Flashing Forward

So there is a problem to getting background work to a show you watch and that is a suspense driven show such as Lost. When I was did background work for Heroes I was lucky to stay in the way back and not really learn much about the plot as it was the second to last show of the season. Today I had that predicament with the ABC Show Flash Forward.

My day began early in the morning with a drive down to Union Station. The beauty of this background work is that I've now been to place in LA I would of never gone to. I mean I did a German car commercial in the old bank district that had the feel of a real midwest or east coast city and was the location that "500 Days of Summer" was shot. The same movie a friend and I took halfway through the movie to realize it was based in LA.

Flash Forward is an AFTRA show which it seems like more and more shows are going. Apparently SAG really hurt themselves with the last contract so where as AFTRA was some minor union a couple of years ago it's becoming a growing problem for SAG. I have heard that majority of pilots this Pilot season are AFTRA shows so if I'm SAG that has to open your eyes. And I wish I was cause it paid more than twice as much than for us second class non union folks.

Anyway back to the fun details. So I'm a pedestrian, nothing special, but in the first scene Joseph Fiennes comes barreling around the corner driving a car. I turn to the girl next to me and say, "did you see him? I figured it would be a stunt driver but he came flying around that corner, screeching tires and everything. If he lost control of that car, we're nailed." Apparently he felt the same way and had us moved. I have to say I was impressed with his driving ability. Who knew? I mean they have had stunt drives on every other show with driving scenes I've been on. Not here.

Also one got the feeling from his interactions that he was definitely not a prima donna. Impressive for a guy that's been in Oscar winning movies. He was thankful to the director for a couple of his ideas. Down to earth guy. In fact no one on set came off anything but in a positive light. The crew was friendly and treated us pretty well which seems to be hit or miss for large calls. There were a few hundred of us today. It was funny watching this one PA who looked really young sheepishly try to keep normal citizens from walking in the shot. I wonder how long she will be that way.

So all I have seen him do is drive a car. No plot ruined. I'm happy. Then they take us inside to walk inside the train station. I'm turned around and after walking around for a couple of hours (yes it's amazing how long it takes for shots to be taken. They have to shoot every side of the scene so they take many many takes) I'm sitting down. All I see is FBI agents running. Superb nothing ruined there either. But I do feel bad for Christine Woods, who plays Janis Hawk, as she's having to run again and again in high heels. That couldn't of been good for the feet. She did a pretty impressive job of running quite fast the first handful of shots as well.

Then they wrap the shot and send us all home. Pretty short day at 10 hours. Yup that's right two scenes takes 10 hours and the second scene took something like 7 hours. It's really nuts how many takes they have to do. Every angle, every distance has to be repeated. The scene is played out again and again and they just have two cameras shooting it from the different angles and distances. Cut, reset, do it again. Wash, rinse, and repeat. On the upside I only learned a minor thing of the plot which I won't discuss here as I don't want to get in trouble should some miracle someone read this or even more important I don't want to ruin the show for anyone. One of the girls was saying she did a couple of the shows before it aired and it lost the steam because she knew several things that happened and we're questions for the viewers at home that wouldn't be answered for a few episodes. That has to suck. Luckily for me that didn't happen.

I'm back and out from the Background

Well I have been horribly slack at updating about the experiences here on the Left Coast. That was for two reasons. When I returned in July all I did was play beach volleyball and become a bum and stayed away from Hollywood. Then when I broke down and signed up for background work I wasn't sure the rules but have seen numerous fb updates and such so screw it. I will start elaborating on life as a background.

This week I was booked for the first time on three different shows which I find shocking because as a generic looking white guy I figured I would get more. Now I didn't sign up till November and was gone for two weeks and then three weeks in December and January and apparently things have been slow since. Now in order to give shorter posts I won't go into great depth but will give some highlights.

Dying is fun. For one show I ran around as a celtic warrior and got to kill Romans and Die myself. Good times had by all. All but one person on the call were men and it was funny how they broke it down. All the Celtic guys were over six feet besides one guy who had long blond hair. I was one of two with brown hair. All had blue eyes. All of the Roman guys were shorter and had darker hair. But we ran into the field with swords and screaming and chopping the guys down and getting sliced up. Easily the most fun I've had on set. Great people, fun and friendly production crew, good weather, and fun work. No complaints there.

Time on the set is all based on who else is on the call. If you have good fellow background people with you, it's a blast. You play card in your down time. You talk to folks. If you don't it can be a really long boring day.

They spend a ton money on extras. Sometimes the call can be 500 to 1000 people. At al hundred bucks a day that means that on a big call, say 500, they are spending half a million dollars a day just background work. Starts to explain the reason why a show costs 3 million to make. Which is sad considering the average salary in this country is hair over 25,000.

That is all for now. Short and sweet.

