So a few days ago I told you I got a call back for the last project I expected to get called back for - playing Abe Lincoln doing a magic act with Catherine the Great. The call back was fun, I played around, the director gave me different things to try and I went with it, had a good time.
Then, because of the rain, I spent two hours driving from the valley to Santa Monica to go to work as a waiter. Within 15 minutes of going from the kitchen tent to the party area I was soaked. Good times.
I'm leaving out the story of the two fights I was in that night because I want to write about that seperately. More about that later.
Yesterday morning I go to an audition. Kris goes with me and we are going to go shopping afterwards. The parking lot at the Whole Foods in West Hollywood is packed, so Kris gets out and walks to the store and I navigate the parking lot. I finally park and I'm about to go into the store and I get a call from my agent. She sounds so excited. I already know what she is going to tell me.
"Are you sitting down?" she asks. That was kind of funny. "You were so surprised to get the call back for the Abe Lincoln role - and they just booked you!" A booking means you got the job. I was very happy, I still am. She gives me a few details, more coming later, and we are both very happy I got booked. I get off the phone and enter the store to find Kris and tell her the good news. Of course, being me, I can't just walk up to her and say " Honey, guess what, I just boked the Abe Lincoln gig!" No, I have to be funny. So I see her, and I walk up to her all stiff and formal and using a very deep Abe like voice I ask her if she knows how to get to the White House. She is looking at me quizically, like what is he doing and why and I have to find the canned tomato aisle. So she asks why I want to go to the White House, and I say I am the 16th President of the United States.
Little did I know that there was a man observing me and had a very concerned look on his face, like, who is this guy and is he going to hurt her? I can't see him, my back is to him. Soon Kris puts two and two together and screams out - "You got the job!" and gives me a high five. Kris could see the guy looked relieved to see she knew me. It was pretty funny. We were hugging and jumping in the cosmetic aisle at Whole Foods. I wonder how many actors get booked on jobs while shopping. I'll bet quite a few.
Of course I have a few questions, as any actor will try to interpret the scene. First, it is very good that after over 100 auditions and look sees and call backs, I finally booked a job. That will make my agent happy and she will continue to send me out. But of all the jobs I book, why does it have to be for the role of a very strange looking man? What does that mean? Now I really have a lot of respect for Lincoln, he seems like a really brilliant and stand up guy. But face it, but a beard and a stove top hat on anyone and they'll look like Lincoln.
But in reality, I know it was because I could goof around at the audition and play, and the director saw I could take direction well, and go with what he asked, have fun, and still keep a sort of formal stiffness to my Abe character. So to answer my own question, it's not that I look like Abe, it's that I was able to create a charming Abe like character that fit the director's own idea of what he wanted for this fun spot.
The project is for a video game called Civilization:Revolution, who are promoting their launch onto the next generation of game consoles. So in one of these very clever spots, Abe is doing a magic act with Catherine the Great, and in another, he insults Napoleon on a Jerry Springer type show. Very funny stuff.
My highest budget commercial job and hopefully one that will be seen by millions! And by high budget I mean I don't have to bring my own wardrobe and do my own make-up. I'm sure there will be a make-up person. I may even have my own dressing room. Oh, I can only hope. And a bowl of green M&M's please. Only green. Abe doesn't like red.
I'll include a photo of me as Abe in a follow up post next week.
Now I have to rush off and be a waiter. Later.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Playboy Photo
Oh BTW, I am in the February issue of Playboy magazine, page 20, but I caution you don't go out and buy it just for me. I'm only in one photo, and if you don't know me you wouldn't know it was me. In fact, here is the photo I am in, and if you want to read more about Chicago divorce attorney Corrie Fetman, click HERE to go to the Playboy website and read her column. Warning, it is the Playboy website.
Funny story: Last Friday I discovered that the photo was in the February issue and I went out to buy one on my way to an audition. After the audition, I was a few blocks from the office of a casting director I know, who I took a workshop with last year. His name is Dean Fronk of Pemrick/Fronk Casting. He always said to stay in touch, and stop by and see him when we are in the neighborhood. So I did.
I take the elevator to the Penthouse Suite, go to the reception desk, where there were not one, but two receptionists. This was a nice high-end casting office. Not like the dinky offices and photo studios I am used to. Ooh, nice.
