Thoughts On Chicago

Hey all! Let's see...what to blog about...

Well, I got a job making coffee for Starbucks. It's alright, I s'pose. I've been doing all the training stuff they have you do. It's a pretty laid-back location, the manager seems cool, all the other people who work there are pretty alright. Overall I'm liking it so far. Today I was doing all this training stuff that involved me making a bunch of drinks. Then, once they were made, I felt like I needed to drink them so they wouldn't go to waste. I drank way too much espresso today.

I've interviewed for a couple theatre jobs, mostly teaching stuff. I'm going to another one tomorrow. Nothing yet, but I'm fairly confident one of them will hit before too long.

The thing is, though, the more time goes by the more strongly I feel that all I really want to do is make movies. I've got a cool idea, a nice-looking apartment, and a fair number of willing actors at my disposal, and my ever-faithful Darla by my side. It won't be too long (hopefully) before I manage to actually shoot something and put it on-line for all of you to see and marvel at.

In related news, I discovered a few Final Cut tricks that will help me deal with all the lighting problems the Trash Beast footage from the end of Garbage Day has. So, you know, still workin' on that.

I definitely feel like the road trip has ended. I miss it. I miss being totally rootless and just driving all over the place. Whenever I think of my AK-CA drive or my CA-IL drive, I get a little sad and wish I could just stay on the road forever, driving all over the place and stopping and checking stuff out whenever I felt like it.

But, I gotta be somewhere, and I suppose Chicago's nice. There's a ton of parks, interesting architecture, lots of museums and other culture-y stuff, lots of theatre, all that good stuff. Lots of amazing food too.

I miss Los Angeles. Even though it's currently on fire, so smoggy they're advising people not to exercise outdoors, and in a state that's so poor it's holding a garage sale. Maybe I'm crazy. Chicago's just not as exciting. It does make a bunch more sense, though.

I'm A Spoiled Brat

Hey everyone! A lot of people have been bugging me for not updating this thing more frequently. I originally planned to update it every Sunday...FAIL!!!

Anyway, now I'm in Chicago. I've been staying with my friends Yosh and Mira, looking for work, etc. I've begun to realize that working for Pier One for so long has completely spoiled me. I've gotten used to being my own boss, setting my own hours, and basically being in charge of everything. Also, I've had complete creative freedom; if I wanted to do a show, I would just announce that I was doing it and it was that simple.

I never thought I was going to get that much freedom elsewhere, but I also never realized how spoiled I was. Now that I've started looking for jobs and stuff, I find that anytime I find a job ad where I'll have to have a boss or get approval for things, my reaction is "ew, I'm better than that." Ridiculous, I know. I've been trying to get it under control.

Anyway, things are pretty good here in Chicago. It's way cheaper than LA, and I think I'm getting pretty close to having a job. I even have a few theatre-related interviews coming up soon. So I'll keep you guys posted.

Well, this one's kind of short and crappy, but at least I updated the blog!!!

The Adventure Continues!!!

Hey all! Since my last post, I got to see a lot of you when I visited Homer! That was awesome, thanks so much to everyone who came out and saw me. I was thrilled to see that all the YT kids are basically taking over Pier One. Taneeka's got a great show cooking, and it sounds like Skills Camp was awesome. Marc's been directing his face off, and casting all kinds of YT people. Old-skool YT alum Nathan Landers did "That Darn Plot." Also, YT people are inflitrating adult shows, like "The Importance of Being Ernest". Way to be, Homer kids! Also, thanks so much for coming out and seeing me. Can't wait for my next visit!

So as I write this, I'm sitting in my buddy Cory's apartment (he's out of town with his wife) while my buddy Rudy plays "Call of Duty: World at War" on my X-box. Tomorrow, I'm leaving LA and beginning my 5-6 day drive to Chicago. I can't wait! The drive down here from Alaska was some of the most fun I've had in a long time (I'll write a blog about it one of these days), and continuing the adventure is the funnest thing I could think of doing right now. I'll be driving through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and Ohio on my way to Illinois. Either that or I'll go through Arizona, New Mexico, Missouri, and Ohio. Haven't quite made up my mind yet.

