High School Musical 4, or "A Lesson in Disney"

I would like to preface this article by stating that I am personally not very attached to the High School Musical series, or currently, trilogy. I have not seen more than snippets of any of the three installments (although I am well versed in the lyrics from any given song!). I may have a teenage sister (which is, in North American society, synonymous with "HSM obsessed fanatic") but I have until now very actively avoided partaking in the phenomenon. I'm thinking of giving in to peer pressure and watching them, but my stance on items of general popularity is virtually always to look the other way and point out flaws.

I have in recent days, for some reason or another, been bringing up the topic of HSM with various friends and peers. I have over the course of these conversations made an observation that I found rather interesting: no one seems to doubt that Disney has finished with the series, or at least with the current cast of actors. I can disprove this ideology with one simple fact: Disney has pulled in more money off of each successive HSM sequel than off of any other project of theirs in recent memory. To put a franchise to bed which is worth more than Belgium would be quite erroneous, and most certainly not in keeping with Disney's corporate tactics. This is the company that releases decade old animated films every few months and acts like it's the second coming of Christ.

Anther popular argument I encounter is that Zac Efron apparently has stated he is not willing to film another installment. Another quick solution: Disney waves a $20,000,00 under his nose (a very small fraction of the previous film's earnings) and says, "What was that you were saying about not coming back?" Poof, another problem solved with money.

Now, the meat of the issue. "The last High School Musical was their senior year!" I hear this one quite often, more than the others. It may not seem so, but plot continuation is by far the easiest issue to solve. For reference, I have created a list of solutions to the continuation problem.

1. The easy way out: add another year to their schooling and act like no one knows any different. We can see this done anytime one actor replaces another in a popular or long running TV series. Everyone acts like they've know this person forever, even if they do have very different hair. Same can be applied here, except with the chronology.

2. Slightly more creativity here, although not extremely imaginative. "University Musical", here we come! In this course of action, everyone attends a very art-focused school with the intent of continuing random outbursts of song. Maybe it even has a basketball team full of guys willing to sing at the slightest provocation, who knows...

3. Alright, the writers are earning their paychecks a little more with this one. Since everyone was having such a dandy time singing and dancing during their senior year, Zac and friends have failed virtually all of their courses. Never fear, though, as it leaves them all of Grade 13 to create musical #4 and cause their teachers yet another year of unnecessary grief.

4. The story team really goes to town. Maybe they strike it rich and really don't care about anything other than disrupting classes with song (not far from the real world, actually). Maybe Gabriella needs cash and has to hold down a part time job near the school and her friends are so sympathetic that they decide to re enroll in high school to be near her. Hey, maybe the magical hand of God comes down and condemns them to sing and dance in the same gym for all eternity. They can think of something.

Anyway, the point here is that HSM the 4th is in the works, like it or not. If someone was waving $500,000,000+ under your nose and all you had to do was reach out and grab it, I think you would. Enter Disney.

Ajax: Episode Two

It's here! Part Two is up and ready for consumption. Part three will hopefully be up in the next month; I'm aiming for 8 episodes by April or so to call a season. Anyway, enjoy!

Ajax: Episode One

I give you, LAB Production's newest work! I'm very proud of this one, and you can expect more episodes in the near future. Until then, enjoy!

New project on the way...

I just thought I'd put out a teaser for everyone to chew on; I'm currently working on a new series of movies, the first of which should be out in good time. It's a totally new property, much different than, say, the Billy movies. I'm really looking forward to seeing this first movie as well as its successors (which currently exist only on paper) in their finished forms. In the meantime, stay tuned!

Axel's Adventures Podcast #18 - Extreme Line Jumping

A very special show, longer than usual but some of our most quality-ish programming yet, trust me! Contrary to my statement about the show not being improv, most of what you hear was made up as we went along. Please enjoy and check us out on iTunes.




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The Black Book, Chapter Three

Chapter 3

It took me a moment to realize that my mysterious visitor must have locked the door on his way out, or the trigger happy folks outside my door probably would have just let themselves in. Maybe they just had a flair for the dramatic. That was hardly my present concern, however, as there was at least one very angry, heavily armed person outside my door. I started considering possible escape routes. There was another door the lead into my apartment down the hallway to my bedroom that opened up into the main hallway and directly across from the stairwell. The problem was making sure that my friend outside was no longer in the passage and therefore able to put his touted assault rifle to use.

