David Thurston has... » ramblings

…new thoughts on fame.

David Thurston — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:33:32 +0000

Awhile ago I offered a threshold for fame I’d hoped to reach: being mentioned on Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me. Well, someone who was mentioned on the show this week, Gene Weingarten, has widened my thoughts with what I thought an interesting observation:

Gene Weingarten: You want big and famous? Here is big and famous:

On Jeopardy! a few weeks ago, this was the answer:

“He is a South Florida writer whose comic novels often deal with political corruption and criminal intrigue in Miami.”

The buzzer-ringer said:

“Who is Dave Barry?”

–

That’s big. To be a WRONG answer on Jeopardy!

When I told Dave about this he wrote back:

“It’s about time I got credit for Carl.”

Damnit, now I want that! Oh, and to be a member of the Rock Bottom Remainders, who I apparently just missed last week at the 9:30 Club. Is that so much to ask for? It’s not like they already have a trombonist, and doesn’t every band need a trombonist?

PS: Look for Rust on Kindle in the next 24 hours.

…good ideas, apparently.

David Thurston — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:17:02 +0000

So I’ve had a concept for a half hour sitcom running around in the back of my head. Last night, I finally worked the plot for the pilot out. It had some great concepts, it was going to play around with pilot tropes before ultimately working to a big twist ending. I was going to start working on the three act summary tonight.

Today I’m poking around Rotten Tomatoes, and I see someone else is working on a project with the same title as I am. Well great, I thought, guess I’ll have to change the title. So then I click over, and it’s also the exact same concept I was working on, just as a movie instead of a sitcom. Well damn it to hell.

I guess the only real consolation is at least someone seemed to think it was a good idea. Several someones, actually, since it’s an adaptation of a comic book that I’ve never heard of.

…thoughts on cliches (1)

David Thurston — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:54:34 +0000

If you ever find yourself in a horror movie, seek out a young Japanese child and ask him what to do. Then, for god’s sake, DO IT!

…a threshold for fame

David Thurston — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:07:52 +0000

I used to have a certain threshold for fame, a moment when I would know I had Made It, and that I was officially a celebrity. It was an invitation to appear on Celebrity Jeopardy. If Jeopardy ever called, I would tell my agent, the answer is “yes” no matter what else I had to re-arrange to make it happen. Yes, these are the kinds of things that my mind thinks about, especially about 5-10 years ago when I was much more certain that, one day, people would Know Who I Am.

There are a few problems with this plan, however. First off, they do Celebrity Jeopardy like once a year, for just one week, so that’s 15 total slots each year. The second is that they tend to not have authors on the show, at least not people who are primarily authors. Since they started, Stephen King has done Celebrity Jeopardy twice, winning once (charity: Maine Public Libraries, a perfectly Stephen King charity to select). So that’s the level of fame you have to have. Stephen friggen King. There are MAYBE three authors in the world that have reached that level: King himself, Rowling, and maybe Dan Brown. I’d like to believe that they’ve asked other authors that have turned them down, but let’s face it…they’re authors. Most authors, I’m discovering, are attention starved and desperate for as much face time as they can get. What better place than Jeopardy.

Hell. The Simpsons has had more authors on than Celebrity Jeopardy.

However, I’ve discovered something else lately: National Public Radio. More specifically “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m rather late to the game, as I realize this show has been on the airwaves for just over a decade. If you don’t know the show, get to know it. There’s a feature called Not My Job where they bring on a celebrity to answer questions about things they should know nothing about. This is what I’m now all about. While the celebrities have been on the level of Tom Hanks, they also commonly have various senators and representatives, and even the occasional author or blogger. It seems the level of fame is more on the level of notoriety than celebrityhood. Perfect!

Now, it’s going to take me some years, I’m sure. But be sure to know, if you ever find me on the airwaves, know that I’m thrilled and know I’ve made it.