So why am I leaving LA? Well, it's really expensive to live here, for starters. Also, since there's a recession on, it's really hard to find work everywhere, and California's the worst. The state is collapsing, basically. They've been giving IOUs to contractors, like construction companies and stuff, because they don't have enough to pay them. Just recently, the banks said they would no longer honor these IOUs from the state of California. So basically, the banks are saying that they can't trust California to pay off it's debts. The state of California is basically a deadbeat. Also, California isn't paying its residents their tax refunds. I better leave town before the state reverts to tribal warfare and cannibalism!

That's only part of it, though. The real problem with LA has more to do with the way the industry is set up: you break your back trying to get a crappy industry job, then eventually you do (maybe) and then you try to work your way up to a cool industry job, and if you're lucky you eventually get to do something creative. All the while, there are thousands of people trying to do the same thing, most of whom have better resumes than me. I got better prospects in Chicago.

So why Chicago? Well, my buddy Yosh is there, and he claims that there are lots of opportunities there in Youth Theatre. In fact, he told me that Youth Theatre is a growth industry right now, and there's a lot more demand than there is supply. Since I have a great resume in youth theatre, I'm going to go give that a try, and also see what else is going on. A day or two after I get to Chicago, me and Yosh are going to drive to Iowa, and I'm going to get to be in a zombie movie!

It's called Cadaver Christmas. If you click on that link, you can see a picture of my buddy Yosh on the main page there. He's the cop who looks all freaked out. They're going to shoot some big zombie battle or something, and I'm going to be a zombie. Apparently Yosh is going to blow my chest open with a shotgun, so that should be fun!

Stay tuned for further developments!

The Great Catch-Up Pt. 1: DEATH PARK!!!

Hey all! A lot of you have been asking me what the deal is with my blog, and why I haven't updated it in a while. The only answer I can offer is this. <---(See how the word is a different color? That means you can click on it). So I've initiated the GREAT CATCH-UP 2009. Over the next few days, I'll post a series of updates that will fill you in on all the exciting things I've done in the month of June. This list includes; -Looking for apartments -Participating in a wedding -Visiting Yosemite National Park -Visiting Seattle, WA -Intense reflection on the state of my life -Going to an insane amount of movies -Rethinking my current plans So, onward and upward! Today I'm going to talk about Yosemite National Park, where I went for my friend Cory's wedding. It's a beautiful place, but its beauty hides a deadly secret. Before I get to that, though...WEDDING PIX!!!
Here's the Ceremony. I was a groomsman.




Here's a better angle on the groomsmen. The handsome chappie casting his eyes skyward in the foreground is my friend Cory, the groom. It should be fairly obvious who the bride is. The girl in pink is talking about love or something, I don't know, I was thinking about what we were going to have for dinner.


Here's the best picture of me ever taken. Still thinking about dinner.

The position of groomsman is an important and time-honored role in one of the most revered rites of passage observed in our society. A groomsman must support the groom, participate in organizing the wedding, and stand as witness during the ceremony. The duties of the groomsman are diverse and numerous, and echo with the history of the tradition. I was honored beyond my ability to express myself that my friend Cory chose me to take part in this beautiful milestone in his life. As you would expect, I approached the role with the utmost solemnity and respect.


So after they got married, we left the fancy hotel and began exploring Yosemite National Park in earnest. Turns out it's a horrible nightmare of a death trap. Who knew?

At roughly the same time the above photos were being taken a hiker named Manoj Kumar was climbing half dome, Yosemite's most famous hike. It's a 17-mile trail that eventually leads you to the top of a cool dome mountain thing. On the last part of the hike you actually use these crazy cable ladder things to climb the dome.


It was on that section that poor Manoj Kumar lost his grip and tumbled off the side of half-dome, plummeting to his death. So, at around the same time Cory and Erica were getting hitched, a man was dying. That was only the first death to occur while we were in the park.

