Pure Ecstasy

As I was writing the first draft of my screenplay adaptation of "Topless Delivery" , I started to think about various types of film tropes that the film would employ.  The first one to come to my mind is Pure Ecstasy as the "5 Girl Band" that they are with respect to the role each of the girls play within.  The tropes for Pure Ecstasy are:

The Leader: Heather (guitars, vocals)
The Lancer: Shelli  (guitars,  fiddle, vocals) 
The Big Girl: Rachel (bass, cello, vocals)
The Smart Girl: Kristy (keyboards,  vocals)
The Heart: Ashley (drums, percussion, vocals)
The Sixth Ranger: Michelle (flute, harmonica, saxophone)

At 1.80 m (5'11") Rachel would be most appropriately cast as the Big Girl.  Michelle, as the band's manager, usually works behind the scenes although she will make an occasional appearance on stage with her flute,  harmonica,  and/or saxophone on select numbers.  As a "side musician" she plays the part of the Sixth Ranger.

Return to Myrtle Beach

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I have finally returned to Myrtle Beach to write a documentary about my season as a delivery driver at Papa John's and to scout for locations for "Topless Delivery - The Movie", a screenplay adaptation of my first novel.  This will be a challenging summer.

Screenplay for "Topless Delivery - The Movie"

My latest project is my first attempt to adapt my first novel, "Topless Delivery - The Myrtle Beach Experience" into a screenplay for a full-length film.  The first rough draft is near completion with my next task being to edit a 190-page screenplay down to around 125 pages without cutting out the really good and important parts of the story.  Any assistance that can be provided in refining the screenplay would be most greatly appreciated.  Please keep in mind that my degree is in Business Administration, not Cinematography.  Anyone with any screenwriting and/or directing experience is invited to contact me.

I am using Adobe Story for my screenwriting software.

No More "Topless Delivery"

On Tuesday, 26 November 2013, an era has come to an end. The "Topless Delivery Vehicle" has been officially retired after over 4 years of faithful service. I traded in my 2004 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS Spyder for a black 2013 Dodge Dart SXT at South Oak Dodge in Matteson, Illinois. The Dart is the first hardtop I have driven since May 2007 and has already proven to be a wise investment. The only thing missing from the Dart's UConnect system is the GPS navigation, which I already have on my Blackberry Z10.

Trading in the Eclipse was emotionally like breaking up with a long-time girlfriend. I was somewhat sad to see her go it is but I knew it was the right decision to make in the long run. I am already seeing some positive results from the purchase. For example, the fuel economy in the Dart is much better, at 7.0 L/100 km (about 34 mpg) going to and from work, and 5.6 L/100 km (about 42 mpg) on the highway at 100 km/h (about 62 mph). The Dart's 2.0 L "Tiger Shark" inline-4 engine uses regular unleaded gasoline, unlike the Eclipse's 3.0 L V-6 engine, which requires premium unleaded gasoline. It's also nice to not have to shift gears for once.

Please note that as a General Manager, I rarely ever get to take deliveries anymore. Driving even 1000 km (621 miles) per month would now be considered a stretch. Therefore, the Dart will last far longer than has any other car I have previously owned.

Horry County Ordinance 29-13 (The End of the Strip Club Culture in Myrtle Beach?)

Horry County, where Myrtle Beach is located in South Carolina, has Ordinance 29-13 before the County Council, which will establish tougher zoning restrictions for adult-oriented businesses such as strip clubs and adult video stores, a mandatory midnight closing time for all such businesses, and a requirement that dancers maintain a 6 foot (1.83 m) distance from their customers.  The ordinance will become law once it passes its Third Reading at the Horry County Council meeting on 3 September 2013, and will probably be the end the "Strip Club Culture" in Myrtle Beach as we know it.  The following is an email I sent to the Horry County Council regarding the proposed ordinance.

Members of the Horry County Council:

As a former Myrtle Beach resident, I have recently read about the proposed Ordinance 29-13, regulating adult entertainment venues in the county.  If I may be so bold, I would like to offer a few amendments to the ordinance.  I propose that all private viewing booths be removed from adult book and video stores, requiring all viewing of adult materials to take place in full view of store employees.  I also propose that the conduct regulations in gentlemen's clubs be amended to strictly prohibit all touching anywhere on the premises and that the dancers be required to keep their bikini tops or lingerie on at all times while outside the dressing room.  Simply put, "If you can't wear it on the beach, you can't wear it in the club."  I also propose that everyone who applies for an Adult Entertainment License be required to pass a criminal background check (and possibly, random drug testing at the host establishment's expense) before receiving a license.

