check out my entertainment blog for a rundown, commentary, and trailers...
www.thescreenexperiment.blogspot.com
-e
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007
3 days Parked in Park City
R&R is totally underrated. This weekend, I took a short 3-day jaunt to the majestic snow-covered mountains of Park City, Utah to spend time with friends and family. I had no agenda other than to relax, have fun, make memories, and spend time with people that I love. It's amazing what God will reveal to you when you take pause from the hustle-and-bustle of your everyday existence to rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul. When you put everything the world deems "important" aside and focus on feeding your heart, blessings abound.Way back in the summer of 2002, I took a long road trip out to Los Angeles with 3 new friends for what would be a life-changing 3 months in Hollywood. Not only did I grow close to Red, Ben, and Anton and consider them brothers to this day, but I also became close with a very special family who has since become so much more than mere "family friends." The Armstrongs are one of the most amazing families I have ever had the pleasure to know and have grown to be, in a sense, my second family. This weekend I was able to reconnect with memories of that amazing summer in LA (sans Ben's presence, although he lives here in LA with me and is a part of my daily life).
On Friday, I arrived around lunch time at the airport in Salt Lake City. I met up with Anton and Red who were both furiously typing away on their MacBooks with coffees in hand. This was their usual state of existence in times of waiting, contemplation, inspiration, boredom, or work. They jumped up to pass out the hugs and we headed out into the cold to meet up with Beth. We hopped in the car and raced home after we learned that, if you present your boarding pass, you can get a free lift ticket for skiing on the day of your arrival. We jetted into their home only long enough to change into our ski gear and grab our "free ski passes" for the day. We were headed for the slopes only a mere hour after touching down on Utah soil. Once we arrived at Park City Mountain Resort, we met up with Brett who was just coming down off of a run, skis on, poles in hand, goggles firm on his icy face. He was so happy to see us and he squeezed his puffy jacket against ours to welcome us for the weekend! Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to get a free lift ticket because Southwest had taken my boarding pass upon getting onto the plane. I had my Itinerary but that was no good, as far as they were concerned. I would have been upset had there been hours left to ski but the truth is that the lifts closed about 45 minutes after we arrived so I knew I wasn't missing much. The guy checking tickets was nice enough to let me go up one lift and ski down, just enough to make me realize that I needed some practice! I think it had been about 10 years since I had been skiing!
After being out in the snow for a few hours, the whole gang went home to get some grub and prepare for the night's festivities. One of the primary reasons for making the trip was to see Brett in his stage debut at the Egyptian Theater as John Darling in PETER PAN. Red, Anton, and I were really excited to see him perform and to spend some time at the theater. The show was fantastic and Bretty really did a great job. Anton and I were having a bit of stage envy as the show progressed, wishing that we were also on stage with them belting out the familiar and fantastical tunes. At one point in the show, Anton leaned over to me and whispered in my ear that he thought the girl playing Peter looked remarkably similar to a young Ellen Degeneres. I had to laugh because for about 30 minutes, I had been thinking the exact same thing! Ellen as Peter Pan...now there's a show! The 3 Amigos in the audience, me included, gave Brett a standing ovation and probably hooped and hollered more than should be deemed appropraiate in terms of proper "theater etiquette." We didn't care. We love Brett! And the THEATER! Following the show, and quite frankly for the rest of the trip, we kept singing a spoof verse of the popular song "I'm Flying." It went something like this:
"Candy Canes, Cookie Dough, Fairy Dust, Tinkerbell, Neverland"
(*insert your own 3-syllable words and phrases as you wish!)
Anton was hilarious about it. I laughed every time he sang a new "version," partly because of this word choices but more-so because of the 80-yr old lady voice he did it in. Oh, Anton. Hats off to you.
Saturday can pretty much be summed up in one word: SKI! After carb-loading in Cucina de Armstrong, we hit the slopes. Brett skied with us until he had to go to his matinee performance, and then it was just the 3 Amigos once again. I started out slow, on greens, making sure I didn't kill myself or get too over-confident. The guys were really sweet and went with me a few times, all the while I know they wished the could have just gone straight for the blues. I worked up my courage and soon, after only about 2 runs on the greens, found myself on the blue lift...going up...and up...and up. Once we reached the top, I took a while to gain my composure as the guys strapped on their snowboards. "Meet you at the bottom?," Red said. "Yep, I'll see you there." They took off and I, well, I took one more deep breath. Then, I dug my pole into the ground and WHOOSH, I was movin! I'm not gonna lie...I was scared. But the good thing about going up to the top of the blue is you pretty much MUST find your way down. I was determined to make it down with one goal: don't fall. No matter how long it takes, just don't fall. And, I'm happy to report, I did it. After the first time down, it got easier and easier and I, in turn, got better and better.Around 1 pm we headed into the restaurant lodge for some refueling and bun-warming. It took 3 tries to get my meal right, but it wasn't long before I was shoveling fries like there was no tomorrow. We stayed inside for a good hour, talking, roasting, joking, and people-watching. After we were good and fed it was time to again suit up and head out. We went straight up to the blues again and this is where I would have a great memory of the day....
