How To Detect A Bad Idea

I had the perfect plan. I would take a serving of protein powder and bring it with me today, with it a piece of paper to use as a funnel and when I felt hungry I would add the protein powder to a half bottle of water using the paper funnel and booya! Instant nutrition! Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity to try it until I was on the subway. And when I was on the subway I didn't have a seat.

How to you detect a bad idea? It's simple. Something will go off. Something inside you. That sounds much like, "oh fuck me."

The funnel didn't funnel. The powder caked. The bottle shifted. It was messy. It was on the floor. On my hands. On my pants. On my bag. On my shoes. On my nerves. I ripped a hole in the plastic bag carrying it. It worked barely better. But I just kept at it. I was not about to give up. The mess had already been made. Giving up, well that would have just been complete failure. And damn it, if I could still get a shake out of all this. Then let there mess, at least I would have succeeded still. At least I would be nourished. And so I stayed the course and had my shake. That's my story.

I was called today to work BG on film shooting in midtown...today. So I got my shit together and made for the location. Quite happy in the fact that I didn't have to travel downtown and then subsequently to New Jersey, as I have been for the last month. The only unfortunate thing about the day was that the scenes were all exteriors and midtown is a pretty fucking chaotic place to do exterior scenes in the middle of the day or during rush hour, what with Rockefeller Center and Times Square right there. And we were there for both of them. It was sickening. I hate crowds anyway, but this was pushing your way through person after person, not really knowing where the hell to be and the like. I might have needed a break at some point. I MIGHT have wondered off set for a bit to get away from the insanity. I MIGHT have used that time to go to my bank to make a deposit. I don't know though, doesn't sound quite like me. The day was relatively short. Well to me, it seemed like a half-day. 7 hours. That's nothing, a walk in the park!! I've been doing double days for who knows how long, probably got golden time on three different occasions in the last three weeks. Really 7 hours! It's a hiccup.

Anyway tomorrow I'll be standing- in on a series. It's the same series that I was offered regular stand in work on before, but couldn't take because I was already committed to Choke. I'd like to think that maybe I still have a shot, but seeing as how I am on a second unit tomorrow, I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm just happy for the work. Still I'm going to shave just in case. The real bonus is that THIS set is even closer. Right in Queens. I'm coming home SCup!!

Back To The Drawing Board

Well some 3 months after losing my license in a taxi cab, I finally went to the DMV today and applied for a replacement card. I now have my temporary license and am expecting my real card within the next couple of weeks. Why did it take so long? pro-crast-I-nation! But really I didn't have much incentive. I don't drive anymore. I look old enough to have never been questioned upon entering a bar. I am able to use my old passport for work identification. And that's it. I really didn't have any complications due to my lack of a license. Compound that with the nightmare-like vision I had of going to a DMV office in NYC and I really didn't have any reason to apply for a new license....except that eventually I would need it. So today I went and the line was ....intimidating. But I stuck with it and waited ever so patiently. For some reason people kept approaching me and asking me questions about the whole process, which lines to go in and the like. So I became the information desk apparently. It even got to the point of ridiculousness of someone approaching me to borrow my pen, no one else, just me. Well anyway long story short I was able to skip a few steps and I got out of there much more quickly that I anticipated.

In other news I think I've come to the conclusion that I need to rethink the storyline of my script. I am just stuck in it and I think why I'm getting nowhere is because I'm just not happy with the story and so I'm stalling. I procrastinate with some things yes, but not with writing, not when I'm truly into what I'm writing. So I got to accept that I have to come up with some new ideas and move on from there. Yup.

I recently caught an headline about Barry Bonds tying Hank Aaron in home runs. I happen to think this is bullshit. Forget about Bonds being a prick. Which he certainly seems. Aaron actually earned the home run record, while Bonds pumped his body with steroids to enhance his performance. So why the fuck does his shit even count? I'm not going to say fuck you Bonds cuz there's a slight chance the media has just painted you an asshole, but I'll sure as hell say fuck your record.

I recently watched Demon Days: Live in Manchester Opera House. Now if I had to choose between Demon Days and Gorillaz first album, I would pick their debut. I'm just really into the blend of alternative and hip-hop sounds. BUT!!! having seen Demon Days live I gotta say I like the album much better. Though I would have loved it had it been a full visual concert showcasing the characters, it was pretty awesome to see the mass involvement that formed the sounds of each track. "Dirty Harry" was fucking brilliant! But probably the song that really impressed me seeing it live was "Demon Days" itself. Maybe because the track on the actual album didn't really stand out to me. I think songs get produced so much sometimes that you can't really hear the true sounds, instruments of the song, because they're just too....perfect. I kinda of joked about that once for DCUP, but there may be some actual truth to it. 2-D and Murdoc made a guest appearance in the balcony, so I'd like to think the concert was actually Damon Alburn covering Gorillaz.

Meanwhile I try to return to something of a "normal" schedule, going to bed at say 3am instead of 7 in the morning. Tonight I hope to be in snooze land by 1am.

All Good Things....

