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There are 5 blog entries from October 1999
Bill's Day is a short that I constructed for an RTF class at the University of Texas in Austin. I used a number of my friends as the featured actors.
The story follows the events of how a Dollar Bill is spent over the course of a fictional day. The day, however, is presented in reverse sequential order.
Script
KEVIN LUDLOW
SHORT
"BILL'S DAY"
SCENE 1
Scene opens near dusk. A black SUV is shown screeching off down a road. We show the car for a few seconds and then cut to the inside of it. We have a shot from the back seat as we see three guys inside of it racing down the road, a DRIVER, a PASSENGER, and DANNY. Danny and the passenger are talking frantically to one another. It wasn't supposed to be like that, etc.
-caption 8:18pm-
DRIVER
Shut the fuck up.
The keep mumbling.
I said shut the fuck up already!
PASSENGER
(out of breath) Dude, it wasn't supposed to happen like that.
DRIVER
I know, I know. Just shut the fuck… Danny what did we get?
DANNY
I dunno man, here take it.
Danny hands the wallet to the passenger.
The passenger opens up the wallet and takes out a dollar bill with some writing on it.
PASSENGER
What the fuck is this. We got a fucking dollar bill. One fucking dollar.
We see a close shot of the dollar in the dark and can see writing on it but not read it.
The driver has a sign of disbelief on his face.
THE SCENE FADES TO BLACK.
SCENE 2
It is dark on the same street where first saw the car take off from. A GUY is waiting in front of his car. Three guys get out of the original car. They are see walking up to him.
-caption 8:14pm-
DRIVER
Did you bring our money?
GUY
(sighs) Look, man - I just need a few more days
The three guys approach him. The driver is in the front.
DRIVER
Well I'm afraid that's something you just don't have.
The driver starts running after him. The guy turns and runs the other way. The driver leaps after the guy and tackles him. We cut to the two other guys looking at each other with the driver fighting in the background. The quickly run to his aid. The guy gets picked up and hit a few times in the face. They then throw him over the hood of his car. We see the guy laying out cold on the ground with blood all over his face. Danny runs up to him and kicks him a few times in the gut. He reaches down, rolls him over, and takes his wallet.
THE SCENE FADES TO BLACK.
SCENE 3 (AT THE QUIX MART)
-caption 6:29pm-
The guy is scene driving up to a gas station. These are very quick cuts to move the scene along. He pulls up and gets out of his car. We see him from the inside of the gas station walking inside. He goes up to the counter and buys a pack of camel lights. He furthermore pays with a five dollar bill. He is handed back some change and a one dollar bill. We can see that it has some writing on it. He throws the change into the tip jar and leaves. We see him driving away.
SCENE 4
-caption 3:23pm-
We see a small child, KELLY, and her MOTHER walk into the same convienent store that was in scene three, She walks up to the counter and speaks with the CLERK.
MOTHER
Go ahead.
The clerk smiles at her.
KELLY
I want one lottery ticket.
CLERK
What kind?
KELLY
That one.
She points to the rack of them. The clerk takes one off of the shelf and gives it to her.
CLERK
That will be one dollar.
The girl hands him a one dollar bill. We close up on the transaction. The daughter and the mother walk off. The scene fades to black.
SCENE 5
Mother is seen walking into the kitchen where the girl is sitting coloring a picture.
-caption 1:42pm-
MOTHER
Kelly, you got some mail!
The girl has a very excited look on her face. The mother hands the girl the card. The girl tears it open with great haste. She pulls out the card. The camera shows that it is a birthday card. It reads the following (to be added). The girl pulls out the dollar bill from the money slot within it. She has an joyous look on her face. She puts the corner of it in her mouth.
MOTHER
Kelly, take that out of your mouth, you don't know where it's been.
THE SCENE FADES TO BLACK.
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Hay mucho para mi hacer en diciembre este año. Voy a la casa de mis padres en Katy, Tejas (oeste de Houston), y voy a celebrar la Navidad allí. Para la Navidad, mis padres van a comprarme un traje de agua (wetsuit) porque lo necesito ir a (scuba diving). Mi madre, mi hermana, y dos de mis primas van a la casa de mis abuelos en Alabama y entonces van viajar en un barco (take a cruise). No se que mi padre y mi hermano, Michael, van a hacer pero tengo plans muy grandes. Muchos de mis amigos y yo vamos a Las Vegas por una semana. No se que es la nombre de la hotel en Las Vegas pero no es una problema a mí. No puedo (gamble) en Las Vegas porque mí cumpleaños es en marzo, y vamos a estar allí en enero. Mi padre me djió no usar mí identifícation falso porque los jefes de los casinos van a hacerme salir (make me leave?). Creo que voy a hacer un tiempo muy bueno allí y ojála que mis amigos se diviertan tambien.
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Para mi entre de journal este semana, quiero hablar de la pais, Mexico, porque fui en Mexico la fin de semana pasada. Mis amigos y yo fuimos a Laredo, Tejas y yo llame un taxi manejar nosotros a Mexico. Cuestan veintecinco dólares pero no hay problema porque hubo tres otros personas conmigo. Manejamos por diez minutos en el taxi, y entonces eramos en "Boys Town".