Life on the Red Carpet Part Deux

So I'm a t-shirt and jeans guy. I'm laid back. I don't dress up and to be honest, not at all fashionable. I have more pairs of sandals then I do real shoes. And that high number is a whopping 5 pairs of flip flops. I've dated girls with 5 times that number. I have god knows how many t-shirts and if you look in my closet that's all you see is t-shirts. But half of them are from sports teams I've played on in rec leagues. One can be impressed with the sheer volume of clothes but they are not hip or in the current fashion motif.

When "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" came out I had friends who were kidding that they wanted to sign me up for the show. And they were only half kidding. I think one may of even attempted. My point is this, I'm anything but a fashionista.

As I've been in LA and I've gone out this simple fact has only been magnified. Santa Monica out on a Friday has everyone is decked out in their finest variety of black. Hit Silver Lake and it's hipster central. Go to the Key Club and it's all the rock out gear. In none of these places do I fit in. Hell, my DC outfit of Gap button down, jeans, and whatever sandals doesn't fit in. This has been my "going out" outfit for years as I've been in DC and that's what people wear. The places I somewhat fit in are the fashion centers of sports bars and Irish Pubs. Both meccas for current trends. I can somewhat place myself in the laid back atmosphere of the South Bay but that's in Hermosa and that's the dive bars. The sheik bars of Hermosa and Manhattan? Forget about it.

So what has caused this rambling should you ask? Well in the afternoon I get a call from my favorite European station asking if I was available to work. I say sure and ask what is the event. I am told it's another red carpet for a documentary on the fashion icon, Valentino. So I'm thinking sure I can work but I'm really like fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Now if you want to talk about the problems of the McCain '08 campaign compared to what Obama did right, I'm your guy. If you want analyze or talk about Henry Waxman or Maxine Waters, I'm your guy. You want me to talk about fashion with the icons of fashion.? Ahh. This is not good.

In fact, I could possibly be the worst person in LA to work this event that isn't living in a box or hasn't taken a shower in the past week. And that might not even be true. I'm sure there are several homeless guys who dig the Valentino. Point is, I don't know jack. The guy is talking to me like, of course I know Valentino. He's a fashion icon. I'm doing a major cases of the "uh huhs" on the phone as I'm telling him I can work it. I look at the clock. I have two hours to cram to learn what little I can.

So I get the tip sheet about the event and the list of people who are supposed to show up has Valentino, his partner, apparent fashion icons (again I don't know these people), Actresses Kelly Lynch, Kirsten Dunst, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anne Hathaway, you know, the fashion gals of Hollywood.

I'm a professional. I can cram. No worries. Thank god for the Internet. So I'm scanning the faces of all the players. I'm looking up Valentino, his partner. I'm absorbing every thing I can. I'm feeling more and more screwed. The fashion journalists are not like other journalists. They are divas themselves and get off on making and breaking people. They are not actually journalists. They are critics masked as journalists. They go into detail about designs when all I got is what Haute Coute and Pret A Porter is. And I'm killing the pronunciation of Haute Coute.

So I get to the event. I call my crew and he's not showing up fro an hour. I was told to get there early as it's open press, meaning they don't have assigned slots. The only problem is that's not true. It was open press for still photographers not tv. We have our spot so I'm there extremely early for no reason.

Now there is a future compare and contrast of DC media to LA media coming but the still photographers crack me up. They are all talking about their gear. They are all on Ipods or shooting the shit with each other. They obviously all know each other. There is a ton of them. They go to the same events. But the issue is they have the line now and they are friends. This will change. A couple of guys show up late and get called up by the event press person. This pisses off some of the guys. The one guy is adamant that there is a sign up list. He's adamant because he was one of the first people there and he has the list. The press person couldn't care less about the list and is calling camera person after camera person. Finally after some quiet rumblings and she goes to the guy's list. Which made me sad since if she didn't change her ways there might of been a riot and that would of been a great way to entertain me the next 30 or so mins as I waited for my crew.

So I get up there and I see my spot on the red carpet. Access Hollywood, then the wires, then the foreigner bastards like me. Whoo Hoo. I'm like 4th in line next to the AP and Reuters and in front of Fox News, TV Guide Channel and the Locals. Good stuff. There is no Insider or any of those guys. This is pretty damn solid. The celebs may not be bored by the time they get to me. Looking much better than the kids table I was at with the "ER" wrap party.

So it's early and everyone is chatting. The Fox girl, the TV guide and all those people to my right are chatting up a storm. Again the producers are dressed in leggings, bright colors, a lot of makeup. Not necessarily the classic, refined, glamorous look that Valentino was made famous for. For you non fashion guys out there, he was the go to for JackiO, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. He dressed Nancy Reagan and said she had great taste. He hated the 80s and can't stand that those styles are coming back. The very gaudy styles my cohorts to my right are wearing right now.