I was pulled back to reality by the man outside shouting, “Five!” I knew that it was now or never. I bolted from behind my chair to the hall leading to my bedroom. As I reached it I heard the loud clattering of machine gun fire and wood splintering followed closely by the thump of my door collapsing inwards. I turned the corner to the door that lead out of my apartment as the intruder thumped loudly into my residence. I opened the door quickly and it slammed into the wall behind me after I had gone through it. Not pausing to glance back, I sped across the hallway to the fire stairway. As I entered the stairwell the still open glass door behind me shattered spectacularly under a hail of bullets. I covered my head and sprinted down the steps towards the taxi that supposedly waited in the parking garage.

I leaped down the stairway three steps at a time. I was only then learning what an amazing thing adrenaline was. As I hurried past floor 14, the door behind me burst open and a black clad figure rounded the corner onto the staircase. Thinking quickly, I pulled the pistol my “friend” had given me out of my jacket pocket. The box was now tucked loosely in the opposite side. I kept running and fired twice over my shoulder. I had a cry from behind me and a loud thump but I was forced to leave the details to my imagination as I continued my hasty journey downwards.

I began slowing down near the lobby, my lungs seemingly burning a slow hole through my chest. I came to a halt beside a transparent door in the stairwell that lead into the main foyer. I hunched over, placing my hands on my knees and panting heavily. The moment there was a pause in my laboured breathing, I heard a raised voice in the lobby through the doorway. Whoever it was, they seemed to be threatening someone. My efforts to look closer were thwarted, however, as a deafening gunshot from the direction that I was listening sent me scurrying for the cover provided by the parking garages below.

I reached the second level of the parking garage rather uneventfully, aside from falling down the last three steps and bruising my elbow. I halted beside the door and leaned over to peek through the inset glass window. What I saw caused my heart to plummet: three men armed with semi-automatics stood between me and the yellow taxi that waited patiently in spot E13.

Axel's Adventures Podcast #17 - E3 Jargon

We're finally back with episode #17! Jacob is reporting live from Germany, and apparently it is having some kind of effect on his brain as he made almost no sense whatsoever on this episode (even less than usual!), made even worse by his distant audio. It is still a good show, however, and I apologize in advance to those of you who don't care about video games.

Be sure to check for new chapters of The Black Book, being posted as regularly as possible.




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The Black Book, Chapter Two

The Black Book, Chapter 2

The elevator door slid shut in front of me as I pressed the button that would take me to the twenty-fourth floor of my building and my modest apartment. I twiddled my thumbs and stared at the ceiling, contemplating the unusual series of events that I had witnessed on my journey home. My hand moved to the box tucked firmly under my right arm. I considered pulling into view, but convinced myself to wait until I was in the safety of my dwelling.

The elevator door dinged and opened in front of me. It was now five past ten, and the hallway was entirely devoid of life. I glanced in both directions and turned left towards my apartment, room 2416. Trying to make as little noise as possible for fear of waking one of the other denizens of the floor, I tiptoed the remaining ten feet to my door. I began to pull my keys from my pant pocket when I felt a narrow object press into the small of my back. I froze as a voice from behind me softly stated, “Let’s step inside, shall we?”

I slowly moved the key I had pulled from my pocket to the keyhole and turned it. The door depressed inwards, opening itself halfway. I slid inside, the stiff cylinder still digging into me from behind. I heard no footsteps following me, but I found it safe to assume the man who had spoken was still inches to my rear. “Sit down, please”, the man intoned, solidifying my hypothesis.

The object left my back as I nestled into the armchair near my television. The box was still under my arm, but I somehow doubted that it was going to stay there for long. I started to slowly turn my head, but a firm, “Look forward”, from my uninvited guest halted the movement soon after it began.

“Can I help you?”, I stuttered, my nervousness obvious in my voice. “I am, contrary to what you likely believe, here to help you, Mr. Isaac”, the man said smoothly. “Your discovery tonight has involved you in something far greater than even you can imagine. I am going to give you instruction and you are going to follow them very carefully.” I nodded slowly, not daring to speak. “You are going to make your way down to the second level of the building’s parking garage as quickly as you can”, the visitor continued. “There, you will find a yellow taxi parked in spot E13, directly opposite the elevator doors. If you are wondering why you should follow these instructions, simply remain here for another two minutes and see how merciful your new visitors are.” For some reason, I believed him. It seemed to me that i had little choice at the moment. “Take this”, he said, tucking what seemed to be a handgun into my back pocket. “Pray that you have no need for it. And, above all, do not lose the Book.” Silence filled the room, merging with the darkness already dwelling there. Slowly I began to turn around again and, to my relief, there was no one standing there with a pistol aimed squarely at my chest.