To my surprise, I see a copy of Playboy on the desk next to the male receptionist. (Playboy in the Penthouse?) How strange, I thought. I haven't seen a copy of Playboy sitting out, other than at a traditional men's barbershop, in thirty years. And now, the one time I am in Playboy, here it is. So when the young male receptionist gets off the phone, and I am waiting to see Dean, I point to the Playboy and say, "I'm on page 20". It takes him a second to process what I mean, then he takes the magazine and turns to page 20 and says, "Hey, there you are!", just as Dean walks out to say hello. Very nicely timed, I must say. Dean was on his way out and so invited me to ride the elevator down with him. We chat, I tell him an audition horror story from last week, and he says good bye and invites me to stay in touch. Truely one of the nicest CD's I've met in LA.
Yeah, that's me, sitting and talking to Corrie. No, I'm not a divorcing business man, I just play one in Playboy! And no, I wasn't there for Corrie's nude shots.
Funny story: Last Friday I discovered that the photo was in the February issue and I went out to buy one on my way to an audition. After the audition, I was a few blocks from the office of a casting director I know, who I took a workshop with last year. His name is Dean Fronk of Pemrick/Fronk Casting. He always said to stay in touch, and stop by and see him when we are in the neighborhood. So I did.
I take the elevator to the Penthouse Suite, go to the reception desk, where there were not one, but two receptionists. This was a nice high-end casting office. Not like the dinky offices and photo studios I am used to. Ooh, nice.
To my surprise, I see a copy of Playboy on the desk next to the male receptionist. (Playboy in the Penthouse?) How strange, I thought. I haven't seen a copy of Playboy sitting out, other than at a traditional men's barbershop, in thirty years. And now, the one time I am in Playboy, here it is. So when the young male receptionist gets off the phone, and I am waiting to see Dean, I point to the Playboy and say, "I'm on page 20". It takes him a second to process what I mean, then he takes the magazine and turns to page 20 and says, "Hey, there you are!", just as Dean walks out to say hello. Very nicely timed, I must say. Dean was on his way out and so invited me to ride the elevator down with him. We chat, I tell him an audition horror story from last week, and he says good bye and invites me to stay in touch. Truely one of the nicest CD's I've met in LA.
Yeah, that's me, sitting and talking to Corrie. No, I'm not a divorcing business man, I just play one in Playboy! And no, I wasn't there for Corrie's nude shots.
No news and bad news...
No news on the call back yet. Those who have been following the story know that I was told I would hear something on Tuesday. That's today. It's now 10:28PM. I don't think I'm going to hear tonight. Fuck. You know how much energy I put into waiting?
The phone did ring tonight. No, it wasn't Heath Ledger, he didn't call me. He won't be making any more phone calls this lifetime.
No, it was my agent, telling me I got a call back for one of the auditions I did last week. The last one I would have suspected getting a call back for, the one where I portray Abe Lincoln doing a magic act with Catherine the Great!
What a crazy life this is. So I just went and bushed up on my Abe Lincoln history. Pretty interesting guy, really.
Okay, I just went and wrote a long three page handwritten blog entry, just cause I like to write. But now I'm too tired to type the whole thing. I'll do it tomorrow, before I go to the call back, and before I go to work as a waiter for a cocktail party for 1500 in Santa Monica. Fuck. That will be fun!
So I go to bed not knowing the answer, and in my heart knowing the answer.
Reject the rejection!
The phone did ring tonight. No, it wasn't Heath Ledger, he didn't call me. He won't be making any more phone calls this lifetime.
No, it was my agent, telling me I got a call back for one of the auditions I did last week. The last one I would have suspected getting a call back for, the one where I portray Abe Lincoln doing a magic act with Catherine the Great!
What a crazy life this is. So I just went and bushed up on my Abe Lincoln history. Pretty interesting guy, really.
Okay, I just went and wrote a long three page handwritten blog entry, just cause I like to write. But now I'm too tired to type the whole thing. I'll do it tomorrow, before I go to the call back, and before I go to work as a waiter for a cocktail party for 1500 in Santa Monica. Fuck. That will be fun!
So I go to bed not knowing the answer, and in my heart knowing the answer.
Reject the rejection!
Monday, January 21, 2008
7 Days A Weak!
I'm glad today is a bank holiday. I don't feel guilty for not getting up and going to work. In fact, I'm still tired from working seven days last week. For a guy who only has a part-time job, (or three of them) I sure work a lot.