The one producer from the wires tells me how she's a fashion nut and is stoked by the event. She can't wait and goes off on how great Valentino is. Ok. I'm not denying the guy is a god and a creative genius. She looks at his clothes and is awed. I can talk about their elegance but really I'm the guy the guy in the t-shirt shedding a tear when Ken Griffey JR swings the bat because it's so beautiful. What can I say? I'm out of my element here.

So the wire producer is going on and on about fashion. The girls to my right are all looking down the red carpet talking and of course I'm looking down the red carpet and who's halfway up the stairs? Yup Valentino. I'm the guy that picks him out first. I've got the best eye for the fashion guru and I barely knew what he looked like two hours ago. I tell my crew who's moving slow as hell and then he's like, "oh Valentino is here" and the wires girl freaks out. She gets him first. She goes on and on and on and on. She knows her shit. I'm shaking my head. What the hell do I know? He heads to Access Hollywood and then his guy walks over to me and says I'm next. He wants to make sure the Europeans get him. He walks up I ask my first question, "What does having this documentary made and honoring you mean to you?" He misunderstands me. I should of been more detailed and asked a more focused question. He goes about how he likes the documentary and wasn't sure at first and was impressed by the detail and everything and now that he's seen it a couple of times he likes it. Crap. Not good. I focus my question and to ask about fashion, his style, and the end of an era with his retirement and get the answer I'm looking for. Then I follow up and ask if he could answer that same question in Italian. He laughs and shakes his head saying I'm answering in Italian in America. But it's not a good laugh. It's a a half this is silly and annoying laugh. Then add on top of that, I don't know Italian but I'm pretty sure he's answering the first crappy question. Not my second one I focused and need the translation for for the Italians. The wires apparently did the same thing. Then I asked him about getting all his family and friends and how they honor him. He calls me my dear and tells me so they love me and like me and I am happy. That's all I get. AP got a lot but their producer knew her crap. He's getting called in but the woman from Woman's Daily Wear gets him and he's more please with her because she's going into details and lines about his work. Crap! I just talked to a fashion god and all I got was an average answer. It will do and it works but nobody is going to be like that's a great bite. I need to regroup.

There is some blonde walking around and she's attractive but I can't place her. Turns out it's Nicky Hilton. Attractive but would be just another hot chick at the bar. Granted she's worth millions and if for some stupid reason ever met me at party would laugh at the ugly fat disgusting guy and try and crush me and I'm sure would succeed. She would then lay into how much of a poor loser I was and sadly I wouldn't be able to put up a fight. But it was funny, she's walking around and nobody wanted to talk to her. So much for being the classy sister who hasn't made a porn tape and has decided to quietly work on her purse line and make a ton of money. What does that get you? Walking around the red carpet with no one to talk to. If it was Paris I'm sure everyone would be going nuts. Not sure what that says about our society but I'm pretty sure that's it's not a good thing. Granted that was us video bastards. Once she got to the still end they shot the hell out of her.

Then comes Janice Dickerson. One word - scary. She's had some work done and it's not good. Now I still don't understand her whole, "The first super model" crap. I'm a dude in that age group where she claimed to come along. I had a Kathy Ireland Poster in my room. I know the Cheryl Tiegs and Christy Brinkley's of the world. I had no idea who Janice Dickerson was until reality tv. I'm going to go out on a limb but I'm pretty sure that means you're not the first super model.

Next up Joan Collins. She walks up and you know for a woman her age she was kind of a diva. And I don't mean that in a bad way. She's an icon and I guess what I'm saying is, ok, I can kind of see it. It is what it is. Of course what it is is she wanted no part of me. Access Hollywood and some station to the right and that was it. No wires, us foreign stations, or anything for her. Fair enough. She was waiting right in front of me as I was trying to get her press person who said she was coming over to me but alas didn't happen. She was standing there waiting for someone checking her IPhone and messaging. Yup. Joan Collins is up on the technology. Well done Ms. Collins. Some old dude walks up and she's off.

That brings me to the normal non celebrities. There was some serious age there. And I'm sure these people were fashion royalty and were gods of the industry and are magnificent at what they do. Only I had no clue who they were and I'm a nobody. Got it Accept it I'm impressed but I have one thing to say. Many of them (the vast majority) were dressed with elegance but there were the arbitrary people who needed to come to terms with the fact that, hell, you're freaking old. It's ok. It's nature. It happens. You can look good old. You can have an elegance. A grace. A wisdom and experience age brings. But please, for the love of god, lay off the pounds of make up and the plastic surgery. You're not looking good. You're just scaring the crap out of people. And I'm going to have nightmares tonight because of you. And I wish I was kidding.

