Update

Upcoming Writing
Friday, January 20 - Almost Famous, Edmonton Journal Living Section
Friday, February 10 - Valentine's Day, Edmonton Journal Living Section
Friday, February 17 - Untitled Love Triangle Column, Edmonton Journal Living Section

Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the Edmonton Journal's ed magazine

Upcoming Comedy
January 18 - The Comic Strip

-I finished the final edits on "The Girl Who Feared Lightning." Look for it in Issue #11 of Black Gate magazine (http://www.blackgatemagazine.com). There's been talk of making "Girl..." into an ongoing series of short stories. Needless to say, I'm excited at the idea.

-The Monster Pro Wrestling television taping was a rousing success. It's proof that hard work pays off--no matter what industry you're in--been great to see how far the organization and its wrestlers have progressed since I've started going to their shows last May. It was also great to see KENNETH BARR again, whom I worked with on the movie 'Reroute.' Ken was in charge of the technical end, and I'll be meeting him later in the week to do some post-production commentary stuff. The next MPW show is February 4, but they're holding a free Camp Wars show at their training facility on January 22. Check their website (www.monsterprowrestling.com) for details.

-Last Thursday I middled at the Edmonton Yuk Yuks. PAUL MYREHAUG and PAUL SVEEN were on the show and as always, I learned a lot watching them. Sveen was the first guy to tell me to really open up and let the audience into your world. He has a more philosophical approach to the art of stand-up, and it's pretty effective, not to mention inspirational. On another note, I'm told PAUL MYREHAUG will be moving to Toronto to seek fame and fortune. I'll miss him a lot--next to Lars, he's probably introduced me more than anybody else, and I'm superstitious about my 'good luck MCs'. Good Luck, Paul.

-I talk a lot about the comics who have influenced me, but I rarely refer to my writing influences, so for those of you who have asked, here are a few non-fiction (I may cover fiction in a future entry) writers whose work I really enjoy reading:

MISS ALLI - She writes for www.televisionwithoutpity.com doing recaps of various shows. Her Survivor recaps are so hilarious I don't even bother to watch the show anymore--I don't want to spoil the recap.

BILL SIMMONS aka The Sports Guy--He does sports and pop culture for ESPN (www.espn.com). Obviously, if you aren't into either, you probably won't like him, but I think he's hilarious.

CHUCK KLOSTERMAN - author of Fargo Rock City and Killing Yourself to Live. He writes about music, but also relates it to his own life. He once compared his ex-girfriends to members of the band KISS. Well worth reading.