Last week was crazy, and I loved every minute of it.
I was taking a day off last Monday when I get a text message from my agent to hurry up and go to an audition in North Hollywood, in the valley. I was just about to go to the club, but instead detoured my schedule, found the sides (script) for the audition online, and raced over to N. Hollywood, learning the text while driving on the 101.
Tuesday I had one audition. I also learned I was called back for the creature-feature movie I mentioned a few posts ago. A call back, for those who don't know, means they saw a lot of actors for the project, and they whittled it down to a few choices for each role. In this case, the casting director said. "...we received 2500 photo submissions, of those we called in 120 actors to read, and of those we are calling back 21".
Already when an actor hears those numbers, it is really validating to have made the short list. Yeah!
So now I have until Saturday to prepare for the call back. Meanwhile, everyday I get more and more audition calls for the week.
I go to two on Wednesday, as well as a head shot session with a photographer. I need new head shots. I recently changed my hair style and need new head shots to reflect that.
On Thursday I have three commercial auditions, and I spent all day driving from downtown to Santa Monica to Hollywood and back to Santa Monica and then back downtown. About 75 miles all day.
I'm feeling like a working actor, even though all this driving around and auditioning is costing me a lot of money and I'm not getting paid. Each audition is like a job interview. I interview for a new job about 100 - 150 times a year. I get very few jobs, right now, but it is the most fun game in the world.
By Friday night, after eight auditions all week, I really have to concentrate on the call back. I have my wardrobe picked, I get my props set up, and I rehearse my lines for any of the ten scenes I may or may not read.
The call back was a lot of fun, and the 21 of us there are all excited and very friendly, even those competing for the same role. I look around the room of twenty-somethings, as six of the seven roles are for that age group, and I see only one other guy there for the same role as me. I recognize him from other auditions. We both have salt and pepper hair, both around the same age and height. 50/50 odds, I like that. He doesn't acknowledge me as he walks by.
My goal going into the audition was to psyche out the competition. I was really decked out like I imagined the character to be and wanted to instill doubt and fear into the competition. I think it worked. Lord knows it has worked on me in the past, only this time, I'm taking charge.
They call actors in by groups to see how they look and work together. For my role, they call the other actor in first, and he reads a few times, in a few configurations, and then I read in a few configurations. Then he reads another scene, and then he is sent home. I'm the last man standing, or maybe not?
The thing about casting, and I have been on both sides now, is you never really know what is going on and what they are thinking. I try not to think about it. I get called in a couple more times, and then I wait.
One wrinkle in the plan is I am scheduled for a party (my day job) on Saturday night and I am going to be late.
I try not to think about this either. I arranged to be late with a very nice and understanding party manager, but the longer I wait in the hallway, not being called in, the more distracting it is.
Finally, after waiting about 45 minutes, I am told I can leave. Only the twenty-somethings are left. Have they made up their minds about my character? Was I the last man standing, or was someone else being considered who wasn't there yet or didn't even need to show up? See how actors can overthink things and try to figure out the unfigureoutable?
Everything works out as planned, I get to the party late, but not so late that it messes anyone up.
During the party I get an email (on my new pretentious iPhone) from the casting director. It is to everyone thanking us for coming out and saying we all deserved to be there. Decisions will be made on Tuesday. Have a nice week-end. Agh! I have to wait three days? That is like an eternity to an actor waiting to hear something. Okay, just focus on work and watching the playoffs tomorrow.
The party goes very late and I don't get home until two AM and my next party is a luncheon Sunday morning and I have to be in Santa Monica at 8:30AM. So with little sleep, and very tired, I get up at 7, leave at 7:45 and am in Santa Monica at 8:15, sitting in front of the house, watching early morning walkers, joggers and bicyclists move up and down the curving street over looking the hills and valleys of the Santa Monica mountain range, Pacific Pallisades neighborhood, and the ocean. Not a bad way to start the day.
The party goes fine and I am home, tired and a bit beat, at around 6PM. I just want to crash on the couch and watch the last quarter of the GB/NYG game. I'm so sorry Green Bay doesn't win. NE/GB would have been an awesome Superbowl. Okay, just my opinion. I still want to watch it and see New England go all the way to an undefeated season and a Superbowl victory. That will be one for the records!
So anyway, you see why I'm tired today?