Next up I'm asked if I want the director. The director of a documentary? Hell yeah I want him. It's only one of my favorite forms of entertainment. I talk to the guy and he goes on and on. I'm in someone's light (I think it's my crews of overfill from one of the wires) and I try to move to get the shadow off his face. I'm not having much success. I'm doing an ok job on questions. Not great. But solid. Maybe better than average. At least that's what I think. End of the Q and A and he thanks me for doing my homework and for the good questions. And he's not being nice. He's being serious. I do a little research, read about the movie, some reviews, some interviews of his and I seriously give him what I guess were his most enjoyable questions so far. Apparently the other people didn't actually read up on the whole reason we were there, the movie. I do know this after reading everything about the movie. I'm sold. I'm going to see it. Without a question. From everything I ready it seems like quite the interesting film. I just need to wait for it to come to me.

Then to my left I see the lovely Anne Hathaway. And when I say lovely. I mean graceful and elegant. Now in my experience in news I have had the pleasure of being in pretty damn close proximity to some icons of hotness, like say, Angelina Jolie and Elizabeth Hurley. They were of course good looking but looked much much better in film and especially pictures where the softness of film on top of proper lighting, not to mention hours of hair and make up, do wonders for a person. It's normal. And it's why they do what they do with the airbrushing and all the tricks of the trade. My point is they were something amazing in print and that was taken away in person. Natural and a fact of life and honestly something every person in this country should realize. It would make it a much better place. Hey dude, that girl in the magazine is not actually anywhere that hot. Get over it and appreciate the gorgeous girl next to you. She could be that hot. But I digress. Now I have heard of this rare phenomenon of some actresses, most notably Nicole Kidman looking light years better in person and have always sort of scoffed at such a thing. I'm a big believer in the aforementioned "nobody is as good looking in person as they are in a magazine." Well my friends I'm hear to tell you that it's not a myth. It's possible and it's a fact. And Anne Hathaway is a perfect example of that. She looks stunning. That's the best way to describe her. Just flat out stunning. It was incredible. Light years more than I expected (and I've always thought she was pretty damn good looking). She has been described as having the grace and style of old Hollywood and I now agree. She walked up with just absolute grace and elegance and just so well put together. She obviously has a session with her hair and makeup person and it worked. Like I said, one word - stunning. Just stunning.

Well lovely Miss Hathaway got bombarded by the wires and "Access Hollywood" and her person came up to me and said I had to keep it short, to one question. Ok fine. Then one of the freaking wire gals goes on and says, "only three more questions". You have to be freaking kidding me. She's already asked like six. Hey there publicist, why don't you grab your client and bring her down the line or regulate to wrap the wire girl. Well then the Stunning Miss Hathaway (her new official nickname) came my way and I got my questions in. Very nice. Great smile and very personable. And she stood out. Other crews came over and hoarded me as I was asking questions. On the red carpet when there are people going down the line so you hope they come to you or you just get video of them. Not with her. Everyone wanted to be close and get what she was saying even if it was just camera audio and someone else mic in the shot. That's what Anne Hathaway has become. And for good reason.

Then the people go in for the movie. Apparently Nancy Reagan was there but went in a back way. The stills got her but not us video folks. Gwenyth Paltrow never show and neither did Kirsten Dunst. It's ok. I'm pretty sure the Europeans don't know Dunst. As for Paltrow, well they will have to deal with The Stunning Miss Hathaway (as I said her official name). And you know what, if they knew what was good for them, they would be more than happy.

Steel Panther and Rodman

After having a pretty mellow Friday and nothing Saturday due to an actual day of work, a crazy Sunday, my Monday fills up quite quickly.
A friend of a friend has made the early Monday Show of the Upright Citizens Brigade or UCB, where Amy Poehler and others got their start. So she wants to support her friend and after two Mondays of sold out shows we actually decided to get tickets a week in advance. A good thing because the show sold out over the weekend. Its' a 5 dollar show and about 45 mins long.
So what they do at the show was they ask for a one word answer from the crowd. The first troop got Pyramid. The group on stage then brainstorms about what Pyramid means to them and it went to Beer Pong to being in college and doing whatever people told you did and then weird teachers they had. They they just improv various scenes. The second group got pony ad they brain stormed about how one guy at a pony his uncle claimed was his then another talked getting kicked off a horse and another about crapping themselves and then another about how they would pee themselves. Obviously the second group went more bathroom humor. Both were pretty funny and definitely worth the five bucks. Though I have to say it was funny but not that funny. I think the problem is I have way too many funny friends. DTK or Phil would of killed in this place. Of course they would of been simultaneously impressed and horrified at DTK. It would be great. They should move to LA and do Improv. It's a must. They are keeping the world from being a funnier place.

But after the show I have to run and go see what has apparently become my favorite Australian rock band the Hot Kicks who are playing at the legendary Key Club on the Sunset strip. They are playing a 30 min set and the cover is 20 bucks for the night. There will be three bands so I figured what the hell. I had never been there and don't think the Key Club will be a normal stomping ground for me. The Hot Kicks open and play well. There weren't as tight as they have been before but still sounded good. They finish another band goes on called Drill who wanted to know that they mother fucking rock. And that we are a bunch of mother fuckers. Everything to the lead singer was Mother fucking something. They could rock but I didn't feel it. They didn't do anything for me. They just tried to play fast and hard which I appreciate but there was absolutely noting special about them.