I actually started down the mountain first this time, knowing full well that Red and Anton would blow past me and beat me to the end anyway. About half way down, I stopped to rest my legs, which I did frequently on the blues because I was trying to dig so hard to maintain control on the steeper parts. While I was resting, I heard a little girl on a snowboard crying to my left. I reached out my hand and asked if she needed help up. She then replied "I can't move my leg. I think it's bleeding." This was not the response I was expecting, but I was excited to be able to help with an "injured skier." I turned and started walking up the mountain sideways to get the attention of a mountain worker who was whistling at skiers who were coming down this particular section too fast. He immediately went to the girl and asked that I take his spot and yell at any skier coming their way. I was standing backwards, in skis, looking up a giant slope at skiers and snowboarders tearing their way toward me. It was intimidating. But, there was a rescue at hand! I had to play my part. I waited for a good 10 minutes for the other rescue skier to make this way to the site. Once he arrived (with a rescue sled), he, too, asked me to stay and help he direct "traffic" around the injured girl who was getting loaded onto the the sled. So, there I stood. My calves were throbbing as I dug my skis into the snow, trying hard not to slide backwards down the mountain. I was yelling "Right, stay right, please. Injured skier." I was flailing my arms, not knowing whether pointing or using "air-traffic controller" hands would be more effective. I guess I was up on the mountain a good 20-3o minutes before they finally took her down. I never found out her name or what happened to her but, in that moment, I was glad that my legs were cramping up giving the the opportunity to stop and see her in need.
After we skied, we went home and CRASHED. Not really "sleeping" but more-so just lounging around in our long-johns, our matted ski-hat-hair rising messily from our heads. We had been sans shower for T-minus 2 days and we didn't really care. Brett, we were told, had invited a few "friends" over from the play to watch a movie and eat before the night performance. Well, little did I know that in Armstrong talk that meant the entire cast of PETER PAN! I was fine until I saw Peter/Ellen D/Molly (that was her real name) walk in the door and suddenly I felt like I was a gross pre-pubescent boy and needed to go shower and "girl" up. I did and then headed up for some Beth-Spagetti. Yummy!
After Brett was dropped off at the play, Red, Anton, and I went our way and mom and dad (Beth and Roge) went theirs. We were going to meet up with one of Red's friends at a coffee shop and then, perhaps, hit up a pub for a brew. We chilled at Java Cow for about an hour, chatting and laughing with Micajah (yep, that's his name). I instantly liked him because 1) he was from Louisiana, 2) he went to LSU, and 3) he was throwing stories and jokes out left and right. Very good people, that one. He had to head to work at 9 pm so Red, Anton, and I decided to head to a local brew pub and down a cold one, or two. We sat and down the amber goodness of a pitcher of Park City's finest, discussing life, religion, dreams, and goals. Once the pitcher was done, Red and Anton decided that they couldn't leave without trying to darkest beer this place had to offer, simply because of the title: POLYGOMY PORTER. Gotta love that...
When we returned home, it was time for us to curl up on the couches and get inspired. What better way to do that than to pop in ONCE, this indie-film made for $150K that has more heart, more beauty, more melody, and more art than most any other film I've seen in a long time. The soundtrack alone was enough for me to fall in love with the movie, even before seeing one single frame. The film chronicles the tale of a heartbroken vacuum repairman who moonlights as a street musician and, with the help of a woman he meets while performing one afternoon, sets out to record some songs and travel to London to win back the love of the one he lost. This film is such a perfect example of how to do a musical without all the spontaneous bursting out in song. The songs are organically woven into the fabric of the film and, in many ways, tell much of the story within their lyrics. I was both intimidated and inspired by this film and would put it at the top of my list of "must-sees" for the year. Truly remarkable and proof that big production value is NOT what makes a film memorable. ONCE tugs at your heart and takes you on a musical journey through broken and flourishing relationships.
I was up most of the night thinking about ONCE. Thinking about its simplicity. Thinking about how talented the two leads were and how lucky the film was to have found them and brought them together. I hope my films are half as good as this one.
On Sunday, it was a day of complete relaxation before heading to the airport to conclude the trip. We, again, watched another movie (come on, they have so many good ones at their house!!!) and cozied up until lunch time. This time, we watched MICHAEL CLAYTON, starring George Clooney. This film was written by Tony Gilroy, the guy who wrote all of the BOURNE movies and it very much so had the "BOURNE" feel. All in all, a very good movie with outstanding performances. The story at times was hard to track, as things were not laid out in a linear fashion and there were a lot of names and case points to keep track of, but by the end it answered most of the questions it asked. One thing that none of us understood was the bit with the horses. Now, if you've seen the film, you'll know what I'm talking about. What made Michael get out of the car to oogle over the wild horses? This question is a major point of contention and a catalyst for a lot that happens in the movie. Anyone know? I'm sure I could Google it and fund out but it's more fun swishing it around in my head. Another thing that I wish they would have done a little better is given some resolution to the references to the book REALM & CONQUER. Anywho, I could go on. It's a good flick and worth seeing but it will still leave you with a few "huhs?" in the end. Performances to mention are Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkonson. Both do a great job in this film. There were times, however, where I felt like Tilda's character (Karen) was "gone" from screen for too long but there's a great "I got ya" scene between her and Clooney near the end that really shows how well she plays subtlety.
