Friday, October 30, 2009

Facebook #4 (the rant continues)

This huge interconnection machine called Facebook has made me feel even more disconnected. I look at the status updates and news feeds and they don't seem that earthshaking to me. It's all kinds of trivial things that we all do in life being glorified, set apart like it is something unique and special. We all go to the store to buy food. We all have car repair bills and they suck. It seems FB is a big place to commiserate about the thing that is life.

Yes, there are occassional funny things. Like today, my friend's babysitter confused KY jelly for diaper rash cream. That is the funniest thing I have heard of. (Hi Di.) But knowing what someone is making for dinner is not too interesting to me.

I was also saddened to find out that someone I sent a friend request to a month ago was friending this person or that person. My unanswered friend request went out a month ago. And apparently when a request is pending for so long, their news feeds show up on your news feeds. Not status or anything else, just who they friended. Great. Nice to know I am not really that important, or a friend. I rescinded the request. Guess it's one less person for the Christmas list. Because I am a sucker I may friend them again. But I bet I'll feel the same way if the request is ignored.

In this world where I strive to stay connected in person with people, technology and whatnot creates something to interconnect people all over the world, but without ever leaving the house. I find that sad.

I also don't post things very often in the status space or on a news feed. You would like to know people are reading it and get comments for being profound or witty. But the things I would like to post, on second thought seem trite or lame or worst of all, not funny. And FB isn't a place to get deep. It's the skin of the teeth for content it seems. Pretty pictures for empty souls.

See? That was kind of deep.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Capitol Records


Google launched a new music product as part of their search engine. Don't really know what it is or how it works. I worked the launch party at Capitol Records building on Vine. That iconic round building just as you exit the 101 freeway. This is where singers and bands for the past 53 years have recorded.

Sinatra, the Beatles, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, the Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, the list is long and amazing. The hallways are lined with large photos of the singers I mentioned and more. There are some pictures of the Beatles I have never seen before. It's kind of amazing. The studios look pretty much the same as they do in the pictures. It was cool to me to be walking the same halls as these Icons of music. Taking a leak in the same bathroom.

The place had a sense of history about it. I don't know if it was real, or something I imbued the place with. It wasn't tricked out and all sleek. The floors were linlolium and looked like the same tile that was laid when the building opened. There are echo chambers built under the building that sound was pumped into to create echo effects. All of which can be done electronically. But think of the math involved in that.

It was cool to see. Like shooting a commercial in the studio where they shot the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. Been there too.

Monday, October 26, 2009

U2: the Good


I love this band. I have for 22 years. I liked them in the early '80s, but Joshua Tree is what pushed me over into Fan status. This last album didn't do much for me, however, but I'll have to go back and listen again.
After the Screaming Bitch disappeared (see the blog entry below) I got to enjoy the show. I loved the lights, I loved the screen. I have worked a lot of concerts but that screen was unique. I love the big songs they have. The ones that you recognize from the first chords. I also enjoyed looking at the crowd. For me, this type of thing is church. That sort of oceanic feeling, of being connected to 100,000 fans all grooving on the same music.

If you watch the band they are having a blast. But who wouldn't? I was onstage with them for a couple concerts, just working tech, but the energy you get from the audience is amazing. The picture is a view of the crowd from where I was. So big a cell phone camera can't encompass the scope of it.

I'm realizing I'm not telling much about the show. I could tell you a set list, but that doesn't tell you how it made me feel to be there. It was great. One of the few bands I would pay to see. Again and again. I was a bit bummed they didn't play "Pride". That is probably my favorite song from their entire career as a band.
A great memory filed away in the unique U2 file in my brain. I should blog some of those... Hm...

U2: The Bad Part


95,000 people were reported to have attended the concert. It's a really huge number when you see it in person. People started arriving at 5 am, according to the radio as we were driving at 4 pm to beat the traffic there. It was like a huge tailgate party in the parking lot, which was really a golf course. We were parked on the greens. It was weird...