I found myself faced with a decision: should I trust the mysterious visitor and follow his instructions or ignore the entire evening’s proceedings? I didn’t have much time to ponder it, however, as my thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging on my door. I ducked down behind my armchair as I heard a harsh voice shout, “Robert Isaac, if you do not open this door in the next ten seconds, I will use my assault rifle and save you the trouble!”

The Black Book, Chapter One

I intend to continue work on this story and to post forthcoming chapters as they are completed. In the meantime, all feedback is welcome either in the comments section or to axeldagreat@gmail.com if you feel so inclined.

The Black Book, Chapter One

I was walking home from work when the Book passed into my possession. I had cut through an alleyway I would normally never had been in if not for the fact that it was pouring rain and I was attempting to reach my apartment as rapidly as possible. I realized a New York alleyway was not the best place to be at eight in the evening, but the thought of ruining my new blazer from water damage was at the forefront of my mind. Walking between those two buildings, however, gave me march larger things to worry about than wrecking my clothes.

I was about halfway through the passage when a figure burst into it from the end I was attempting to reach. I started when I saw him but quickly recovered and moved to the wall of the alleyway. A split second later, I began thinking. Who was this guy? Was he a criminal? Most importantly, who or what was he running from?

As outrageous questions along with even more outrageous answers continued to form in my mind, the man continued to draw near. He didn’t appear to have seen me yet and I sort of wanted to keep it that way. I backed into the shadow of a doorway directly behind me.

The man’s frantic footsteps continued in my direction then abruptly halted. Unable to contain my curiosity, I peeked around the wall beside me. The figure had stopped beside an open garbage can and was pulling something out of his jacket. Through the torrential rain it was difficult for me to make out exactly what it was until it caught the a thin beam of moonlight that had managed to pierce the clouds. I could briefly see the object’s rectangular shape and metallic sheen before it was tossed into the trash bin.

The man took a hesitant look over his shoulder and, with a small movement, dropped the object into the trash bin. It made no noise, so I assumed that it landed on a full bag of garbage. The person, who I could now see was a man in the temporarily lit alleyway, took off towards the end of the passage opposite to that that he had entered through.

As I waited for him to round the corner at the end of the alleyway, I debated what to do next. As much as my sensibility was telling me it was a bad idea, I desperately wanted to examine whatever the man had been equally desperate to get rid of. Throwing caution to the wind, I stealthiy shuffled over to the bin and peered inside. The object, a small silver rectangular box about six inches long, lay on top of a couple of stuffed garbage bags. After a sideways glance I picked up the box, placing it inside my jacket and under my arm as I had a sense that it would be better if I kept it concealed. As I turned towards the exit of the passage that lead to my house, I heard shouting and saw lights emanating from the other end. Thinking quickly, I deducted that the people who were apparently heading rapidly towards my current location. I dashed towards the exit as the noises behind me increased in volume. As I rounded the corner to the street I momentarily observed at least four men burst into the alley behind me. I didn’t leave enough time to check for certain, but it seemed to me that they were waving pistols. This only served to put a further spring in my step and I sprinted down the road to my apartment. The noise gradually faded behind me, but a niggling thought in my head informed me that I hadn’t seen the last of them.

My July

Hi all!

For the next two weeks, I'm working as an assistant councilor at a local camp run by the city. I've only been for one day so far, and have tomorrow off because of Canada Day. In addition to working 8:00 to 4:00, I'm taking an online course so that I can get a boring course out of the way for next year. There's not two much work to do and it finishes at the end of July. One month of easy work is better than 6 months of in class work, I reckon. I'm having fun at camp so far and I think the coming weeks will be enjoyable as well. I have to plan a couple classes, though, so I can't get too complacent...

I haven't had a lot to rant about lately, but I'm working on a story that I will post the first few chapters of as soon as they are totally edited. I think you'll like them.