Before we went to the SLC airport, Roger took us on an hour long car ride through the area. The scenery was breathtaking in the winter, stark whiteness as far as the eye could see in some places. Little mountain towns tucked away in canyons and alongside chilly rivers. It's certainly a different kind of existence. A more peaceful one, I imagine. I kept thinking about what I was flying back to: the traffic, the urban metropolis, the celebrity, the biz. Suddenly all of that seemed so...well, gross and unimportant.
I'm back at work now. Thinking about the weekend as I write this. Of course I could say much more but I feel like I've gone on too long already. I just got a call from Beth telling me how great it was to have us there and also an IM from Brett telling me that he misses me. Oh, the things that matter in life! It's hard to turn to my left and shove my face deep into this budget and pick it apart when my mind is not focused at all on tangible, concrete things.
Back to the grind...
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Daylights TERRA FIRMA video
Check out the newest music video I produced on my Entertainment Blog at:
www.thescreenexperiment.blogspot.com
www.thescreenexperiment.blogspot.com
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Truth
"Growing up Southern is a privilege. It's more than where you're born, it's an idea, a state of mind that seems imparted at birth. It's more than loving fried chicken, sweet tea, baseball, bibles, and country music. It's being devoted to screen porches, magnolias, coca-cola, and each other. We don't become Southern, we're born that way."
Friday, March 02, 2007
STRAIGHTHEADS
Check out this new blog on my entertainment site:
www.thescreenexperiment.blogspot.com
It's about STRAIGHTHEADS, Gillian Anderson's new thriller.
It's about STRAIGHTHEADS, Gillian Anderson's new thriller.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
a new year, a new you
My last post was in August of 2006?! That's just sad. Quite unforgivable. And, to top it all off, it was a selfish plug for my lame YouTube trailer. I'm a low creature. My apologies.
Well, it's now 2007. And, as Bob Dylan would say, "The Times, They are A'Changin." That's right, kids. I've come out of my lowly valley and have emerged a new, more artistic individual. What sparked the resurgence, you may ask? Quite simply: ART. Doesn't art always have something to do with it? I know for me it does. Art is so powerful. And this weekend, I realized just how much of my life is defined by it: the way I REACT to art, the way I CREATE art, the way I DISCUSS art, and the way I FIND art in the world around me. Werd up, playa, werd up.
I spent the weekend (MLK weekend, nonetheless...coincidence? I think not! Ok, so there's no REAL tie in there, but MLK was striving for equality and that's kinda artistic, right? Ok, nevermind) --A-N-Y-W-A-Y-- I spent this weekend being very very super-dee-duper artsy-fartsy and, although I was incredibly busy, it was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. Here's the lay of the land (get ready to get jealous of my AWESOME weekend...just warning you):
FRIDAY - Well, I started the day a little gas-y, which worried me. Sorry, I shouldn't start there. Let me skip ahead a little...Work ended up being a really busy day. And not just a busy day, but a busy Friday, which makes things worse - always. Scripts were coming in left and right and the office was really a-buzz. I ended up being at work with other assistants til almost 8:30 pm and then hopped in the car to head home. I returned some calls whilst cruising up Bev Glen to the hizzy. Plans for the night were still being worked out, but my options were shaping up nicely. I could 1) Stay home and be cozy. 2) Stay home and eat 3 popsicles while watching the free first season of BONES I snagged at work. 3) Stay home. or 4) Go to a Karaoke double birthday with friends. When weighing these options carefully, I opted for number 4, as to not appear like a loser and an anti-social nancy. Guys, I even carpooled to the b-day bash to make myself look like I had friends to arrive with! I know how to work this crap! The b-day was fun...er...well, it was nice to see everyone, but the singers were THE WORST SINGERS I HAVE EVER HEARD and it not only hurt by ears, but also my soul. I'm glad I went for the birthday girls but even more annoying than the lame songbirds was the idiot waitress. There was no cover to get in, but what we learned (almost immediately upon crossing the doorframe) was that there was a 2 drink minimum. This got me heated. What if I'm not thirsty? What if I don't want a bev? What if I'm the DD? And the waitress would NOT let you forget it was a 2 drink minimum. She followed each one of us around all night and kept asking "Are you ready for your next drink?" NO! I'm not. And when I am, I'll come find you. I broke down and ordered my first drink, which was a diet coke. It came in one of those thin, cylindrical glasses full of ice (so, only like 2 actual sips of the coke). For the rest of the night, I hid from this waitress. She went right, I went left. She was headed to me, I turned my back to her and casually tossed a hot wing in my mouth. Needless to say, this little game went on all night and was entertaining me, I must admit. And the end of the night, I managed to only buy the one drink. Victory, I thought, until I had to pay for the 2 sips of diet coke I DID order. "5.00, please." WHAT? That's highway robbery people. I was so steamed. BUT - I paid my 5 bones and peaced out. Honestly, I would have rather paid a cover and not been forced to engage in a cat and mouse game with that waitress all night. But, the Lord has a sense of humor. And that, my friends, I appreciate.