On Sunday I enjoyed a rousing game of golf, which I had never played before. Turns out I REALLY suck at it. We got through three and a half holes (roughly) in about 3 hours, then we had to stop because the course was closing. Sunday night we had an overpriced but delicious dinner and everyone turned in early.

Monday morning found us at a new campground, this one was a bunch of pre-made canvas tents on concrete foundation bunched up like a weird little village. Everyone talked about how rustic it was, but being from Alaska I referred to it as luxury camping and got weird looks. I mean, the tents had kitchenettes and dining areas attached, and I was able to plug in my iPhone. There was a grocery store in the campground. I tried to explain to all the state-siders that this wasn't real camping, but they couldn't hear me.

We did spot the following poster:


You probably can't read it, but it says that 23 year-old Christopher Alan Hale is missing, and was last seen running NAKED through Upper Pines campground at 9:30 AM Sunday morning. (Yes, the word 'naked' was capitalized on the poster). We all had a good laugh and went on a nice hike. I have a ton of pictures of that, too, but I've already posted so many that I'm going to skip them. Except this one:


We didn't go all the way to Half-Dome, we went on a 5-6 hour hike up to Nevada falls. I was pleased to find that I was still in pretty good shape from all the swimming, and was able to handle the hike pretty well.

We got back to our campsite, Erica (the bride) made up a bunch of different types of sausage and we had a sausage fest. I ate so many sausages, it was completely out of control. Erica's dad busted out his guitar and played some campfire music.

Then this ranger showed up and started telling us about bears, and how dangerous they are. Like, if you leave food in your car, the bear will tear your car apart. Or if you have some food in your campsite, and you turn your back for like five seconds, the bear will steal all your food. Or if you go to sleep with food near you, even if it's just a grape or something, the bear will come eat off all your skin while you're sleeping. Okay, he didn't say that last one, but that was the general tone of his warnings. You see, the bears in Yosemite are all insane. Up in Alaska, we have sane bears that stay away from people. You never see them. Yosemite bears have been getting their food from tourists for generations, so they're hardly even bears anymore. More like thieving beggars, or muggers. It's really weird.

We also asked the scare-tactic-using ranger about the naked guy. They had found him, and the ranger told us he died of hypothermia. Turned out the ranger was an idiot, and he too had fallen off half dome. The ranger also gave us a amateurish mental health diagnosis which may or may not have been accurate, although there had to be something going on upstairs for the guy to run off naked like that. Apparently the guy's friends had neglected to inform the rangers for a full day after he disappeared. The whole thing completely ruined the humor of the poster and bummed us all out something fierce. Here's a lesson, everyone: if your friend does something insane, tell someone before they die.

I was in Yosemite park for 5 days. Two people died in that time period. It's overcrowded, dangerous, and full of insane bears. It's worth driving through for the views, but stopping is just too dangerous. Stay away. Don't say you weren't warned.

Apartment Hunting in Los Angeles

I got a GREAT story for ya this week! As you've probably noticed, I've given up almost completely on posting on Sundays. Maybe Wednesday will be my new day. Maybe I'll make it back to Sunday. We'll see. Anyway, here goes...

I've been really busy lately, and not sleeping well, and it's gotten to the point that I really need my own apartment. I found a likely-sounding ad on craigslist...$545/month to live with 'the two nicest guys in LA', Andy and Brice. I e-mailed them and got a reply from Andy. He assured me that Juney would be welcome at their place and that it was a wonderful apartment, and I scheduled a time to go over and check it out.

Andy and Brice's place was in Hollywood, which is where I'm doing most of my crashing these days. My hope is to find a place somewhere in this general area. Hollywood places are really expensive, so if I could get into a dog-friendly place for only $545 a month it would be almost perfect. I decided to walk over there because I had a really good parking spot. LA parking is a blog unto itself, maybe I'll cover that next week.