I see two challenges to the ordinance as it stands now.  First, every adult entertainment venue in the county would be in violation of the zoning ordinance.  I can predict that every establishment would close its doors within weeks of the ordinance taking effect, putting hundreds of local residents (dancers, waitresses, bouncers, DJs, bartenders, kitchen staff, etc.) out of work.  We must find a way to replace the jobs that would be lost.  Second, it would stand to reason that such closures would cost Horry County millions of dollars in lost liquor and entertainment tax revenues each year.  Once these challenges are properly addressed, you will have my full support of Ordinance 29-13.

Knowing from the experiences of some of my friends and acquaintances, visiting an adult entertainment venue can be just as addictive as can visiting a casino.  The Illinois Gaming Board, the state agency that regulates casinos, racetracks, off-track betting parlors, and the Illinois Lottery, has a "Self-Exclusion Program' where individuals with a gambling problem can voluntarily sign up to be permanently barred from all gambling establishments in Illinois.  I propose that a similar program be established for the adult entertainment industry, to be created and administered by an "Horry County Adult Entertainment Commission" (known hereafter in this proposal as the "Commission").  The Commission would be charged with issuing the aforementioned licenses, enforcing relevant laws, and administering the "Self-Exclusion Program" that I propose in the following paragraph.

Under my proposal, every licensed adult entertainment venue in Horry County would be required to subscribe to a special database and to purchase a special card reader.  When a doorman at a gentleman's club checks an ID, he would run it through the card reader or enter the information manually into the computer to check the person against the database of those who have been barred from all adult entertainment venues.  If a match turns up in the system, then the doorman would be required by law to deny admission and to notify the police for arrest on criminal trespassing charges.  While most people in this database would be those who sign up voluntarily, there would be two ways that someone could be barred involuntarily.  First, if an establishment bars someone, be it a customer or an entertainer, for misconduct, then the owner or manager could report the incident to the Commission and have that person barred from all other establishments.  Second, those who have ever been convicted, or currently facing charges, of any sexual offense would also be barred from all adult entertainment venues.  Adjudication procedures would be established to appeal such involuntary bans. Everyone who works, or applies for employment, at an adult entertainment venue would be checked against the database during the license application process.  Those who are in the database would also be prohibited from seeking employment in any adult entertainment venue in Horry County.  This would also include any convenience store that sells adult magazines or DVDs.  

It is my sincere hope that my proposals will improve the quality of life for all Horry County residents and tourists.  I appreciate your opinions regarding my proposals.  Thank you for your time and consideration in these matters.

Sincerely,

William Lawless, MBA

No More Social Networking.

I have discovered, much to my great horror, that social networking websites are totally addictive and a serious threat to my personal privacy and security.  I found that I was on Facebook several hours a day, wasting time that should have been spent doing more important work.  Except for my immediate family, nearly all of my Facebook "friends" were people I have not seen or heard from since high school.  I was wasting my time reading about everyone else's drama.  Granted, only with a random visit to a friend's Facebook page did I find out about her untimely death, several weeks later.  I had known earlier that she was diagnosed with cancer and that her (third) husband had recently passed away.  During my last phone conversation with her, she told me that she was leaving for Michigan to visit her family.  I suspected that she was going there to spend her final days with her family, and my suspicion proved to be accurate.  The worst of it was that I never had a chance to say a proper goodbye to her.  I must also concede that I found out about my 30-year Class Reunion through Facebook.  I also realized that while social networking has its benefits for many people, it is no longer for me.

Despite the fact that I had set my security and privacy on Facebook and Google+ to the maximum security levels and that I have usually been very careful about what I posted on these sites, I have come to the realization that what I had intended as innocuous remarks had been taken out of their intended context by people for whom those remarks were not intended, possibly endangering my life and those of people who I hold very dear.  Furthermore, I believe that neither the Government nor private companies have any business snooping about my private affairs.

Therefore, after many months of agonizing contemplation and several discussions with my attorney, I have finally acted on my decision to permanently delete my Facebook and Google+ accounts.  For professional reasons, I am maintaining my LinkedIn account for the short term.  It is far better to have a small number of real close friends than it is to have hundreds of fake friends. 

You can still contact me via my personal website, BillLawless.me , or via this blog.  The official websites for my novels, toplessdelivery.com and foreverautumn.us, are still active and have some new features.  Please be sure to check them out.

Location Guides

I have recently added a Location Guide to the website for each of my novels. To make the story more believable, I listed the actual locations of many of the real (and fictional) businesses in the Location Guide, along with links to the websites of many of these businesses.  I would like to thank the owners and managers of these fine establishments for the opportunity to mention them in my books.  While I have taken a great amount of care in researching the actual locations for accuracy, any corrections would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for visiting.