What a week. And as I sit and wait for the news tomorrow, and as I write this, I just got an email from my agent that I have an audition tomorrow. So it goes. I'm a working actor in Hollywood. And life is good.
I'll let you know what happens with the movie tomorrow, or as soon as I hear.
Noel
PS - see why I don't write everyday? I go on and on and on. It takes too long. Maybe someday I will write a book. It's one of my goals.
Last week was crazy, and I loved every minute of it.
I was taking a day off last Monday when I get a text message from my agent to hurry up and go to an audition in North Hollywood, in the valley. I was just about to go to the club, but instead detoured my schedule, found the sides (script) for the audition online, and raced over to N. Hollywood, learning the text while driving on the 101.
Tuesday I had one audition. I also learned I was called back for the creature-feature movie I mentioned a few posts ago. A call back, for those who don't know, means they saw a lot of actors for the project, and they whittled it down to a few choices for each role. In this case, the casting director said. "...we received 2500 photo submissions, of those we called in 120 actors to read, and of those we are calling back 21".
Already when an actor hears those numbers, it is really validating to have made the short list. Yeah!
So now I have until Saturday to prepare for the call back. Meanwhile, everyday I get more and more audition calls for the week.
I go to two on Wednesday, as well as a head shot session with a photographer. I need new head shots. I recently changed my hair style and need new head shots to reflect that.
On Thursday I have three commercial auditions, and I spent all day driving from downtown to Santa Monica to Hollywood and back to Santa Monica and then back downtown. About 75 miles all day.
I'm feeling like a working actor, even though all this driving around and auditioning is costing me a lot of money and I'm not getting paid. Each audition is like a job interview. I interview for a new job about 100 - 150 times a year. I get very few jobs, right now, but it is the most fun game in the world.
By Friday night, after eight auditions all week, I really have to concentrate on the call back. I have my wardrobe picked, I get my props set up, and I rehearse my lines for any of the ten scenes I may or may not read.
The call back was a lot of fun, and the 21 of us there are all excited and very friendly, even those competing for the same role. I look around the room of twenty-somethings, as six of the seven roles are for that age group, and I see only one other guy there for the same role as me. I recognize him from other auditions. We both have salt and pepper hair, both around the same age and height. 50/50 odds, I like that. He doesn't acknowledge me as he walks by.
My goal going into the audition was to psyche out the competition. I was really decked out like I imagined the character to be and wanted to instill doubt and fear into the competition. I think it worked. Lord knows it has worked on me in the past, only this time, I'm taking charge.
They call actors in by groups to see how they look and work together. For my role, they call the other actor in first, and he reads a few times, in a few configurations, and then I read in a few configurations. Then he reads another scene, and then he is sent home. I'm the last man standing, or maybe not?
The thing about casting, and I have been on both sides now, is you never really know what is going on and what they are thinking. I try not to think about it. I get called in a couple more times, and then I wait.
One wrinkle in the plan is I am scheduled for a party (my day job) on Saturday night and I am going to be late.
I try not to think about this either. I arranged to be late with a very nice and understanding party manager, but the longer I wait in the hallway, not being called in, the more distracting it is.
Finally, after waiting about 45 minutes, I am told I can leave. Only the twenty-somethings are left. Have they made up their minds about my character? Was I the last man standing, or was someone else being considered who wasn't there yet or didn't even need to show up? See how actors can overthink things and try to figure out the unfigureoutable?
Everything works out as planned, I get to the party late, but not so late that it messes anyone up.
During the party I get an email (on my new pretentious iPhone) from the casting director. It is to everyone thanking us for coming out and saying we all deserved to be there. Decisions will be made on Tuesday. Have a nice week-end. Agh! I have to wait three days? That is like an eternity to an actor waiting to hear something. Okay, just focus on work and watching the playoffs tomorrow.
The party goes very late and I don't get home until two AM and my next party is a luncheon Sunday morning and I have to be in Santa Monica at 8:30AM. So with little sleep, and very tired, I get up at 7, leave at 7:45 and am in Santa Monica at 8:15, sitting in front of the house, watching early morning walkers, joggers and bicyclists move up and down the curving street over looking the hills and valleys of the Santa Monica mountain range, Pacific Pallisades neighborhood, and the ocean. Not a bad way to start the day.