SATURDAY - Begin the day with a little Brainstorming and Starkbucks, that's what I always say. Today fit that bill. By 9 am I was already in Burbank standing in line at the Starbucks for my Chai Latte and Reduced fat cinnamon loaf. Both were equally tasty. After my bfast, I headed over to the LA LOVES home office for an emergency think tank for their STOP TRAFFICK campaign. Elkin, founder/producer, has a meeting on Monday with Lionsgate about their upcoming film TRADE and how we, LA LOVES, can partner up with their marketing department to raise awareness. Elkin, Deborah, Heidi, Dairek, Linda, and I sat around a table and put together a solid action plan for the meeting. We were extremely productive and the gathering got us all excited about our power to create change and make this happen. My main task, in addition to using my media contacts to help us, was to take all the information for the presentation packet for Lionsgate and graphically lay it out in an aesthetic way. I had to wait, however, until all the information was compiled. I would have to be working under the gun, most probably doing the majority of my work Sunday night - the night before the 9 am meeting on Monday. But, that's just how I roll. Under pressure like that. Waz up?
I had planned on having lunch with a friend form college who was in town but had to cancel on him because our meeting lasted way longer than expected. We rescheduled for bfast tomorrow morning. That should work out just fine. I finally made it back home at 3 pm, my brain still racing from our meeting of the minds. It was cold, but with my adrenaline pumping and my feeling of fatness, I made the executive decision to pack up my messenger bag and lap top, toss on my scarf and beanie, and hop on my 1974 purple Schwinn for a little afternoon ride, ending at Roman's where they have WI-FI and a BBQ Chicken Press Wrap that's to die for. I'm not gonna lie to you, about 10 minutes into an the ride, I was wondering if I had smoked something. I trudged on, peddling slow by steady, and finally arrived at Roman's. I whipped out the computer and got to work. I started searching online for any information I could find on the movie TRADE, as well as the Lifetime movie HUMAN TRAFFICKING. I wanted to try to get contact info for executives and filmmakers so that it would be easier for Elkin and Deborah to get in touch with the sources of these creations. I figured that they'd have to have had a reason for wanting to tell these stories. So do we! Let's talk it out! I spent way too much time at Roman's and had to hightail it out of there in a jiff, only to find out that it had dropped like 15 more degrees since being in the comforts of the restaurant. I was forced to hop back on the Schwinn and FREEZE my butt off as I zipped home. I felt like Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in that scene in DUMB AND DUMBER where they are frozen to each other on the little scooter. I ran back inside and started getting toasty. I had to quickly hop in the shower because I had to meet someone for dinner @ 7 pm over the hill. Eeks! And, it was a boy.
Saturday night was a super-blast. Andrew and I went to dinner at a little Vietnamese restaurant downtown at 7:30. It was called BLOSSOM. I'd recommend it highly. And get the Ginger Limeade (hot or cold)...it'll clear out your sinuses like a nice Asian altoid. After dinner, we planned to hit up 2 downtown art shows: one hosted by the infamous BUMDOG, a "homeless" dude who loves Bob Dylan, making movies, art, and poetry and the other hosted by one of Andrew's friends, a show displaying all Austrian artists. We figured we'd double-dip in the art shows, hitting Bumbog's first then swing on by the loft and check out some sweet Austrian schnitzel. After dinner, we tried to locate the first of our two shows. We parked, got out onto the urine-smelling streets, and kept wandering around and around. Where was this silly show? I was holding my purse tight under my armpit and kept my eyes on the vagrants around me. We soon learned from a 5-0 that Bumdog's show had ben canceled at the last minute. Bummer. And, also at that moment, we were approached for the time by a dirty Hispanic street wanderer carrying a dead rat by the tail. Just a normal Saturday night in downtown LA. It was comforting. Alas, we headed on to our second art show of the night, this one promising to be indoors, away from the people drawing pictures in their own vomit on the sidewalk. That was at least a plus. The Austrian art show was really amazing. It was in this sweet loft under the 1st street bridge and it was very chill and relaxing. Andrew and I had some wine, mingled, and checked out the art. It all felt very adult, which was kinda cool (and kinda scary). One artist in particular really wowed me. She's only 23 and she's only been painting for 5 years professionally. She's amazing. Her name is Bianca Regl and you have to check her out. The amazing thing about her is that she works SUPER fast. Like 2 hours per painting. Wowzer. I met and spoke with her at length and she is very sweet and down to earth. She has just finished studying at UCLA and is headed back to Austria as we speak. She's been offered a gallery, a car, and a life as a professional artists. She's also going to be showing in Berlin, Germany as well. Good luck to you, Bianca! Being at this art show inspired me to paint more. I painted a lot when I was younger and stopped for some reason. I want to make a few pieces of art for my apartment and, after tonight, am confident that I can.