As I approached the address, I grew increasingly impressed with the area. It was quiet, seemed fairly nice, and there were some promising-looking restaurants in the general vicinity. I arrived at the building and Andy came out to meet me.

Andy initially seemed a little weird to me...there was a sort of nervous quality about him, and he seemed a little too nice. He also turned out to be Hungarian, so I chalked it up to cultural differences. We went inside.

The apartment turned out to be a 1-bedroom place. Andy and Brice had beds in the living room and the bedroom was for rent. Brice approached me, he also had an accent I couldn't readily identify. I got the same weird vibe from Brice...a little too nice, and kind of nervous. After a hasty introduction, they ushered me into the bedroom.

There was a dude in there! An angry-looking young man sitting at a desk with headphones and a laptop. He looked up as we entered, not saying much. Andy and Brice assured me that he would be moving out the next day. He had decided to move out at very short notice, leaving them needing to fill the room as soon as possible. The room itself was actually pretty nice for $545 a month; lots of space, etc. The big downside was that the only closet space and bathroom was in the bedroom, which basically meant that if I lived there my room would be a public area.

We went back out to the living room, and Andy and Brice ran through a laundry-list of reasons that this was the most wonderful apartment in Hollywood. Then they began asking me if I thought I might like to move in. Now, usually in situations like this there's a sort of mutual hesitancy on the part of the apartment tenants and the prospective owner; it's a kind of a weird situation to decide whether or not to live with someone after meeting them once. These guys didn't seem too worried though. They were even a little pushy.

I was definitely getting weird vibes from Andy and Brice, but I was still kind of tempted by the cheapness and good location of the apartment. Maybe I could hang up a curtain or something...
I was still suspicious about the situation with the current inhabitant of that bedroom, though. Andy and Brice had told me he was leaving to go back to France (evidently he was French) because he couldn't find a good job.

I told them I wanted to see the room again, and went over to knock on the door. Andy informed me that I didn't need to knock, I could just walk in. I did, and the French guy looked up at me. I smiled and told him I wanted to check out the room some more, and proceeded to do so. Clean bathroom, 3 desks, the bed was a little too soft.

The French guy asked me what I did, and I told him, and we started chatting. He started telling me about his job as an audio engineer or whatever, and I offered my condolences that he couldn't find a job in LA. He kind of sighed, looked over towards the living room where Andy and Brice were, and began writing something on a scrap of paper.

"Yeah, basically, I couldn't find a job so I have to go back to France, and basically, that's what happened..."

At this point he held up the piece of paper. He had written on it:

"They stole my computer."

I looked from the paper to his face. His eyes were screaming "STAY AWAY FROM ANDY AND BRICE. THEY ARE NOT THE TWO NICEST GUYS IN LA."

I continued the conversation with the poor guy for a few more seconds, so Andy and Brice wouldn't know he had tipped me off. Then I went back out and played along a little longer, pretending to be interested in the place and walking out with a copy of the lease. About a block away I trashed it, went home, and spent the rest of the night trying to figure out exactly what the heck had gone on in that apartment.



So that's the story. I'm very excited to sleep tonight, because the guy who was subletting my buddy Rudy's roommates' room seems to have moved all his stuff out, but she still doesn't get back for another week or two. That means I get to sleep in a room with a door tonight, on a futon! To me right now that feels like a penthouse suite at the Four Seasons! I'm going to sleep like a King!!!

We went back out to the living room

Crappiest Post Ever

Hey guys, I've got nothing to report this week. There's some chance that I'll eventually have something cool to report, but not now. I've been working constantly. I still live on a cot in my buddy's living room. I miss my dog. I don't sleep very well, because my sleeping bag's too hot and it gets so noisy at about 8 AM that at that point I pretty much have to give up.

Since I've been working so much, I don't really have time to do anything cool. I managed to escape early tonight, so I'm going to a comedy show with my buddy Rudy, just for something to do. There's this stand-up comedian chick in the show that Rudy thinks is really hot, and I'm sort of along for the ride.