Then comes the headliner. Now it's Midnight on a Monday Night/Tuesday Morning and the place becomes packed. Everything is throwing back drinks. There are bleach blonde chicks wearing tight fitting slutty dresses flying all over the place. As the band comes on the titty cam (or at worst that's what I'm going to call it) go around focusing on girls cleavage. Then girls decide to start flashing the camera and its' on the big screens around the club. Ahh ok. And Seriously? No wonder why Girls Gone Wild can always find girls. We're just as a club on a Monday night and these girls have no qualms about showing their tits. Not that I'm complaining as I'm in the Ron White school of thought when it comes to boobs, "Once you've seen one pair, you want to see them all."

So then Steel Panther comes out. They are wearing spandex, have long hair wigs (except for the lead singer who's hair looked real) make up and are jamming 80's hair bands like a champ. They are dead on and hit every song on the head. Well except for "Pour Some Sugar on Me" which they sounded like crap on. It wasn't even close. They should just let it go and not try it. So the lead singer's pants start to fall down and you can see he's wearing a g string. Yes a dude wearing a G-string. Then they get girls on stage. They change every lyric to include something about getting laid and having sex. Girls are grinding on stage dancing with each other. Between songs he points some chick out and tries to get her to show her breast, mostly to success. He then starts talking to one girl in the front row who appears to be with her father. He's trying to get her to flash but then calls the old dude on stage who proceeds to rip off his shirt and pull down his pants. Did I mention this was some old dude. The band can't stop laughing as he's getting hauled off the stage. It was just nuts. This 60 year old dude ripping off his clothes. Are you kidding me. Shouldn't he be eating early bird specials in Delray? So then the guy points out that the guitarist from Sum 41 is there as is Benji from Good Charlotte. Both guys are about 2 feet tall. And I'm not kidding. They could of fit in my pocket. Later in the night Benji walked past me and he came up to my neck. I mean good lord he was a tiny little man. They called Benji on the play and he told them he didn't know any 80's rock songs. How the hell is this possible? How can any musician not know some 80's rock.

So next they bring out the big gun, Dennis Rodman who runs out and grabs a mic. He's up there screaming, bouncing around, and doing high kicks which is over the lead singers head. I mean they say Rodman is sober but he seems like he's messed up on something. He's going crazy up there for a couple of songs, grabbing all the guys, trying to play an instrument, and then screaming some more. After a few songs they tell Rodman to go party some more.

The lead singer of the Hot Kicks in down by the stage and runs back to us and is excited as hell as he just got a couple of pics with Rodman. He says he had a sticker and would Rodman wear one and Rodman tells him to slap it on him. Mick is stoked. I mean the guy is ear to ear. Then Rodman gets called back on Stage and he's jumping around singing with a Hot Kicks sticker on him. It's pretty damn cool and the band is flipping out. They were excited as hell and they are all taking pictures with Rodman with the Hot Kicks sticker on them.

Then Rodman gets off stage and walks right past us and sees the Hot Kicks and they start talking his guy. I'm literally 3 feet from Dennis Freaking Rodman. Then Rodman goes upstairs to the VIP room and my publicist friend follows him and the band gets the nod. They are going to hang with Rodman. Sadly I'm just a peripheral player (or a background drunk if you wish) so I'm not close enough to get the nod. But the photographer, the publicist (who are becoming friends) and the band (who are also kind of becoming friends or at worst now really know them all personally and get the high fives and hugs from so I would say an acquaintance) heads up to party with Rodman. After a while I'm told to head downstairs where Rodman was hanging in a corner and just leaves the bar. Mick is talking to Rodman's guy and they exchange numbers and will get in touch. I would say that was a pretty successful night. As for me I realize it's time to call it a night and take off.

Life on the Red Carpet

So it's been a while since I posted because first off I stink. I haven't been up to much except going out and enjoying basketball. The life of a jobless means March Madness makes you truly mad. And that's a good thing. I've been logging many hours on at sports bars watching the game. I also partied it up with a band a couple of nights which was pretty damn cool. But alas that take met to Saturday.

I went to a foreign video service last week who told me that they didn't have any money in their budget for freelancers but to come in anyway just to talk. So I did. I went in there and they liked me but again said they didn't have any money in their budget. They wanted me to fill out paperwork just in case someone had some vacation time or something coming up so I would be in the system. Two days later I get a call on Friday night as I'm about to head to the sports bar for more basketball. They ask if I can work tomorrow night. I say sure because I have nothing else going on but a couple of parties and frankly one cannot say no to a call like that. Especially with the way things are right now. So I'm booked. He wants me to call back and get the details about the event in the morning. So I do.