The party goes fine and I am home, tired and a bit beat, at around 6PM. I just want to crash on the couch and watch the last quarter of the GB/NYG game. I'm so sorry Green Bay doesn't win. NE/GB would have been an awesome Superbowl. Okay, just my opinion. I still want to watch it and see New England go all the way to an undefeated season and a Superbowl victory. That will be one for the records!
So anyway, you see why I'm tired today?
What a week. And as I sit and wait for the news tomorrow, and as I write this, I just got an email from my agent that I have an audition tomorrow. So it goes. I'm a working actor in Hollywood. And life is good.
I'll let you know what happens with the movie tomorrow, or as soon as I hear.
Noel
PS - see why I don't write everyday? I go on and on and on. It takes too long. Maybe someday I will write a book. It's one of my goals.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
incontrovertible ®
Pictured above is incontrovertible ® , a piece of art by Xavier Cazares Cortez. Xavier is one of the three artists whose work is now hanging at the Patricia Correia Gallery in Bergamont Station, Santa Monica, CA. I was working as an art installer at the gallery last week. Xavier installed his show himself, I was only there to assist. The other two artists dropped off their work and I hung it, per Patricia's directions. That's what art installers do.
The opening was last night. In French, that would be a Vernissage. Vernissages are very fun. Ils sont tres chouette. Openings are also a lot of fun. You meet fun people. You have lots of laughs. I went to lots of Vernissages in Paris when I lived there. I miss Paris. I want to go back more often. We are going in November for Kris' Birthday. Yeah!
I had to miss the opening because I had to go to my other job, being a cater-waiter. I read about it in the paper though. It sounds like it was crazy. The LA Weekly said over 3000 people showed up and traffic was backed up all the way to the freeway at the Cloverfield exit. Lots of star sighting, lots of fun. Good times. I had to miss it. I had to miss the after party. I had to miss hanging out with my friends. F*ck'g day jobs.
I want to be free to party and go to cool places and hang out with cool people like me. Arghhh. I want to be in the jet set. Flying off to Sundance for the weekend. Attend an opening of a friend's show in Rome for the day. Attend a protest march in Manhattan, then go to Elaine's for drinks. That's what I want to do.
Last night, instead of being at the Vernissage, I worked a Bat Mitzvah. I have a lot to say about working as a cater-waiter at parties. I ranted and went on for 1/2 hour this morning to Kris when she asked how my night was. If I tried to recount the whole night again, here in this blog, right now, I'd still be writing in an hour, and frankly I don't want to work so hard tonight. I'm tired. I worked my ass off this week. I want to go watch some football. I recorded some of the playoff games yesterday and today, and I'm gonna go watch some. Even though I already know the outcome of the games, I can speed through it and just watch the cool parts. Maybe tomorrow I'll do my patented Waitergonebad® rant on being a waiter. It's fun.
And you know, for how hard I worked, I really got very little for it. Not as much as I think I'm worth, at least. And not that I blame the people I work for. it's not entirely their fault. It's America, baby.
In case you didn't know it, we are in a recession in America. Stagnant wages is one proof of a recession. I've said for years how crazy it is that in 1989 when I was a cater-waiter in New York City I made $16 dollars an hour plus tips. At the time, I was happy because the same job in Chicago paid only 10 -12 dollars an hour. But my rent in 1989, in Manhattan, was $425 a month. I shared a railroad apartment in Hell's Kitchen with my friend Chris. Now, I'm a cater waiter in Los Angeles, in 2008, and I still make $16 dollars an hour plus tips. Look at how the salary has stood still for 19 years. In Los Angeles, today, our rent is $2000 a month. I make the same amount of money but my rent has increased almost 400%. Am I the only person who is bothered by that? Hello! Is this microphone on!!!!!
Oh, yeah, back to incontrovertible ®. Xavier gave me the piece at the end of the day, when he was installing his show. It was midnight. I was going home. I'd been working for 12 hours. Xavier was still working. He asked me if I wanted a piece of art and gave me a choice of five small pieces he makes. I chose incontrovertible® because it reminded me that my eyes are changing. It reminded me that a few months ago I visited the eye doctor and got a new prescription for glass lenses, but I haven't been able to afford getting the new glasses. Yeah, $16 dollars an hour doesn't go very far these days.
Xavier stenciled my name on the back and wrote, "The work of art in the age of the mechanical reproduction" He initialed it. It is # 7/250.