After the show, Andrew and I hung out at his place til like 4 am, drinking tea, looking at photographs, talking about film, and, toward the end, cuddling and kissing. There, I said it. It was fun, come on. Which leads me to...
SUNDAY - This day started BRIGHT AND EARLY. And, I might add, in a strange apartment. I had stayed the night at Andrew's place because 1) It was freezing. 2) I didn't want to drive to the valley @ 4 am. 3) My 9 am breakfast was right around the corner. and 4) I'm a girl and who doesn't like a little kissing and cuddling? (Totally innocent, my Christian friends. Do not judge. I'm a goodie). Anywho, at 9 am I had to bust out in the cold, wearing the same clothes I had worn the night before, and meet a friend and his friend who were in town for breakfast @ TOAST on 3rd Street. It was way to early to laugh but Brad and Jeremy certainly got me going. They are two of the funniest people I've met. It was so nice to visit and giggle over an egg burrito. We sat outside so we could comment on all the LA-ness that was going on around us. Being from the South, we found A LOT to laugh at. From the huge sunglasses being worn inside, to the cars bumping their base that pulled up curbside fpr bfast, it was definitely entertaining. After the meal, I bid them a fond farewell and headed home to the valley to shower (finally...I had mascara smeared everywhere...looked like a battered wife...ok, not appropriate). ANYWAY, I got all squeaky clean and then....NAPPED. So hardcore it's not even funny! As soon as my head hit that pillow I was OUT. I slept for a good while and was woken, a few hours later, by the sound of my friend, Dairek, rapping on my window. "EMOSS...EMOSS, i know you're there. Open the door." Ugh. Nap over. Dairek came in and he and CC and I pow-wowed on my bed. We started talking about kissing, for some reason. Maybe because I was sharing my story from the night before. We started talking about what separates a bad kisser from a good one. CC and I immediately started rattling off signs, while Dairek just listened. We were throwing out the following terms: "Firm, yet gentle" "Knows what he's doing, confident" "Slow and thoughtful" "Deliberate moves" Dairek was like "Girls really pay attention to that? Guys are just thinking about sex at that point." (Dairek here speaking about "most" guys). We responded, "Oh, yeah. Kissing can be a deal breaker for a girl. Girls talk about bad kisser their friends. You guys need to know that." Men: take note - kissing matters. Practice. Just then, our friend, Heidi came over and we continued the conversation. She agreed with us. As we laughed and joked, Dairek and I realized that time was slipping away. Crap. We have to work on the LA LOVES presentation. The meeting is at 9 am tomorrow morning! Playtime was over. We jetted out of the house, headed back to Roman's, and pounded it out for, like, 3 hours, plus an additional 4 hours at my house. We worked on the presentation from 7:00 pm to 2:00 the next morning. Phew. 7 pages of graphically layed out info and research ready to go. Now, all I have to do is email them to Elkin so she could print everything. Almost done. I climb in my bed, cozy up, and go to email the pics when...CRAPOLAFRAGILISTIC. The internet is down. It's 2:30 am. I'm sooooooo tired. No sleep the night before and, looking like, no sleep tonight. Humph. All I can force myself to do is pray that the internet will come back on and set my alarm for 6:30 am (that's 4 hours later) to get up, check, and try to resend. AMEN.
MONDAY - (MLK 2007!) 6:34 am - Yeah, so, it's not working. Elkin's meeting is in like 2.5 hours. Crap. I quickly burn a CD, thinking that I'm going to have to drive them over to her house (over the hill). In one last Hail Mary attempt I text message my 3 guy friends who have a house close to mine just HOPING that one of them is a light sleeper. Please don't be drunk...please don't be drunk. And suddenly, as if from the Lord (ok, it was from the Lord), Rob (aka Cousin Eddie) comes through. TEXT: "Yeah...sure. Come over. Door is open." SAVED. I hop in my car wearing my Hush Puppy slippers (so cold outside) and head to their house. I sent all 7 pics and was finished by 7:45 am. PHEW. Seriously, JUST enough time for her to print. I hugged Eddie with all my might and headed home, well first to Starkbucks, and the home. I did a little light reading on a book called RIGHTEOUS (PLEASE READ..whole other blog story entirely) and then fell back asleep til 12:30 pm.
When I came to, I figured I needed to be with friends so I gathered some food, went to my friend's house and hung out for a while before going to see a movie. At their house, we discussed French filmmaking, particularly Godard, as we watched the apartment scene from his film CONTEMPT. It's a great scene. So layered, so textured. The shots are so thoughtful and symbolic and Godard was not afraid to let a moment breathe. He let you be IN the moment, feel the moment. He was also not afraid to stay wide, which is rare these days. We talked about shooting a scene as an homage to this kind of filmmaking. It was a great discussion about art amongst friends. We ended the evening by seeing PAN'S LABYRINTH by Guilleromo Del Toro. Wow. Go see this film. It's one of the most interesting and visually captivating films I've seen in a while. More so than that, it's an adult fairly tale, complete with gore and adult themes, but contrasted with fairies, a young child heroine, and a talking faun. What else do you want in a movie? This film made me realize that you can still be extremely imaginative in the adult realm and be successful. It was very refreshing. We all rode home discussing the film, its themes, the emotions it evoked. Again, very fulfilling conversation.