Me and my friend Karen found our seats. Section 13, row 51 seats 19 & 20. In front of the stage but in the bleachers. 100 or more yards from the stage. For $56.50 what do you expect? Front of stage standing for 4 hours? (Which would suck.) But much of the singing was out our direction and there was the coolest big screen I have ever seen at a concert.
The crowd was so crazy big that it was insane. Since some of these people had been drinking and smoking dope for hours they were trashed. Which makes people into the biggest assholes around.
Karen and I were boxed in on 3 sides by crowd stereotypes that just made me want to leave. The guy to our left was just young and crazy thrilled to be there. That wasn't so bad. But, dude, when Bono is talking about someone being held under house arrest for the past 20 years, don't yell, "WOOOOO!" Can you even tell me where Burma, also known as Myanmar is?
Below us was 2 couple in their late 40s. The 2 blonde women were cute for their age, but they and one of the husbands was trashed beyond all comprehension. I drink, but when I spend the time and money on something like U2, I want to remember it. They were dancing arhythmically and waving glow sticks around. We nearly got hit by the flailing arms a few times. It was just sloppy and silly.
The worst of the box we were in was direstly behind me. This short girl was certifiably nuts. A screaming banshee BITCH. When the Black Eyed Peas came on she was constantly yelling directly in my ear and singing all the lyrics. I had earplugs in, but this girl cut thru them like a chain saw. I would turn around and look at her when she would do a 30 second yell directly in my ear. How can you hear the music when you are yelling so much? Shut up and LISTEN! When I looked at her once, I turned back around, her hand appeared at the side of my head and hovered there. What the fuck? was she going to hit me? No. "High 5!" I ignored her. I want to you to shut up or die. I'm not going to high 5 you.
Now, she was short. I discovered this when I stood up during Slash playing Sweet Child o' Mine with BEP, and my body completely blocked her view of the stage. This was funny to me. After BEP left the stage, the crew switched around the stage for U2 and I heard this girl bitching about me. "This guy is an asshole." She meant the guy next to me. "This guy is an asshole" meaning me, "And since she is with him, she is an asshole too." I'm sitting directly in front of you. I wanted to turn and say something but refrained. It wouldn't serve a purpose. I can't beat civilty into someone that clueless.
U2 started to play. Everyone stood up. During the first song the metal seat directly behind me started to be pounded. I turned and looked. The bitch was standing on my seat directly behind me stamping her feet and screaming. I gently moved back and she stepped off of the seat I paid for. She went ape shit. She started screaming at me, she was pulled back by the poor guy she was with. She was screaming at him, screaming about me, "fuck" was every other word. Karen said she looked back during the commotion and she saw the guy look at her helplessly. I ignored it as best I could.
The screaming stopped. I don't know where she went, but she went away and never came back. Then I was allowed to enjoy the concert. This girl is her own worst enemy. I'm sure she is posting on her Facebook page that I ruined the concert for her. She is the victim! Maybe, but of her own shitty entitled behavior.
Oh, yeah. Leaving the parking lot took 45 minutes.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Halloween


As an actor I don't get into Halloween like normal people do.


Civilians get all into dressing up and acting out. I do that for a vocation, so I am a bit more mellow about the whole thing. I am a stickler for details, however. If I do a costume I get very precise. When someone I know had a "come as a God party" I was Zeus. I had lightning bolts. I had business cards that said "Zeus, King of the Gods". My phone number was on some of them. Those I handed out to girls. I was Zeus after all. Notorious skirt chaser, to put it mildly.


In my closet I have some great costumes. Superheroes and super villains, samurai, ninja, jedi knights, and Elvis (custom made '68 Comeback special.). So I can just pull something out. But I dont' get all crazy. I don't know. Because I do silly stupid things onstage I don't feel pressure to be crazy at a party. I rarely get crazy at parties. But maybe that's just me.
Women go nuts. I pointed out to one girl that all the choices for women are sexy. Sexy nurse, sexy cop, sexy cavewoman. It seems a bit one sided. Guys don't have the sexy choices. But I really don't know if guys are sexy in the same way as women. I'm still a fan of the sexy alien or any other sexy that a girl wants to put on. I'm a big fan of cleavage.
And for the guys who get dressed up in drag at Halloween. Every year. Uh, you have unresolved issues, I think.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Star Wars in Concert

About 3 weeks back I had a call late Friday afternoon from my friend Jason. He was asking what I was doing that night. A bit of a strange request since he lives in San Diego with his wife and daughter. It being an average Friday, nothing.