I like the word incontrovertible. It means:
incontrovertible |inˌkäntrəˈvərtəbəl| adjective not able to be denied or disputed : incontrovertible proof.
Proof of what, you ask? Yes, indeed.
Noel
Check out www.bikinimoviereview.com Many are. Join the crowd.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
What a week!
I worked at an art gallery all week in Santa Monica. 41 hours in 4 days, so there was no time to write. Fun work, being an "installer", hanging around art and artists all day. Beats clearing dishes and bussing tables at a Bat Mitzva. Oh, yeah, I forgot, that's tonights job.
Anyway, I wasn't around all week, so I couldn't write. When I did get home, about midnight, I had to do all my other chores, go through the audition break downs and submit myself for future work. The gallery job was a blessing, but I also missed three auditions and my agent is probably pissed. Oh well, when she pays my rent I won't have to take a day job.
I have an audition this morning in a few minutes, so I gotta run. Its for a creature-feature. You know, car breaks down in the desert, monster comes at night to kill, the survivors have to figure out how to stay alive. I'd love to do a film like that. I'll let you know.
I never heard back from the hosting job for the food pilot. Shit, I would have loved that one. You can't get too attached to anything, you know? The actor's life is funny. Sure you want every job you audition for, but you know you won't get it. You're happy for the ones you do get, and the rest you just have to let go.
GLPNTmz#sdkFop*ritunvDdf&Vnld@iftunZweqrnXgensssssss !!!!! That was the sound of me letting go!
What do you have to let go of?
Thanks for your comments! I carry the letter with me.
Anyway, I wasn't around all week, so I couldn't write. When I did get home, about midnight, I had to do all my other chores, go through the audition break downs and submit myself for future work. The gallery job was a blessing, but I also missed three auditions and my agent is probably pissed. Oh well, when she pays my rent I won't have to take a day job.
I have an audition this morning in a few minutes, so I gotta run. Its for a creature-feature. You know, car breaks down in the desert, monster comes at night to kill, the survivors have to figure out how to stay alive. I'd love to do a film like that. I'll let you know.
I never heard back from the hosting job for the food pilot. Shit, I would have loved that one. You can't get too attached to anything, you know? The actor's life is funny. Sure you want every job you audition for, but you know you won't get it. You're happy for the ones you do get, and the rest you just have to let go.
GLPNTmz#sdkFop*ritunvDdf&Vnld@iftunZweqrnXgensssssss !!!!! That was the sound of me letting go!
What do you have to let go of?
Thanks for your comments! I carry the letter with me.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Hurry up and be successful!
Letter to myself on this Sunday in January, 2008:
Dear Noel,
How are you? How was work last night as a waiter? It sucked didn't it? Yeah, I feel ya. So if you hate it so much, why don't you do something about it? Stop talking and start walking, no running, towards the life you want.
Why don't you get off you arse and change your life? Concentrate all your powers and laser beam the forces of life and creative energy to where you want them. Send out lightening bolts of intention to the places they need to go most.
You know what you want and what you have to do. See it happening and let the seeing guide you to the making it happen.
The car is an amazing machine. Almost effortlessly you turn a small key, you push a pedal with your foot, and turn a wheel with one hand, and you can travel thousands of miles. That is your life. Now imagine the car won't start, the key won't turn, nothing happens when you push the pedal. It's not running, and you have to push the car to a repair shop. How's that going for you? Pushing the car up hill? Not very easy, is it? So stop being in effort and just turn the key and point all your intentions in the right direction.
Or, just sit back and pretend it will go on its own and go to work as a waiter and be in pain.
What do you want to do, let things get so bad that you can't see the future? Or change things now so you can say you almost let things go too far but at the last minute found the courage to have the success you deserve? Which one sounds better on Entertainment Tonight? The loser story or the winner story? I think you know. I know you can do it.
Hey, I don't care about writer strikes and bad economic times, successful people will always have success no matter what is going on. That is what you have to be now. A successful person in successful times.
I'm only writing this to you because I know what you are going through. I know things look bleak sometimes, and I know you like that, being on the dark side. But now it's time to see the light.
This little pep talk sounds kind of like Kris doesn't it? She is the positive light in your life, isn't she? Well, she's there for you and really wants you to succeed too! So do it for you!
Print this out and keep it in your wallet so you don't forget it. I know you can do it.