We ended the night watching the entertainment industry hand out Golden Globes to those who had made an impression in the past year in the biz. I was really excited for Forest Whitaker, who gave one of my favorite performances of the year in THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND as Ugandan leader Idi Amin. Very powerful, both the movie and his performance. I recommend it. I was also excited for director Martin Scorsese for his win for THE DEPARTED. Another great film. I was just excited to see him win, after having made such a long and lasting impression on this industry. To see that he's still going strong was inspiring. Got me jazzed about my future and the longevity and staying-power I want to have in this business.
Well, that's about that. Are you jealous of my weekend? It was flippin sweet. I hope to have many more like it this year. No more wasting my precious time. I plan on using my time to do things that make me happy and mean something to me. That's what life's really about: doing things that make you happy. (and things that are pleasing to the Lord :) Once again, AMEN.
Well, it's now 2007. And, as Bob Dylan would say, "The Times, They are A'Changin." That's right, kids. I've come out of my lowly valley and have emerged a new, more artistic individual. What sparked the resurgence, you may ask? Quite simply: ART. Doesn't art always have something to do with it? I know for me it does. Art is so powerful. And this weekend, I realized just how much of my life is defined by it: the way I REACT to art, the way I CREATE art, the way I DISCUSS art, and the way I FIND art in the world around me. Werd up, playa, werd up.
I spent the weekend (MLK weekend, nonetheless...coincidence? I think not! Ok, so there's no REAL tie in there, but MLK was striving for equality and that's kinda artistic, right? Ok, nevermind) --A-N-Y-W-A-Y-- I spent this weekend being very very super-dee-duper artsy-fartsy and, although I was incredibly busy, it was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. Here's the lay of the land (get ready to get jealous of my AWESOME weekend...just warning you):
FRIDAY - Well, I started the day a little gas-y, which worried me. Sorry, I shouldn't start there. Let me skip ahead a little...Work ended up being a really busy day. And not just a busy day, but a busy Friday, which makes things worse - always. Scripts were coming in left and right and the office was really a-buzz. I ended up being at work with other assistants til almost 8:30 pm and then hopped in the car to head home. I returned some calls whilst cruising up Bev Glen to the hizzy. Plans for the night were still being worked out, but my options were shaping up nicely. I could 1) Stay home and be cozy. 2) Stay home and eat 3 popsicles while watching the free first season of BONES I snagged at work. 3) Stay home. or 4) Go to a Karaoke double birthday with friends. When weighing these options carefully, I opted for number 4, as to not appear like a loser and an anti-social nancy. Guys, I even carpooled to the b-day bash to make myself look like I had friends to arrive with! I know how to work this crap! The b-day was fun...er...well, it was nice to see everyone, but the singers were THE WORST SINGERS I HAVE EVER HEARD and it not only hurt by ears, but also my soul. I'm glad I went for the birthday girls but even more annoying than the lame songbirds was the idiot waitress. There was no cover to get in, but what we learned (almost immediately upon crossing the doorframe) was that there was a 2 drink minimum. This got me heated. What if I'm not thirsty? What if I don't want a bev? What if I'm the DD? And the waitress would NOT let you forget it was a 2 drink minimum. She followed each one of us around all night and kept asking "Are you ready for your next drink?" NO! I'm not. And when I am, I'll come find you. I broke down and ordered my first drink, which was a diet coke. It came in one of those thin, cylindrical glasses full of ice (so, only like 2 actual sips of the coke). For the rest of the night, I hid from this waitress. She went right, I went left. She was headed to me, I turned my back to her and casually tossed a hot wing in my mouth. Needless to say, this little game went on all night and was entertaining me, I must admit. And the end of the night, I managed to only buy the one drink. Victory, I thought, until I had to pay for the 2 sips of diet coke I DID order. "5.00, please." WHAT? That's highway robbery people. I was so steamed. BUT - I paid my 5 bones and peaced out. Honestly, I would have rather paid a cover and not been forced to engage in a cat and mouse game with that waitress all night. But, the Lord has a sense of humor. And that, my friends, I appreciate.
SATURDAY - Begin the day with a little Brainstorming and Starkbucks, that's what I always say. Today fit that bill. By 9 am I was already in Burbank standing in line at the Starbucks for my Chai Latte and Reduced fat cinnamon loaf. Both were equally tasty. After my bfast, I headed over to the LA LOVES home office for an emergency think tank for their STOP TRAFFICK campaign. Elkin, founder/producer, has a meeting on Monday with Lionsgate about their upcoming film TRADE and how we, LA LOVES, can partner up with their marketing department to raise awareness. Elkin, Deborah, Heidi, Dairek, Linda, and I sat around a table and put together a solid action plan for the meeting. We were extremely productive and the gathering got us all excited about our power to create change and make this happen. My main task, in addition to using my media contacts to help us, was to take all the information for the presentation packet for Lionsgate and graphically lay it out in an aesthetic way. I had to wait, however, until all the information was compiled. I would have to be working under the gun, most probably doing the majority of my work Sunday night - the night before the 9 am meeting on Monday. But, that's just how I roll. Under pressure like that. Waz up?