Es muy interasante allí porque es incrediblamente pobre. Las cervezas cuestan un dólar en muchos de los clubs allí, pero en un pocos cuestan dos. Porque de este, mis amigos y yo bebímos muchos cervezas. Las cervezas no son un problema allí, que es una problema en Mexico son las prostitutes. Tengo no problemas con prostitución, porque sí una mujer quiere venderse a muchos hombres por dinero ella debe poder. Al meons, que es muy triste sobre prostitución allí, es las mujeres se vende por un a tres dólares. Ellas problamente duerman con díez hombres en un hora. Yo no compré una prostitue por la noche pero es muy triste porque habría podido comprar veinte con mi dinero.
Es definatamente una ciudad muy interasante y tenía diversión allí. Había muchas mas Mexicanos en "Boys Town" pensé que habría. Pensé hay muchos mas Americanos pero era incorrecto sobre ése.
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Para mi entre de journal este semana, quiero hablar de la pais, Mexico, porque fui en Mexico la fin de semana pasada. Mis amigos y yo fuimos a Laredo, Tejas y yo llame un taxi manejar nosotros a Mexico. Cuestan veintecinco dólares pero no hay problema porque hubo tres otros personas conmigo. Manejamos por diez minutos en el taxi, y entonces eramos en “Boys Town”.
Es muy interasante allí porque es incrediblamente pobre. Las cervezas cuestan un dólar en muchos de los clubs allí, pero en un pocos cuestan dos. Porque de este, mis amigos y yo bebímos muchos cervezas. Las cervezas no son un problema allí, que es una problema en Mexico son las prostitutes. Tengo no problemas con prostitución, porque sí una mujer quiere venderse a muchos hombres por dinero ella debe poder. Al meons, que es muy triste sobre prostitución allí, es las mujeres se vende por un a tres dólares. Ellas problamente duerman con díez hombres en un hora. Yo no compré una prostitue por la noche pero es muy triste porque habría podido comprar veinte con mi dinero.
Es definatamente una ciudad muy interasante y tenía diversión allí. Había muchas mas Mexicanos en “Boys Town” pensé que habría. Pensé hay muchos mas Americanos pero era incorrecto sobre ése.
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 The MicroFilm machine at the University of Texas PCL. I needed this little device to grab all of the old stills.
There was an outdoor whiteboard at the dive shop in Akumal. The instructors would often use it for teaching their day classes. One morning before anyone else had showed up, I took the whiteboard markers and drew a SuperSperm comic on it. I cannot for the life of me remember what the comic was about, but a couple of people chuckled at it and I was hooked. From that day on, any time that I could come up with something relevant to what was going on at the shop, I'd draw a SuperSperm comic strip representing it.
This went on for a few weeks until one day I was told to stop. Mexico is a pretty conservative Catholic destination and evidently not everyone was amused with the content of my drawings. Evidently it was not proper to satirize Superman with a caped-sperm. I drew a few more on the whiteboard after that, but always made sure to erase them before paying customers would arrive (I was part of a non-paying research team).
When I returned back to Austin after the summer expedition, I decided I would try to have the comic published in our school newspaper, The Daily Texan. I contacted the editor and he said that they were always happy to receive more student content. He also said that it would be published if they liked it. Of course I immediately jumped on the chance to have my work published. Despite having absolutely no artistic talent (at least with respect to drawing), it didn't take me long to come up with a sperm-themed joke and sketch it out. I even ran it down to the editor's office that very night. And so on Thursday October 5th, 2000, my first SuperSperm comic strip was published in The Daily Texan. I have no idea how many people actually saw the comic, but I know it was in the hands of about 30,000.
Over the course of about two weeks there were six published. Unfortunately due to some bad luck, this would end the comic series. (continued below)
 SuperSperm Thursday October 5th, 2000: The EarthQuake
"With 200 million missing and feared dead, SuperSperm has been dispatched"
 SuperSperm Monday October 9th, 2000: Washington
"SuperSperm addresses the nation.
 SuperSperm Tuesday October 10th, 2000: Fame
"SuperSperm stares at his first endorsement" (Sperm Lights - Genuine Taste)
 SuperSperm Thursday October 12th, 2000: The Museum
"SuperSperm admires the Hall of Swimmers"
 SuperSperm Friday October 13th, 2000: The Natives
"Totonka" "Buffalo"
 SuperSperm Monday October 16th, 2000: Explorer
"SuperSperm finds himself in a mysteriously moist cave."
In the fall semester of 2000 I was in between apartments. My girlfriend at the time, Dayna, allowed me to stay with her pretty frequently, and so naturally I did. It was a great arrangement for me every night I was there except for one, the night that my truck got broken into.
The truck was parked immediately outside of her apartment. Presumably anybody who was outside would have witnessed the break-in, but unfortunately there were no such witnesses. Somewhat ironically, the burglars used lead SCUBA weights from the bed of the truck to break one of the windows and unlock the doors; I found it on the floor in a puddle of glass. Those Catholics in Mexico had finally taken their revenge.
In addition to having my speakers ripped out, my CD collection stolen, and everything else that comes with a vehicle break-in, my school backpack containing weeks worth of SuperSperm drawings was also stolen. I was definitely pissed about the truck, but I was genuinely upset about having lost all of my comic material.
Since it was never really my dream to become a comic artist, I decided that I wouldn't try to overcome losing all of my work. It would have taken far too long to recreate everything and my morale was too low to try. That was pretty much the end of SuperSperm.
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