Coming Soon To A Theater Near You

Too funny! As I mentioned before, I recently made my acting debut on “Chasing Windmills.” The episode to which I referred was posted Thursday and is called “Microsofty.” The title has absolutely nothing to do with me, by the way -- Hulles rigid like steel pipe, Hulles run Linux. I just have a walk-on part without dialog (I'm the guy in the hat, duh). I like it though, and it cracks me up tremendously. Incidentally, you should watch not only this episode but the entire season, which is pretty damn good even if they did cast me for a cameo.

If you need some background, Chasing Windmills is a wonderfully addictive award-winning video series that Cristina and Jadelr create themselves and post daily on the web. It is exceptionally well crafted and I recommend it highly. These posts tell an ongoing story, and the “Microsofty” episode is but a small piece of this story and is not really meant to stand alone. What makes this one special is that I'm in it, dammit.

As an aside, one thing I realized as I watched the video on their web site is that superb cinematography and creative editing can go a long way toward making someone look good as an actor. This is no reflection on the acting abilities of the people involved, it's just an observation. I got to see the thing being filmed, and it was amazing for me to see the finished product that was distilled from all of the stopping and starting and retakes that actually occurred. My sincerest congratulations go to Cristina and Jadelr for doing such an incredible job on this and every CW episode. It's a hell of a lot of work.

A funny thing that happened during filming at the redundantly-name Nina's Coffee Cafe and Common Good Books was that some overzealous male patron of Nina's came rushing up to Cristina, saying something like “Oh my God, I watch your podcast every day! You guys rock! I can't believe you're here! I can't believe you're filming here!” It was pretty funny, and pretty heartwarming for me as Cristina's dad as well. Granted, the man looked like a long-time NDPS sufferer, but still, he had good taste in vlogs. And of course Cristina was the gracious and genteel woman that I taught her to be growing up: she kicked the guy in the nuts, and while he was writhing in agony on the floor she jammed the spike heel of her Prada pump into his left eyeball. Then she smiled warmly and said “Thank you.”

Cristina and Jadelr have been recognized by other strangers in my presence before this. The three of us were at The Artists' Quarter in downtown Saint Paul a while back, and a charming couple approached C and J and asked if they were the Chasing Windmills people. The couple hung around and chatted for quite a bit, so of course I immediately baled out to have a cigarette and didn't actually take part in the conversation at all, but at least they looked charming. Cristina didn't kick the guy in the balls so I guess they must have been charming.

My own role in the video really does make me laugh every time I think of it. Of course it's tiny. If you should choose to watch it, I'm going to let you vote on what I look like in the film:

1. A aging pedophile that somehow found himself in the wrong bookstore

2. A somewhat dazed and disreputable malcontent blogger

3. A mysterious and devilishly handsome gentleman that probably ends up getting the girl

(Hint: only one of these answers is correct, at least in my opinion.)

I've been trying to analyze why my little role in CW pleases me so much and makes me laugh. I finally decided that it's got nothing to do with the role per se, it's that I would even be in someone else's video. It seems incredibly unlikely to me, almost surreal in fact. The only comparable experience that I can recall is when Cristina's sister Isabel was a homecoming queen candidate and I got to ride around a football field at half-time in the back of a convertible waving at people. Believe me, I'm the last person I would have ever expected to be in that situation. It amused me tremendously at the time and continues to do so today. I like bizarre. Bring it on.

You know, I just realized that one of the unsuspected benefits of appearing in Chasing Windmills is that now I get to add “actor” to my c.v. in addition to “writer.” Now I have two legitimate and somewhat romantic reasons to be really poor, which is great. Not as good as a large cashier's check, but still great. No doubt chicks will finally dig me.

And one final note on my new acting career: in case you think stardom will go to my head, think again. I promise I won't forget you, the little people who did nothing whatsoever to make any of this possible. I'm kidding of course. I've forgotten you already.

-- Hulles