I had planned on having lunch with a friend form college who was in town but had to cancel on him because our meeting lasted way longer than expected. We rescheduled for bfast tomorrow morning. That should work out just fine. I finally made it back home at 3 pm, my brain still racing from our meeting of the minds. It was cold, but with my adrenaline pumping and my feeling of fatness, I made the executive decision to pack up my messenger bag and lap top, toss on my scarf and beanie, and hop on my 1974 purple Schwinn for a little afternoon ride, ending at Roman's where they have WI-FI and a BBQ Chicken Press Wrap that's to die for. I'm not gonna lie to you, about 10 minutes into an the ride, I was wondering if I had smoked something. I trudged on, peddling slow by steady, and finally arrived at Roman's. I whipped out the computer and got to work. I started searching online for any information I could find on the movie TRADE, as well as the Lifetime movie HUMAN TRAFFICKING. I wanted to try to get contact info for executives and filmmakers so that it would be easier for Elkin and Deborah to get in touch with the sources of these creations. I figured that they'd have to have had a reason for wanting to tell these stories. So do we! Let's talk it out! I spent way too much time at Roman's and had to hightail it out of there in a jiff, only to find out that it had dropped like 15 more degrees since being in the comforts of the restaurant. I was forced to hop back on the Schwinn and FREEZE my butt off as I zipped home. I felt like Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in that scene in DUMB AND DUMBER where they are frozen to each other on the little scooter. I ran back inside and started getting toasty. I had to quickly hop in the shower because I had to meet someone for dinner @ 7 pm over the hill. Eeks! And, it was a boy.
Saturday night was a super-blast. Andrew and I went to dinner at a little Vietnamese restaurant downtown at 7:30. It was called BLOSSOM. I'd recommend it highly. And get the Ginger Limeade (hot or cold)...it'll clear out your sinuses like a nice Asian altoid. After dinner, we planned to hit up 2 downtown art shows: one hosted by the infamous BUMDOG, a "homeless" dude who loves Bob Dylan, making movies, art, and poetry and the other hosted by one of Andrew's friends, a show displaying all Austrian artists. We figured we'd double-dip in the art shows, hitting Bumbog's first then swing on by the loft and check out some sweet Austrian schnitzel. After dinner, we tried to locate the first of our two shows. We parked, got out onto the urine-smelling streets, and kept wandering around and around. Where was this silly show? I was holding my purse tight under my armpit and kept my eyes on the vagrants around me. We soon learned from a 5-0 that Bumdog's show had ben canceled at the last minute. Bummer. And, also at that moment, we were approached for the time by a dirty Hispanic street wanderer carrying a dead rat by the tail. Just a normal Saturday night in downtown LA. It was comforting. Alas, we headed on to our second art show of the night, this one promising to be indoors, away from the people drawing pictures in their own vomit on the sidewalk. That was at least a plus. The Austrian art show was really amazing. It was in this sweet loft under the 1st street bridge and it was very chill and relaxing. Andrew and I had some wine, mingled, and checked out the art. It all felt very adult, which was kinda cool (and kinda scary). One artist in particular really wowed me. She's only 23 and she's only been painting for 5 years professionally. She's amazing. Her name is Bianca Regl and you have to check her out. The amazing thing about her is that she works SUPER fast. Like 2 hours per painting. Wowzer. I met and spoke with her at length and she is very sweet and down to earth. She has just finished studying at UCLA and is headed back to Austria as we speak. She's been offered a gallery, a car, and a life as a professional artists. She's also going to be showing in Berlin, Germany as well. Good luck to you, Bianca! Being at this art show inspired me to paint more. I painted a lot when I was younger and stopped for some reason. I want to make a few pieces of art for my apartment and, after tonight, am confident that I can.
After the show, Andrew and I hung out at his place til like 4 am, drinking tea, looking at photographs, talking about film, and, toward the end, cuddling and kissing. There, I said it. It was fun, come on. Which leads me to...