Let me know how this goes for you. Write soon,
Noel
Dear Noel,
How are you? How was work last night as a waiter? It sucked didn't it? Yeah, I feel ya. So if you hate it so much, why don't you do something about it? Stop talking and start walking, no running, towards the life you want.
Why don't you get off you arse and change your life? Concentrate all your powers and laser beam the forces of life and creative energy to where you want them. Send out lightening bolts of intention to the places they need to go most.
You know what you want and what you have to do. See it happening and let the seeing guide you to the making it happen.
The car is an amazing machine. Almost effortlessly you turn a small key, you push a pedal with your foot, and turn a wheel with one hand, and you can travel thousands of miles. That is your life. Now imagine the car won't start, the key won't turn, nothing happens when you push the pedal. It's not running, and you have to push the car to a repair shop. How's that going for you? Pushing the car up hill? Not very easy, is it? So stop being in effort and just turn the key and point all your intentions in the right direction.
Or, just sit back and pretend it will go on its own and go to work as a waiter and be in pain.
What do you want to do, let things get so bad that you can't see the future? Or change things now so you can say you almost let things go too far but at the last minute found the courage to have the success you deserve? Which one sounds better on Entertainment Tonight? The loser story or the winner story? I think you know. I know you can do it.
Hey, I don't care about writer strikes and bad economic times, successful people will always have success no matter what is going on. That is what you have to be now. A successful person in successful times.
I'm only writing this to you because I know what you are going through. I know things look bleak sometimes, and I know you like that, being on the dark side. But now it's time to see the light.
This little pep talk sounds kind of like Kris doesn't it? She is the positive light in your life, isn't she? Well, she's there for you and really wants you to succeed too! So do it for you!
Print this out and keep it in your wallet so you don't forget it. I know you can do it.
Let me know how this goes for you. Write soon,
Noel
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Coffee In Bed
Kris and I are drinking coffee and tea in bed. Its a thing we started a few months ago that we have made a daily ritual. The first one up puts on the water, makes the coffee and tea, and brings it to the other - in bed. It's like that old game you play with fortune cookies; add " in bed" after reading the fortune. "I'd like a cup of coffee please, in bed!"
Coffee in bed is a lot of fun. I thought I might have spilled some coffee by now, but I haven't. We sit up, we sip, we talk. We play pleasant music in the background. A calming cup of coffee. Ah, how I love coffee. Did you know coffee makes you smart?
We used to get up and drink our coffee and tea, and we would go straight to the computer and start checking email and working. That was okay, and some days I still have to do that, if I have to go to work early. But most days now we start like this, a little John and Yoko moment, a little togetherness moment, a little peace and quiet before the hustle and the bustle.
Today Kris got up first. I was groggy. I was still thinking about my dreams. I was still thinking about the movie we saw last night (Mira Nair's The Namesake - Three Pears on the Bikini Movie Review). I heard all the familiar morning sounds; water running into the tea pot, electric igniter turning the flame on on the range, flame going on, cups being washed. Then I smelled the coffee as the steaming water hit the grinds in my French press carafe.
Then Kris brings me a cup of coffee. I sit up, we get the pillows all situated just right. Lately we've also started reading blog entries to each other. Usually Kris reads me her blog entry from the day before and all the comments she gets. She thinks I don't read her blog because I'm so busy, but really its because I like her to read it to me in bed.
We are our small daily rituals. What are some of your small daily rituals? How many of them can you do in bed?
Coffee in bed is a lot of fun. I thought I might have spilled some coffee by now, but I haven't. We sit up, we sip, we talk. We play pleasant music in the background. A calming cup of coffee. Ah, how I love coffee. Did you know coffee makes you smart?
We used to get up and drink our coffee and tea, and we would go straight to the computer and start checking email and working. That was okay, and some days I still have to do that, if I have to go to work early. But most days now we start like this, a little John and Yoko moment, a little togetherness moment, a little peace and quiet before the hustle and the bustle.
Today Kris got up first. I was groggy. I was still thinking about my dreams. I was still thinking about the movie we saw last night (Mira Nair's The Namesake - Three Pears on the Bikini Movie Review). I heard all the familiar morning sounds; water running into the tea pot, electric igniter turning the flame on on the range, flame going on, cups being washed. Then I smelled the coffee as the steaming water hit the grinds in my French press carafe.
