OK, I know I haven’t written in a bit, and while a big part of the blame is my own, another huge chunk of the blame can be heaped on my late, great, Macbook, HAL 9000. Yes, I said late. Great, I’m still not so sure about…
As many of you might know, I have the surreal good fortune of having two films that I wrote or co-wrote in production right now. I know…how crazy that after all these years, they both went at the same time…insane. But they did, so, naturally, I went to visit the sets.
The first one was shot in Provo, Utah (they should have wrapped this week) and the second movie is being shot, literally as we speak, in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico, were I have been now for the past two weeks.
The shoot has been awesome! The cast is great, the New Mexican food is fantastic, I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of on-set guests to keep me company — Muchas gracias, Ginger, Aunt Linda and Cousin Albert! — and the weather, while cold as fuck sometimes, is actually pretty nice. Even the snow has been giving us a break, snowing only when we shoot interiors and stuff, which is awesome. Thanks, snow!
But my computer has been another story altogether. For it was here in the high desert plains of my ancestors — seriously, Romero’s are one of the Primeras Familias de Nuevo Mexico — that I lost my beloved Macbook to the other side. Not sure if it was all the traveling I’ve done recently or the fact that he was just not built to last, but either way, my first day here in Las Vegas, New Mexico…I turned on HAL and was greeted with the bone-chilling image above. Yikes…
After consulting a cool Mac specialist here in Santa Fe, the Apple Store in Albuquerque and even my Mac guru, Dave (at Di-No Computers in Pasadena) all signs point towards a failed hard drive. Which means that unless someone can resurrect HAL’s innards, all my videos, data and most importantly, my pictures are lost to the ages. The saddest thing is that I had some sweet-ass pics on there from the set in Provo. What a bummer…
And sadder still is the news that my computer was not covered by an Apple Care Protection Plan at the time of his unfortunate demise. Which basically means…I’m screwed. So, with no other choice — I mean, come on, I’m off-strike now, you think I wanna go computer-less for the duration of my stay here in NM? — I bought a new laptop. Same model, same color, different generation.
I’m still hopeful that HAL’s data can be salvaged and even if it can’t, Di-No Dave tells me a new hard drive will have him up and running again in no time (Hooray, Christine can have a laptop for work now!), but wow…what a bummer.
And so, I salute you HAL 9000. We had some good times together, brother, but when it really counted you kind of dicked me over, dude. So, while I cherish the memories we shared, you can bet your ass I won’t name this new Macbook after the murderous super computer from “2001”.
Hasta la vista, HAL. You will be missed…
make. see. eat. do. 
You’ve heard the oft-quoted phrase, “Never underestimate a Clinton.” Well I say, “Never underestimate a Hal.”
Look at Hal Holbrook. Most people thought this old horse had finally been sent out to the pasture (if not the glue factory). But then they trot him out one more time, and guess what? Now he’s the oldest person ever to have received an Oscar nomination?
And I’m predicting right now that 2008 will be the year Hal Linden comes back. Go Barney Miller!
So perhaps Di-No Dave can make your Hal sing one more time, just so you can retrieve those di-nomite photos from the Provo shoot.
Should have bought a Dell.
TFR
Ha…said the man with loads of Dell stock! 🙂
OOO. sorry about the macbook. I just got one myself. I upgraded the hard drive and the ram myself. I have seen the folder with the question mark when I first put in the drive. That was because it was not formatted yet. I am also running Windows XP with boot camp. I can show you how to back things up and I have an extra drive and a case if you like to back up stuff in the future. Good luck with the rest of the shoot.
Did he really die? I was told the other day that i’m his oldest great grandson I guess. I can’t seem to figure out if my mom was lied to. I really wanted to meet him. I know this website has nothing to do with this, but figured I would ask somewhere. I can’t figure it out. Does anyone know if he had a son and grandson named Donald Holbrook? It would be cool if someone would write me back.
sorry i think i got the wrong hal hahaha my bad
Ha…no worries, Richard. I was kinda wondering how my laptop could have been your great grandfather. Hope you get to the bottom of your mystery and on a purely selfish note, I guess I’m just glad my Hal doesn’t have any skeletons in his closet. 🙂
OMG! Hilarious!