The event that I am to field produce is the "ER" wrap party and he wants me on the red carpet as cast members past and present arrive to the party. So there you go. My first red carpet. A little different than what I was used to, which is very very very exciting press conferences with Senators or Cabinet members or breaking news situations talking to people who have just lost their homes, have had family members killed, or looking for hope as they are about to get kicked out of their house. Needless to say the red carpet was a little different.

So back to the event. They have the red carpet set up and the actors will walk up the line from camera to camera talking to everyone who wants to ask them questions which is of course everyone. At the front of the carpet is the big guns, your "Access Hollywood", "The Insider", and "ET". Then it's the TV Guide Channel, E! and so one. Then it's the affiliates like NBC News Channel and then us foreigners. I'm next to a Canadian talk shows over by the wire services and then a couple of Latin American stations. Set up and check in is at 6:45pm and my crew doesn't show up till 7:15. The red carpet starts at 7:30pm sharp. He's a cranky Eastern European who quickly tells me essentially my experience is shit and that this "ain't the hill" in reference to my decade of work in DC. He then goes on about how he's been in War zones and that the DC crews are crap because they just run around chasing members of Congress. I try to inform him that the pool of international crews comes from DC and that they are on the rotation to Baghdad and other spots. He's not interested and tells me how news is going to shit and that everything is shit. He was a happy man. So 7:30 comes around and here comes the actors.

I have always kind of felt bad for actors who have to do junkets and these things and that was solidified. You can hear people five crews down asking the same generic questions I'm going to ask. Now if it was some other event maybe I could mix it up but people in Europe won't care about the details so the questions the actors are being asked again and again is the same ones that are broad and generic, "what is your favorite memory", "what did being on ER mean to you" and so on. I was surprised by how upfront and simple all the actors were on the "what ER meant to them" and "how did the show change them personally" answers. I was expecting that it would be some personal thing or moment that touched them. They all flat out said something along the lines, "well first off financially it set me up. I mean my standard of living is soo much higher now". It's all true of course I guess I was just surprised by how that was their first answer.

The other thing that cracked me up is that the entire focus was on a few actors. You had the secondary players and no one was interested. Now I especially wasn't because I'm thinking my services viewership in Europe wouldn't know or care about the minor players so I tried to focus on the big dogs. Only problem was that they were about done answering the questions when they got down to my end. The Canadian show was the death nail for me. The woman went on and on that she literally wore down her people. John Stamos was about to head down to the line when she grabbed him and asked him question after question but this time it was about the craft of acting so Stamos went on and on with his answers. When he finished up he said "I need to get a drink" and ran inside. Of course my lovely cameraman was like, what's that guys problem he thinks he's George Clooney. Who does he think he is. He's a want to be Clooney. I tried to inform him of who John Stamos actually is but Grumpy didn't want any part of it. To him he's a poor mans Clooney which, who knows, for all I know the guy could be right. Maura Tierney was also worn out by my favorite Canuck. She looked tired just answering this woman. I felt tired for her.

Laura Innes comes by and I am trying to get the attention of her press person who walked past me twice. I'm like, ahh, could you actually do your damn job and get her over here, thank you very much. Then she goes back and gives her to the Chatty Canuck and I'm like, oh crap she wants to go to the party and now I'm not going to get her. But finally her press person walks up to me and apologizes and says I'm next since I was cut in line. So Laura Innes is the longest cast member on the show having been on it for 12 seasons so anyone who's watched the show should know her. She was the female lead for most of that time. She was extremely nice and cracked me up as she finished up our short Q and A with a "good luck young man". Now I have a baby face but I'm 32. She's less than 20 years older than me and I get the "good luck young man" And I wonder why I can't get a job. People take one look at my face and think I'm twelve. Good times.

Finally the two big guns show up, Eriq LaSalle and Noah Wyle. (George Clooney was not expected). LaSalle poses for the still photographers and wants no part of the tv crews. And I mean no part. He walked back behind the curtain to completely avoid every single person. Even the Access Hollywood and all of them. Noah Wyle walks down and talks to all the folks and then is being told he needs to head into the party as the producers are giving their speeches and they are way behind schedule. He's hit by NBC affiliate having skipped the E! and TV Guide to their annoyance. Or last I think that's the two he skipped. Anyway, he has to go in after this interview as he's talking about how he took one of the OR doors and his wife says it will be the door to his office. My only thought is why the hell does he need a door to his office. He was just making 9 million a year on ER. Does he really need a real office anymore? Doesn't he have people who do all of that work for him anyway? But what the hell do I know I'm just some moron who used to be on the Hill.

A couple of thoughts about the event-
Everyone talks about how short everyone in Hollywood is but "ER" is not the case. Stamos was like 5'10 and the shortest of the main guys. Wyle was about 6'3" and LaSalle was close to that. Tom Everett Scott was like 6'4" and James Cromwell has to be about 6'7" or something. He was tall as hell. Either that or the red carpet was taller than where they had us. Which of course could be a possibility.