SUNDAY - This day started BRIGHT AND EARLY. And, I might add, in a strange apartment. I had stayed the night at Andrew's place because 1) It was freezing. 2) I didn't want to drive to the valley @ 4 am. 3) My 9 am breakfast was right around the corner. and 4) I'm a girl and who doesn't like a little kissing and cuddling? (Totally innocent, my Christian friends. Do not judge. I'm a goodie). Anywho, at 9 am I had to bust out in the cold, wearing the same clothes I had worn the night before, and meet a friend and his friend who were in town for breakfast @ TOAST on 3rd Street. It was way to early to laugh but Brad and Jeremy certainly got me going. They are two of the funniest people I've met. It was so nice to visit and giggle over an egg burrito. We sat outside so we could comment on all the LA-ness that was going on around us. Being from the South, we found A LOT to laugh at. From the huge sunglasses being worn inside, to the cars bumping their base that pulled up curbside fpr bfast, it was definitely entertaining. After the meal, I bid them a fond farewell and headed home to the valley to shower (finally...I had mascara smeared everywhere...looked like a battered wife...ok, not appropriate). ANYWAY, I got all squeaky clean and then....NAPPED. So hardcore it's not even funny! As soon as my head hit that pillow I was OUT. I slept for a good while and was woken, a few hours later, by the sound of my friend, Dairek, rapping on my window. "EMOSS...EMOSS, i know you're there. Open the door." Ugh. Nap over. Dairek came in and he and CC and I pow-wowed on my bed. We started talking about kissing, for some reason. Maybe because I was sharing my story from the night before. We started talking about what separates a bad kisser from a good one. CC and I immediately started rattling off signs, while Dairek just listened. We were throwing out the following terms: "Firm, yet gentle" "Knows what he's doing, confident" "Slow and thoughtful" "Deliberate moves" Dairek was like "Girls really pay attention to that? Guys are just thinking about sex at that point." (Dairek here speaking about "most" guys). We responded, "Oh, yeah. Kissing can be a deal breaker for a girl. Girls talk about bad kisser their friends. You guys need to know that." Men: take note - kissing matters. Practice. Just then, our friend, Heidi came over and we continued the conversation. She agreed with us. As we laughed and joked, Dairek and I realized that time was slipping away. Crap. We have to work on the LA LOVES presentation. The meeting is at 9 am tomorrow morning! Playtime was over. We jetted out of the house, headed back to Roman's, and pounded it out for, like, 3 hours, plus an additional 4 hours at my house. We worked on the presentation from 7:00 pm to 2:00 the next morning. Phew. 7 pages of graphically layed out info and research ready to go. Now, all I have to do is email them to Elkin so she could print everything. Almost done. I climb in my bed, cozy up, and go to email the pics when...CRAPOLAFRAGILISTIC. The internet is down. It's 2:30 am. I'm sooooooo tired. No sleep the night before and, looking like, no sleep tonight. Humph. All I can force myself to do is pray that the internet will come back on and set my alarm for 6:30 am (that's 4 hours later) to get up, check, and try to resend. AMEN.
MONDAY - (MLK 2007!) 6:34 am - Yeah, so, it's not working. Elkin's meeting is in like 2.5 hours. Crap. I quickly burn a CD, thinking that I'm going to have to drive them over to her house (over the hill). In one last Hail Mary attempt I text message my 3 guy friends who have a house close to mine just HOPING that one of them is a light sleeper. Please don't be drunk...please don't be drunk. And suddenly, as if from the Lord (ok, it was from the Lord), Rob (aka Cousin Eddie) comes through. TEXT: "Yeah...sure. Come over. Door is open." SAVED. I hop in my car wearing my Hush Puppy slippers (so cold outside) and head to their house. I sent all 7 pics and was finished by 7:45 am. PHEW. Seriously, JUST enough time for her to print. I hugged Eddie with all my might and headed home, well first to Starkbucks, and the home. I did a little light reading on a book called RIGHTEOUS (PLEASE READ..whole other blog story entirely) and then fell back asleep til 12:30 pm.
When I came to, I figured I needed to be with friends so I gathered some food, went to my friend's house and hung out for a while before going to see a movie. At their house, we discussed French filmmaking, particularly Godard, as we watched the apartment scene from his film CONTEMPT. It's a great scene. So layered, so textured. The shots are so thoughtful and symbolic and Godard was not afraid to let a moment breathe. He let you be IN the moment, feel the moment. He was also not afraid to stay wide, which is rare these days. We talked about shooting a scene as an homage to this kind of filmmaking. It was a great discussion about art amongst friends. We ended the evening by seeing PAN'S LABYRINTH by Guilleromo Del Toro. Wow. Go see this film. It's one of the most interesting and visually captivating films I've seen in a while. More so than that, it's an adult fairly tale, complete with gore and adult themes, but contrasted with fairies, a young child heroine, and a talking faun. What else do you want in a movie? This film made me realize that you can still be extremely imaginative in the adult realm and be successful. It was very refreshing. We all rode home discussing the film, its themes, the emotions it evoked. Again, very fulfilling conversation.
We ended the night watching the entertainment industry hand out Golden Globes to those who had made an impression in the past year in the biz. I was really excited for Forest Whitaker, who gave one of my favorite performances of the year in THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND as Ugandan leader Idi Amin. Very powerful, both the movie and his performance. I recommend it. I was also excited for director Martin Scorsese for his win for THE DEPARTED. Another great film. I was just excited to see him win, after having made such a long and lasting impression on this industry. To see that he's still going strong was inspiring. Got me jazzed about my future and the longevity and staying-power I want to have in this business.
Well, that's about that. Are you jealous of my weekend? It was flippin sweet. I hope to have many more like it this year. No more wasting my precious time. I plan on using my time to do things that make me happy and mean something to me. That's what life's really about: doing things that make you happy. (and things that are pleasing to the Lord :) Once again, AMEN.
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