Well that's it for me. At the end of last night (this morning) Sam Rockwell was wrapped on the film I was working on. We were in a big gymnasium for most of the night and the atmosphere was pretty casual and upbeat, I'm sure because the star of the movie was wrapping. After they announced the end of Sam Rockwell's run of the movie, the 1st AD made an announcement that applied particulary to me, "ladies and gentlemen, that is a picture wrap for Rick second team." This was news to me I must say, since I was told my last day would be the 9th. Granted I was standing-in for Rockwell, and he was done, so it makes sense that I would be too. I guess I was just thinking that I'd be used as a utilty stand in. Not the case. The announcement was also odd because the applause that I got from cast and crew was phenominal. I was not expecting so much. In fact I had to make various gestures to past the time as people clapped for me and I still ended up standing there with my head down, looking up and smiling at the crowd around me, completely embarassed by all the attention. I mean I talked to people here and there and made a few friends I guess, but I ...yeah I just didn't know I was so popular. It's odd that it was my last day, people I was slightly more open and talkative that day. I had a brief conversation with the author of the book that the movie is based on (the book and movie being 'Choke.') I also told people of my ghost hunting expeditions and endevoured in a food challenge with one of the producers.
So yeah, now I'm looking for work again. It sucks. Next week on "Choke" their hours are kind of normal and I was really looking forward to that. I'm also used to steady work now, work that I didn't have to seek out. Eh, it sucks. But whatever I'll make good use of the sudden free time I'm sure. Plus there is more and more work coming in, so I should be okay. Yeah, that's it for now.

Where Does the Time Go>>>>>>

Not a complaint. But holy fuck I am worn down!! Fucking beat! These hours man!! It's almost 7:30am and I haven't slept yet. And the tops I'm gonna get before I start for work again is about 5 hours, that's if I go to sleep RIGHT now. Yikes!

The Cat Factory

This is the first day I've actually had a wireless or as I like to call it an ireless connection while working. And now that I have time to catch up I have indeed forgotten everything I wanted to say. So I am more or less writing to jog the process, and maybe I'll get into my script about, which I have worked on very minimally while filming. In defence of myself, it's not the easiest environment, pulled away every 10 or so minutes, rushing about, people yelling out things and having to always pay attention to whats going on. Still... there's is a little opportunity in there, and I really should seize it. Today I'm in Newark, and maybe it's cuz I'm a New Yorker, but I don't like it much here, just not impressed. Anyway, who cares.

One thing I have been meaning to bring up is a big Congratulations to team "Mommy, Why is Grandpa Crying" on the Cash4Cadavers foster. 2 deaths in two weeks! Really that's fantastic!

Another one is my idea for a music video for "The Knife." The song is "Pass This On." Now I know they already have a video for it. It is divinely odd in a transvestite doing karaoke in a retirement home sort of way. But if I ever had a vision of "The Knife" they would be brother and sister cats, not any cats, but the Siamese cats from "Lady and the Tramp." The female cat (singer) would have a mohawk and wear bracelets up and down her arms and also sport leg warmers. The male cat would have an oversized blazer rolled up to his knobby elbows and a star spangled banner bandana on his head with Jack sunglasses; he'd be using Mike Rutherford's custom double neck guitar so he could switch from bass to lead in a snap. The steel drums would of course by played by Jamaican cat with a reefer hanging out of his mouth. His fur would be all matty and twisted into dreadlocks. The keyboard played would be a skinless albino cat. He would be the reserved quiet member who'd sit in the corner at all the major aftershow parties, but it'd count for major sex appeal with the pussy...cats that is.

That's it for now.

Tag You're It!

Apparently I've been tagged, not that I knew what this meant before reading on, but I am obligated to write a certain something and condemn others that read my blog to the same sentence. HAHAHA FOOLS!!!


"1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. 5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog. "

1: When I stand still I stand on the balls of my feet and slightly leaned forward, taking all the weight off my heel. I have no idea why I do this. I also walk with my legs very closely together apparently. The proof? All my pants tend to wear holes in the ankle area.

2. I went slightly mad during my last year in college. Some examples that I remember.... jumping off rooftops, gutting and carving a pumpkin into a Jack O'Latern and wearing it over my head, making sculptures out of silverwear, scaling buildings, being so wasted I had no idea where I was in the middle of the dayor how I had gotten there (that may have actually been during a visit to Bard after I left).... I think it was Tivoli, I still don't really know, many many many elaborate charade pieces, an army of tiny aliens marching in and out of my nose, a beast caretaker/caged beast bit that I just can't explain verbally, sculpting a flower out of a coke can.... I can't remember much more, it was 8 years ago after all.

3: I was once wanted to be a fireman, carpenter and a chemist. Though a the time that I wanted to be a chemist I really had no idea what one was. I just liked the idea of being a mad scientist. In fact I was given some kind of child's chemistry set for Christmas one year, I remember it degrading to me mixing as many bottles of stuff from the set together in a plastic bowl in my background and lighting it all on fire. What a fucking pyro. Anyway that's the way all chemists should be. I'm still not exactly sure what it is a chemist DOES.



4: I am the producer and member of the cult hit hip hop group DCUP. My alter ago, Brekken Brekk aka, Brekken 360 is pretty close to the polar opposite of me, except for one thing.... we both like to get DOWWWWNNN!!!! My alter ego has also been affiliated with the ever brash hip hop band "House of Chicks."

5: I hardly ever wear shorts. I have chicken legs. And as Milhouse says on that one time traveling episode of "The Simpsons" where Homer has the bachelor pad under water, calves are the hardest area of the body to add mass!!

6: I don't laugh easily.

7: I am observer and I tend to analyse things sometimes too much. I have a real interest in the human psychology and cause/effect (including my own) and if I had to pursue a "real" job and the necessary college education, I would probably go in that direction.

8: Adventure is the name of the game. I want to travel as much as I possibly can in my lifetime. the tops sites would be... Italy again, Greece, Turkey, Malta (hell, all the Mediterranean.), Egypt, Scotland, Ireland, France again, England, Africa and the moon.


Ok, I really don't know many people that have blogs, Dave, Curran and Sara you're it!