He had tickets to see the Music of Star Wars in Concert. Would I like to go? YES! He'd meet me at the Honda Center in Anaheim at 7:30 pm. Cool. I knew the traffic would be bad, so I left around 5:30. It took him probably less time for him to get from La Jolla than it did me to get the 40 miles from North Hollywood to Anaheim.

Jason was late. Me, always early, was outside the arena when the first familiar chords of the theme started. This music is part of my favorite movie. Really one of the first times as a kid I noticed acting as a job. To get paid to do that would be awesome. Still would be awesome!

These chords make my heart pound in my chest, and the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It's a visceral thing. Then the next song was from Episode one. It had the chorus for Darth Maul. I really wanted to be inside there. I could see a tiny bit of the screen thru the curtains. Bright flashes of light and color that accompanied the music.

Jason showed up and we went in. We missed 2 songs. Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C3PO was the narrator. The music was compiled into selections that would highlight a character or specific movie of the 6 Star Wars movies. It was really well crafted. And very fun. In the lobby were props and costumes from the 6 movies. It was cool to see. I expected to run into my friend Reno, who knows almost everything about Star Wars (but I can occassionally still stump him.), and his dad, Howard. They were not there. Reno would have loved it. And corrected the mistakes...

It was a neat show. But it made me realize, this is our classical music now. This is Peter and the Wolf. This is the music of Prokofiev that goes with the narration. But the narration is flashing light on a screen. Does anyone write symphonies anymore? I think the people with that kind of talent for storytelling are doing movie scores.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Overheard at Sky Harbor.

I was sitting at the airport in Phoenix waiting for my delayed flight to arrive and take me back to the Land of LA when I overheard, or rather couldn't help but overhear, a teen-aged girl talking on her cell phone. Now it seems that the advent of cell phones have made the loud talking about private things in public places commonplace. This conversation she was having was about abortion.

People are pro-life or pro-choice according to their beliefs. I'm not too concerned about a person's views. But what I was appalled by was this girl's her lack of information and really poor verbal skills. She said the word "like" every second or third word. I am not the Language Police. I mess up the english language and cuss like a trucker. But to hear her, like, say, like, the poor, like, verbal stop that, like, helps, like, give a person, like, time to form a sentence. That shit bothers me.

I wanted to ask her if, like, she knew, like, just how uneducated she, like, sounds. Because the word "like" is for comparison. This thing is similar to this other thing. It's not meant to be used in such a manner. And when she is talking about a topic such as abortion, it totally made me think she knew nothing about what she was speaking.

For instance: She was asserting that a 4 month old fetus is viable to live outside the mother's womb. Uh, no. Not really. This is taken from webMD: A 16 week old fetus is "4.3 to 4.6 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 2.8 ounces." That is not viable to live outside a mother. Not even with the most incredible premie care would this baby have a good chance of surviving. The lungs are not formed, despite the fact that it has fingernails. Please. If it did live, it would have a host of maladies that extreme premies have to cope with in life. Someone pro-life person told her misinformation and she is out there spreading it.

If you haven't figured it out, I am pro-choice. I have no right to tell anyone what to do with their bodies. I might have an opinion, but you can tell me to shut up. I am pro-children but not in the crazy octo-mom kind of way. I am pro-intellect. Know what you speak of before you open your mouth. Nothing defeats your argument than lack of information, and the word "like".

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Friending. (Facebook #3)

I ignored a friend request last week from someone I did theatre with over a decade ago. He had a small meltdown that ended up with him cheating on his wife. Leaving her for the girl he cheated on, marrying her, having 2 kids. He moved up north. Now, I knew all this without having any contact with him. I got this information thru a few people. The general concensus was "Wow, he fucked up his life." Basically the last decade of his life was where he went awry after sleeping with the girl in question.

The thing is, I know who he is, but don't really want to have any contact with him. Don't have much to say to him. Maybe, "what the fuck were you thinking? With what part were you thinking?" But the reality of it is, I don't really care. I don't want to know what to say to him. Does this mean I am a bad person? Well, my upstairs neighbor would say "yes!" (read the previous blog entry.)

I'm not sending friend requests often. And I am careful who I send to. I'm not sending to everyone. It's another platform to IM from as far as I am concerned. I don't have much to say, so my status stays the same for days at a time. It's strange how people are changing their status every 3 hours. I don't find my own life that interesting that I am going to post about it.

Here's an example of a possible post from me. "My ass is sore from sitting on the steel beams at Verizon Ampitheatre." Not that interesting... "Bruised knees from the hard steel in the roof. But I didn't die! Yay!" Or, "Worked in the asbestos snowglobe in Anaheim again. Cough."

I need better wit if I am to stay interesting on FB.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Wackiness

Well, my upstairs neighbor is dealing with the new landlords. Why? Well.... her dogs were going ape shit on Monday night from about midnight to 2:30 am. And to add to the problem she left the apartment with her friends who were visiting and locked the friend's dog in the bathroom for about an hour to keep them all out of mischief. So what does the poor animal do?

Howls, cries, barks, scratches at the bathroom door for an hour. This had my neighbors dogs offering their support by howling and barking too. For the better part of an hour. All 3 dogs were separated from each other and not happy. Animal cruelty, if you ask me. But neighbor cruelty, too.

So I called my manager the next day and complained. That's what they are there for. This type of thing is something the police would refer to animal services. Trust me, I know. This is not my first encounter with this neighbor's animals. And certainly not my first encounter with her...

The manager had their lawyer craft a "3 day or quit" notice. There are a few ways to deal with a notice like that.
1. Explode! Claim to be a victim! The world is against me! (Which for this neighbor, the world, at least my block hates her.)
2. Shut the fuck up and become a church mouse. Never seen, never heard.
3. Uh, can't think of anything. Hmm.

She chose option 1. Big shock. When the dog barked for the first time after getting the 3 day notice, she screamed at it, "No Barking! EVER!" I feel sorry for the dogs... But not the neighbor. I want the landlords to finally evict her. The previous landlord wanted to evict her. But the easer way to deal with her... Sell the building. Seriously. She was a major reason for selling my place. Tells you a lot about her, hunh?

I do think I have a right to some peace and quiet... And if it means she is evicted, please do so quickly.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Hotel secrets

I have access to the backstage areas at hotels when I work. In one place I was waiting for the elevator and noticed the menu for the resturaunt laid out on the wall. What the food was to look like, what the measurements for the recipes were, how much it cost to make the dish, and more importantly, the cost to the customer.

So the bacon and eggs I had for breakfast that cost $13.00, costs $1.50 to make. The Eggs Benedict, for $15.00 costs $.98 to make. I looked at the menu in awe comparing the cost to make it to the price for the consumer. Most every dish was about 10% of the cost to the customer. It was shocking.

But the Hotel does have costs I'm not including in the food. The cost of the land in Tahoe or Beverly Hills, the cost of the building, electricity, management, workers, etc. It all adds up into a price that the hotel and customer finds reasonable. If the customer was unwilling to pay the price, they would turn around after seeing the menu, and go to Dennys. If no one goes to the resturaunt, they change their prices or close.

It's all economics.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Mobile Emissions Testing?

On the way back from Rancho Palos Verdes I was randomly stopped at a mobile emissions testing station at the side of the road. Never heard of such a thing. It's a good road to do it on, one lane in and out basically. However, mobile smog check? Fuck off.

Sobriety checkpoints are fine, they catch drunk drivers. But I was waved to the side after another guy. The other guy was talking to the attendant. I was a bit irked. I just had my smog done last month. Seriously. I passed the first testing. So the guy in front of me gets waved away. I pull up. The attendant said it was a random check. What was the year of my car? I showed him the registration and said I was smogged just last month. My registration was dated 10/3/09.

Do I have time? It takes 10 minutes. No. I don't and shouldn't have to. It was just smogged. They just want to check that the station is doing it's job. Really? Go anonymously to the stations in a sting operation. Don't waste my time. So he looks at my front plate, types it into his computer and says I refused to test. Fuck you, pal.

Wonder if I will need to be smogged every year from now on...

At the Ocean

I was at the Terreanea resort again today. Because of a call time change I had over an hour to kill. So I went to the cliff overlookingth ocean and watched. I'm not a beach guy or much of an ocean guy though I love the water. Pools, rivers, and small lakes are cool. Overall, it's too cold for me here. But I watched the wildlife and saw things I never seen before.

There were brown pelicans skimming over the surface of the calm ocean less than a foot off the water. They were in a row or a V if there were a bunch of them. I wondered how they chose which one was leading. Then I would see the lead one plunge into the water for a fish. The second bird was now the lead. They all drafted off one another as they glided barely flapping their wings. It was cool to watch. I marvel that their tiny brains innately know the physics of flight, how to keep aloft; which dip of a tail feather turns you which way, and how not crash into things...

I also noticed something in the water, way out in the ocean. Is it a beam? A log? A sheet of plywood? It was a rigid black spot bobbing out there that didnt' get smaller. I watched it get closer, but couldn't tell much from the profile, not even size. Then a couple boats passed by. They were 30-40' long, and closer to me than the thing. So whatever it was must have been pretty damn big. I would have liked to see it wash up onto the beach, but I had to go to work. 2 hours later, after work, i went looking for it. The black shape was gone. Part of a pirate ship? A cargo container that fell off a ship? hm... The mysteries of the sea...

Monday, October 5, 2009

Sea Cave Spelunking




I went caving in a sea cave in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. I was working at the Terrenea Resort which is right on the ocean. When I was working there a couple weeks ago I went along this path along the ocean. Partly to see where it went and partly because I wanted to wander and look at the Ocean. It took me to a tiny public beach. But kinda private, because you would never know it was there if you hadn't heard of it or stumbled upon it, and since it's on a resort property...
The first time I was there I climbed over these rocks and found this cave carved out of the rock by the ocean. Being me, of course I went in. But as I get further back the light from outside faded about 40 feet in. Since I couldn't see what was in front of me, I turned around and decided to come back next time I was working there, but with a flashlight and camera.

The cave is damp from the high tides I imagine. It's about 70 feet deep and it has drops of about 10 feet carved by the swirling water. The surprising thing is that the top of it is about 40 feet up . The ocean carved upward when it reached the end of the tunnel. In the tunnel are some long planks. It looks like the remnants of a dock that floated in and got trapped. I'm not the first person to be in there, I found beer cans and grafitti.

When I was climbing around in there yesterday some people were coming toward the entrance of the cave. They could see me deep inside moving around with my light. "There's people in there!" the guy said. They didn't come in. I found that kind of funny. They must watch a lot of horror movies. What might I be? Pirates? Some subterreanean half human cannibal? It's a cave on a public beach with attendants. Shout a "hello" and come on in.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Facebook 2

I'm fnding Facebook a bit like 5th grade. The "friending" thing is a bit nerve wracking. It's like passing a note with 2 boxes, "Will you be my friend, yes or no. Check the appropriate box."

I'm surprised how quickly I want the people I friended to reply. I have a notorious lack of patience sometimes, and this brings it out. I also get disappointed when someone doesn't friend me, ignores the request. How stupid is that? It's like a test of who really is a friend, and I don't like finding out who doesn't want to be one... How will I greet them when I encounter them in the real world?

Stupid of me to be bothered by this, but I'm human...