...a horse with no name...

Well, as many of you know, my Audi is dead.

I now have a new car and these are some of the pics.

It's growing on me and I hope it will be cheap to repair. I wanted something I could almost pay cash for and this was it.

It's an 01 Ford Focus ZX3 with 130 horsepower and 135 ft-lb of torque all controlled by the 5 speed manual transmission. It's zippy.

Note: This will be my 3rd car in less than 3 years! Wow. You think your insurance is bad!

...rock band 2...

A good night of rocking and rolling, plus great finger foods made this night a good time for all. Rock Band is more than a game...it's an experience: one you don't want to miss.

Check out this video for more of the night's festivities.

Keep on rockin'



Rock Band Party from Michael Eller on Vimeo.

...adios Angelina...

Angelina was the name of my car--my great Audi A-4 that I really enjoyed.

Yes, friends. She is dead. I was rear-ended two days before going back to TN for Christmas and then found out she had officially been totaled!

When I first really looked at the car when I took it to the body shop and they walked me through what needed to be fixed it was the trunk needed to be replaced, the frame would be pulled out and a new bumper and some paint. WELL it turns out it cracked my wheel well, broke some pump in the back of the car, broke my muffler line and bent two areas of the frame and not just one.

So I think I have found another car but don't know if it's all going through. I'm trying to just pay cash or a little more so I have no car payment and can help my debt situation that way.

Anyway, these are a few pics of Angelina that I snapped with my phone b/f I signed her off to her death. They took off the bumper and the lighting assemblies.

...life in Hollywood...

So people always ask me what life is like in Hollywood? "What's it like living in Hollywood?" "Is it awesome?"

Yes...in a car wreck sense.

For whatever reason, a spiritual gift or maybe my baby face, people talk to me alot. I know, I know. But I mean people you wouldn't normally engage in conversation and say things to me that are often strange but almost always related to God.

One lady told me while I was working at the restaurant, "You have God in your heart and that will guide you and give you a solid foundation."

A few months ago I was driving late at night leaving work and I pulled up to a crosswalk where a man (presumably homeless) was waiting to cross. I stopped to let him go and as he walked across the walk he turned to me and said, "Hey." and I replied, "Hey." (in the same tone) Then he said, "Hey. God loves you. He's great and he loves you." I said, "I know." But that was kinda weird.

I was walking to the bank this summer and a lady stopped me (again looking kinda homeless) and asked, "Why is the world like this?" I was surprised but couldn't really shake her question. "Um. Well...it's kinda messed up." Then we spent about a half hour talking about God and Jesus and why Jesus had to die, sin in the world, Satan, and of course traffic.

Tonight I was at Jack in The Box (already a shady place for a late-night snack) with my Bible study after we had a great night hanging out at Border's talking about life and catching up and this guy came up to our table and asked if we know anything about Jesus? "Um. Yes." I replied. "Can I spit something at you (read: tell you something) about God and if it makes sense you buy my dinner?" I said, "Yeah. But if it doesn't make sense than you don't get anything." He then launched into this preacher like (in volume and cadence) summation of Jesus from birth to death, why he died, the second coming, how God loves us alot, that Jesus was obedient to death, and much more. Most of it was good theology. Some of it was actual scripture. Some of it was crazy. Either way he sat facing the wall, not looking at us, and talked for about 15 minutes. We got his dinner.

These things happen to me. I don't know why but they do and it's very interesting and sometimes comical to see how God works in these or at the very least uses them.

Just thought I'd put that out there for people asking about how Hollywood is.

(NOTE: also tonight--as an example of just life in h-wood--our group met at Border's where in the matter of 20 minutes we had seen a transvestite, a man covered in tatoos with a fruit smoothie in hand, a small man say quite loudly how much he loved Shia LeBouf (like really loved him) and another man yell at the check out guy (from about 30 yards away) "I was IN line not ON line." I don't know what that really even means but alas, it's never dull here.)

...Mr. Belding...

You might remember that I hosted a Shorts Film Festival a few months ago (remember pictures of me and a very beautiful girl in our formal attire?). Well the producer of that asked me to audition for his thesis project (final movie they shoot at the Art Institute of California) and I got a role as one of the leads.

It was about two Karaoke singing teams who battled against another for local domination and bragging rights.

It was West Side Story meets Bend It Like Beckham...not really but could you imagine a horrible film like that? Right?

Anyway, Pirate's Booty was our 'team' name. I had a great time on the shoot that was a total for four days and about 38 hours. The final project will be about 20 minutes. IN aditition to having an all-star cast of funny and fun people, a certain MR. BELDING (Dennis Haskins) was involved with the project because he (evidently) is a huge fan of karaoke singing and met the writer and producer at a kareoke bar one night. Hmm. Either way, he came to set one day to shoot a few lines. That's him with the crew around him at the top of the page.

Once that is finally put together, I will have it available for your viewing enjoyment.

Until then, check out these stills: