotta sit by the bar at Chevy’s more often. I also spent Sunday with my friends Danny, Lucas and George, indulging in the poor service of the Middletown IHOP and then going to Best Buy where I observed things I can’t afford. Yep, I’m also a second rate Tucker Max.

Today was also the day where I realized that the Kings Of Leon are not my cup of tea. Before I start with my issues with the band, I must acknowledge a few pieces of praise I have for them. The first is that they are talented, as they are instrumentally proficient and are great with composition. Second off, I can understand why they are popular, as their sound is different enough to stray away from the Nickelback-Hinder-Finger Eleven alternative rock yet mainstream enough to keep a loyal, enthusiastic fanbase. Third off, I have to give them respect for not selling out to Glee. Good for them.

That being said, I have several issues with the band, although my dumbass knows my opinion will never matter. But for whatever reason, I can’t listen to them. The music just doesn’t gel as well as most other music and it might be just because they don’t bring anything new to the table. It feels like a predetermined safe sound under the guise of innovative indie-darlingness. I really think that the group approaches their releases in their self-important atmosphere and assume that by doing what they’re doing they’ll be consistently wonderful. But it feels like the progression of music relies importantly on groups like this evolving, changing sounds and endearing hostility.

Look at the Beatles, R.E.M., Faith No More, Beastie Boys, etc. Many of music’s greatest groups only earned the respect of fans and peers by making radical changes to their sound and their approach to music. But with KOL, it feels like a group that won’t think outside the box as the fear of failure outweighs the need to grow. To me, they’re the anti-Radiohead, and their uninspired music really does nothing for me. I hope one day they’ll take their experiences in the industry and turn into a truly hopeful, reinvigorated group with a dangerous disposition. But, I won’t hold my breath.

I’ve also had a big problem with writer’s block lately as well as keeping focus on a single problem. It’s hard for a writer to devote his time and passion on a single product as we are given inspiration daily for new concepts. And it’s worse when you have to decide what medium to aim for. On one hand, writing a feature is a satisfying medium as you completely create a singular story with a three act structure and a known ending. On the other hand, writing short form or television is great for larger stories with expansive character backgrounds and consistent results. But nevertheless, those mediums destroy a writer’s technique and approach as they conflict on necessary levels, allowing screenwriters to create 1/2 written features or TV shows with no focus.

I’m currently writing a new story for a TV Drama, best described as a mix of “Bringing Out The Dead” with “The Shield”. I’ll post more details about it as soon as I work the concept a bit more. On that note, the Tylenol PM is kicking in and I must go to Community Service in the AM. Thanks for the read and expect another sometime soon.