The cast also looks like run of the mill people. Nobody really stood out as a "damn they are good looking". Now I know Noah Wyle gets the ladies going and he's a good looking dude but he only gets them going because he's on TV. Shane West who I remember the girls were swooning over back when I was in college looked like some of idiots I went to college with. Nothing better. The women were the same. Maura Tierney looked exactly as I would of expected and how she looked on News Radio. Alex Winston looked much better than she did on "ER". Much classier and put together. And absurdly nice. Or at least that's how she came off.

In the further proof Australians are awesome people. David Lyons has me cracking up when he was talking about the best part of the show were the people who worked on the show and going to their parties and getting drunk with them. He then added that, hell, this my soon my best memory of the show as we are about to have a great party tonight and tie one on.

The only follks that were more than game to hit every crew were the three guys who are new shows and they were trying to sell them. I obviously didn't care since Europe only picks up the big hits but listening to these guys try and convince the Latin America stations to watch their show as they said "watch insert name of show here on said channel" in horrible Spanish was pretty damn entertaining.

The other producers were there for the event. They were dressed up and had some unique outside. Someone was decked out in a pastel blue attire which was a high cut puffy dress wearing blue glitter. Another was wearing what almost appeared to be a formal dress. They were there to partake in the party. I was the most low key in my sport coat and pants. You know me, the Tavman doesn't do fancy. After all I just came from the boring hill where nothing every happens and we don't know what's going on and that we're all shit. Something my crew made sure I couldn't forget.

Sunday Funday

So I found a place to live and I moved on Saturday. Now some people might decide to spend Sunday getting unsettled and unpacking but I'm not most people. It was beautiful out so I decided to enjoy my new home, Venice.

Two friends come over and we head down to the beach. They both have their bikes and I, having made the terrible mistake of leaving mine in DC, had to rent a beach cruiser for the day. I quickly learned a couple of things. The strand on the beach is not conducive to a road bike which I had in DC. Once it's got a lot of sand on it at spots which would mean a wipe out if one is on their 2000 dollar bike. It is also very very crowded so it's more of a cruise speed and not actually anything trying to fly. If you don't move in DC on the bike trail you will have issues. The fact that there aren't more accidents with all the runners and bikers and other folks on the trails in DC is pretty shocking considering how crowded it can get on nice days. On the strand in the beach it's supposed to be just bikers but there are so many and they are just lolly gagging along at a snails pace that you have no choice but to go slow. This all explains why everyone has cruisers here. Only I quickly realize I'm not a fan. I don't like the ride. I wish I had my mountain bike with me. At least it would be useful in the hills and could handle the beach, especially after the tightened the shocks. Sadly it's in DC in the snow and I'm here in the fun.

So we bike up to Santa Monica and past the pier. It's a great day a nd a nice ride and we're taking in the sights. Now I had previously walked up Venice a bit but my god it was much much more crowded than it was the last time. There are kinds of people selling crap and when I say crap. I mean crap. I will explain this more. I also made the tragic mistake to forget my camera. A constant complaint I have been getting is that I haven't been posting pictures. Well this would of been a perfect day for that but sadly no camera. Sorry folks. I'll try and change that.

After biking to Santa Monica we decide to bike down to Venice and grab lunch. We get stopped by this short muscular black dude in an American Flag bikini bottom. He is throwing around a ten pound ball and warns us not to get any food from the carts as they have been killing dogs and he thinks they are serving it. At least that's what we think he is saying. So we acknowledge the advice and avoid a cart and hita stand. I get what was supposed to be BBQ tri-cut tips but it's just a hunk of roast beef. Ok. Fine. My two friends get empanadas and we decide to head over to the basketball courts where they filmed White Man Can't Jump. We walk up and they are ballin'. The quality of the play is, well downright bad. It's sloppy. It's a bunch of dudes running up and down the court passing once and then trying to drive to the hoop. But then two guys start yelling at each other from accross the court. One dude is telling the other that, "Oh I know you I know you." The other responds back, "Bitch you ain't shit. You ain't shit. Put you money where your mouth is. Come on N----- put your money where your mouth is. I got 5 hundy that I gotch you. Come on bitch. Five hundy. Put it up. " The other dude starts talking smack and the first guy says something about a gun so the second dude walks up to him, "what's this talk about a gun. Come on, I know you. I know you. You don't need no gun. Why you bringin' up a gun. There ain't no need for that shit." The first dude replies, "I got it in my bag right here. Show me yours. Come on show me yours." Now all comes to ease and things are good. Now why pray to ask did we sit there during this. Because it sounded much worse than it was. It was two dude that were obviously friendly to each other frankly just talking shit to each other.