Things have been going well for Rudy lately; his stand-ups really taking off it sounds like. Right now he's sitting across from me playing Zuma while we kill time before leaving. Zuma is a really fun flash game that I'm thinking of developing into a movie script. It started as a joke, but the more me and Rudy discussed it the more excited I got about the idea. Here's a link to a website where you can play Zuma for yourself:

CLICK HERE TO PLAY ZUMA

I got a picture of Juney today from my dad. She's getting fat. I gotta get her down her soon so I can take her jogging every day! I'm a little worried that I'm going to have trouble finding enough time to spend with her, but I'll figure that out later. One guy I work with brings his dog to work sometimes, so maybe I can do something like that. I think she may look fatter in the picture than she actually is, because of the way her harness is bunching up the loose skin on her neck and the way she's lying.

Well, I hope you guys got your summers off to a great start! Sounds like a lot of cool stuff's going on, keep me posted.

The Daily Grind

Howdy, folks! Sorry this update is so late. Two days late! It's been a few weeks since I've made the Sunday deadline. I'll have to shape up.

So I've been working and, surprise surprise, it's taking up a lot of my time. I don't think I've talked much about my job here, I know I mentioned it before. Also, this weekend I was house-sitting for my buddy out in Long Beach, and I didn't have an internet connection. I'll try to do better next time. So, I've got three interesting things to report on this week, and I'll report them in reverse-chronological order because they're most interesting that way.

1. SUNDAY- There was an earthquake in Long Beach. I don't recall the Richter numbers, but it wasn't that extreme. The crazy part is that I was in my buddy's condo which is on the 17th floor of his building. After the earthquake passed, I could feel the whole building swaying back and forth. Weeeeiiiiirrd.

2. SATURDAY- I had an audition scheduled with the Long Beach Shakespeare Company. I had to prepare a 1=minute performance piece for children. I was having trouble finding anything and was on the verge of not going when I had a flash of inspiration; I would just do "Jabberwocky" a la Eli Garvey. I already had it 90% memorized and it was a very fitting piece. Well, not only did the guy like my resume, he expressed that my piece impressed him a lot. He complimented my voice and urged me to come try out for their next Shakespeare play. Pretty cool.

3. FRIDAY- This is definitely the coolest thing that happened. My new boss at the DVD place tasked me with PAing on a recording session for a DVD commentary. PAs are Production Assistants, and they basically help set stuff up, carry stuff around, etc. The commentary was for a few episodes of "Sons Of Anarchy", an FX show about a biker gang.
I went out to the address I was given, not realizing that I was going to the studios where they shoot the show. I parked at this crew lot and a shuttle took me over to the set. I was driven past the show's main set, which is the garage where all the bikers hang out. Then back into the building where the production studios were. I got to peek into the writers' room, where all these writers were sitting around discussing what was going to happen in the show. The walls were all markerboards with plotlines and stuff on them. It basically looked like the funnest job ever.
The sound guy, Greg, had me set up the mics and headsets for all the cast members recording the commentary. This was no mean feat, because there were 10 guys on the first commentary; the show's creator Kurt Sutter and all the show's main biker gang characters. We were setting up for 2-3 hours, minus a quick coffee break. My boss and I wanted coffee so we went to the craft services table. They had a pot of turkish coffee, which you drink shots of. It's got some crazy Turkish spices in it and its really strong. Also, they had a snack room that was just out of control. There was a whole wall of snacks. Like, imagine if you took the snack aisle of a convenience store and put it into bookcases, that's what it was like.
The cast showed up, and at that point most of them had already been shooting all day. A couple of them were still in costume, and they all looked really tired. I recognized a couple of the actors from various TV shows and stuff. The most famous guy in the room was Ron Perlman, who played Hellboy.
Watching them record the commentary was really cool. I mean, I listen to those things all the time, so it was really neat to see one being recorded. We did two, the second one had far fewer people. At the end of the day the sound guy told me I was invaluable, which was awesome. The whole experience was enchanting. I wanted to just hide somewhere in the production offices and just stay there.