Well, you're probably wondering who the hell I am, right? My name is Mario Turchiarolo. First off, let's get the pronunciations right. I'm from Philadelphia where it's pronounced (most of the time anyway) Mary-o NOT Mor-re-o. I hate, hate, HATE being called Mor-e-o. After living in LA (well, Burbank) for 9 years (as of yesterday, man does time fly), I've gotten used to being called Mor-e-o but it doesn't mean I hate it any less. And the last name isn't as bad as it looks. It's pronounced Torch-a-rell-o (hence the nickname Torch and the name of this blog). And in case you haven't guessed already, yes I'm Italian. Only half but you wouldn't know it to look at me.

Second thing to get out of the way. No, I don't have a brother named Luigi. No, I'm not a plumber. Yes, believe it or not, you're not the first one to ask. I've heard all of the Super Mario jokes. That damn video game is the bane of my existence. No one ever called me the aforementioned dreaded Mor-re-o until that stupid videogame came out. 

As I said, I'm from Philly but have lived in Burbank for 9 years. I came out here to be-what else?—a screenwriter/filmmaker. No luck so far. Not even close. That's why I'm thinking of moving back to Philly. You can only be away from those cheesesteaks for so long. I live here with my wife, Julie, who is also from Pennsylvania. She hates it here. And that's sugar coating it. As for me, I have a love-hate relationship with this place. It all depends on the day.

Recently, I was laid off by a sinking network that is soon to be merging with another equally sinking network. I'll give you a hint which one it was: It's going to croak soon. C'mon, that was easy! Which leads me to this blog. I figured since I have this extra time on my hands that I should be using to finish my script (which I've been writing for what seems like forever), what better way to procrastinate than to start a blog? This way I can have some place to vent about living in LA, whether or not to move back to Philly, screenwriting, Hollywood, and the absurdities of life in general. Just what the world needs, right? Another screenwriting/Hollywood blog from another aspiring (read:wannabe) filmmaker.
 
I'll tell you more about myself as we go along. One thing you've probably already figured out if you noticed the time of this post is that I don't sleep. Never have. Not since I was born. But that's okay. The internet is an insomniac's best friend.

The adventure begins. Be afraid. Be very afraid...