By this time another game has started and this tall dude with bushy hair is apparently hated by everyone else because he kept calling, "bitch fouls." Every time they would go down to the hoop the guy would call a foul. Now I personally had to agree with his critics. When I played on the playground unless you ass got dropped you didn't call a foul. It was also far more physical than the play I got to witness here. I was disappointed in the play. No one was shooting. A lot of turnovers and just flat out sloppy. No one could even drive to the hoop with style. Not at all what I was expecting though the shit talking and the fact the game almost came to blows was a lot of fun to witness. I did see the guys in the middle court looked like they could shoot pretty damn well. I just wasn't paying attention to them. I'm definitely going to have to go back and check it out again.

So after lunch we head on down to Marina Del Ray. Talk about a change of scenery. You go from a very bohemian/boardwalk feel of Venice to biking through really nice houses and then to the marina which of course is Yacht city. Talk about huge nice yachts. Man I need to learn how to sail. Anyway we bike to the Lighthouse area where there is a live seven piece band playing and city with a bunch of older folks dancing and hanging around having a blast. I'm definitely going to have to go back there again.

It's about 5pm and one of my friends could eat again so I'm like well I wouldn't mind getting a drink. So we walk back to the beach to grab a drink and watch the sunset. Some things we see as we're walking down the boardwalk-
-Two Medical Marijuana spots.
-Some dude asking me if my mom was here in the 70's because he's pretty sure he fucked her. Nice folks here on the boardwalk.
-God knows how many stores selling bongs and pipes in the window. Apparently pot is quite big here. Oh and the smell of some of the people we were behind was, let me just say, nasty.
-A dude on stilts dressed up as a tree. He has leaves and branches on him and would lean against the trees and pop out to scare people.
-Three girls have a hula hoops off.
-Many many psychics wanted to read your palms or give you a reading. Why is it if you have a board walk and a beach someone feels they can see your future? Maybe I should of asked one if they saw a job in my future.
-A drum circle. There were at least 200 if not 300 people on the beach dancing and going crazy around a bunch of hippies playing the bongos. It was awesome. Unfortunately my friends didn't want to go up and get closer to the mayhem but next time I'm getting more details of what the hell this fiasco was. Apparently it's a weekly occurrence.

So is Sunday evening drinking. We went to three spots before we could find a table for a drink. They were freaking packed. Hell the bar we settled on was even out of the some of the drafts. We settled on a Bitburger and watched the sunset. Did I mention that DC got walloped with snow? I might not have a job or anything furthering my life but I sure had a great Sunday Funday.

And to Hermosa we go

It's Friday. It's the day that the world says goodbye to the troubles of the work week and gets ready to have some fun. Or if you're like me you pretend to say good bye to the troubles of the work week and have some fun anyway. I make some calls and nothing seems to be going on. Why is it my first weekend here there was a ton of stuff going on and now nothing? Those that are in town are laying low. Umm ok.

So a friend of mine decide to head to Hermosa and hit the crazy happy hour specials. 2 for 1 till 7pm at Sharkey's on the Pier. It's 4:30pm and it's packed. We walk around and finally find a seat in the corner of the deck. The waitress walks up and asks if we just came from inside and I tell her no we just got here. Waitress is hot. Bleach blonde hair but it become apparently rather quickly she's missing a couple of cells upstairs. The same can be said of the better looking blonde she is training. Sadly the only really attractive women in our vicinity are the two waitresses. I thought Southern California was supposed to be running rampant with hotties. So far I haven't seen it. A couple of more local bars in Arlington are stocked with more talent than I've been seeing here. Well so my friend and I start talking to someone only it's the dude sitting next to me who's stuck there all by himself because his girlfriend refusing to come out tonight because it's freezing. Mind you it's a whopping 65 or something. Oh yeah that's ice cold. He tries to justifiy it by saying she's from Pasedena and doesn't know any better. Ok ok. Whatever. Meanwhile the east coast is getting a snow storm. Ok there dude.

We've had a enough and the special is over so we decide to move on to the dragon which has half price drinks till 9pm. Did I mention you can get in a lot of trouble in Hermosa? Only our brilliant waitress has double charged us. We have not had what she claims she has. They both try to explain the bill to us but I can see the steam coming out of there ears and frankly it's hurting us trying to fight them. Luckily for them we're happy and don't feel like fight. It dawns on us that we ordered a couple of rounds and had to remind her and we figure she put the order in and just forgot to pick them up and once we reminded her she put another order in. Since it's half price and we're in decent moods we move on. She's not worth the energy for the extra 10 bucks. Either she's one hell of a scam artist (which who knows could be possible), she's making the bar bank by being an idiot, or she needs the all the help she can get in life so we let it go.

We go to the Dragon which is uneventful except for the fact the dude with the girlfriend is talking to a handful of hotties and is doing nothing to help out us. In fact he's completely forgotten us so we move on to the Poop Deck. And yes you. read that right. The name of the bar is the poop deck. The bar is a complete dive bar which considering the name is not a shocker. But next thing we know we're in the middle of a flip cup game which we continue to play much longer than we should of but had a moment of clarity and decided to call it a night. Yup that's right I got Pooped at Poop Deck. That my friends is good times.