Then Kris brings me a cup of coffee. I sit up, we get the pillows all situated just right. Lately we've also started reading blog entries to each other. Usually Kris reads me her blog entry from the day before and all the comments she gets. She thinks I don't read her blog because I'm so busy, but really its because I like her to read it to me in bed.
We are our small daily rituals. What are some of your small daily rituals? How many of them can you do in bed?
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
2008 - Day 2 - Holidays are over!
Thank god the holidays are over. I'm tired of all this forced good cheer and peace and love and shit. Let's get back to normal, and quick.
So anyway, I just have a few minutes, I have to get back to work. I have an audition on Friday for a new TV show, and I have to write my own audition. I have to write and host a segment of this new TV show and I have to make it interesting and fabulous! I'm looking forward to it though, because if there was anything I would be perfect for, the host position on this show would be it.
I don't want to go into to many details yet, but its a "how to" kind of show all about food. I'm going to write about something I know; how salmon gets canned. You see I worked in a salmon cannery for two summers when I was younger, so I know all about it. Contrary to popular belief, they don't just put open cans in the water and wait for the salmon to swim into them. No, canneries wait till the fish are caught and brought there. Then the fun begins.
Canneries are really dangerous places. Its cold, its wet, there are sharp knives and dangerous machines everywhere. The cement floors are wet and covered with fish slime, oil and guts. People work long hours. They are tired and cranky. They throw fish guts at each other and make bad jokes. Oh, and the coffee sucks.
12 hours of gutting fish on the slime line is a horrendous job. Its repetitive and hard on the body. You are always cold as the temperature inside has to be kept low to maintain the product. It's wet; there is water spraying everywhere. Standing on a cement floor in rubber boots, up to your ankles in fish guts, wearing a rain slick over the warmest clothes you have, you really can start to hate fish. I bet the fish would hate us more though, if they were still alive and were capable of such thoughts. Anyway, when the salmon are running and the cannery is in full operation, it can be a very exciting place. Everyone is working, everyone is partying, and everyone is thinking about what they'll do when the season is over and they have some money.
After my second year in the cannery, after 56 straight days of work, after putting in 110 to 115 hours on the clock each week, I was able to go to Paris and live for about six months on the money I made in 9 weeks. Not a bad trade-off.
When gutting a fish, you stick a knife in its belly and rip up from one end to the other. Then, spreading its fleshy sides, remove the internal organs from esophagus to anus. Sometimes I found interesting things they ate recently, like rocks and stones, but I once found a coin inside a fish. I don't remember what happened to it. I also remember seeing fish with bear claw marks on them. They escaped the bear, but ran into a net. Oh, well.
Fish destined to be sold fresh or fresh frozen had to be treated delicately to maintain their integrity, and therefore, the highest price.
Fish destined for the cannery are treated with less care, and they are sent to machines to be headed, gutted, finned and prepped for canning. The name of the machine that did all that in one smooth flow was the "Chink". Not very PC now a days, but it harkens back to another time, to the beginning of the cannery era, when most of the workers were Chinese laborers. I found a picture of a cannery in operation in 1908, and the caption read, "Iron Chink at work..." In 1984, it was still called the Chink. Dangerous machine that one. I saw a guy stick his hand in too far to retrieve a fish and get his arm broken. He was trying to stop a fish from clogging the works. Bad decision, made because he was over tired and not thinking clearly. He was lucky in one respect; after getting back from the hospital with his arm in a cast, the cannery found a soft dry cushy job for him for the rest of the season. Better than paying unemployment for them, I guess.
Anyway, after the fish are prepped, they get chopped up and put in cans, skin bones and all. The chopped fish are sent down to the "piano bar", that's a line where the chopped fish are spread out nice and evenly so they fall evenly into the cans. The workers on the "piano bar" quickly spread the flesh with both hands as it goes down a conveyor, and it kind of looks like they are playing a key board, hence the name, the piano bar. I subbed on that line a little, though it was mostly women.
After the cans are filled and before they are sealed, they go down another line where workers, again mostly women, remove flesh from the overfilled cans and put flesh in the lighter cans. A can too full may not seal properly, and a can too light won't weigh enough.
The filled cans are then sealed, and sent to the oven where they are baked for 90 - 120 minutes at a high temperature. This will kill all bacteria, and also soften the bones and skins and makes them edible. Salmon is a unique fish in that there are not too many bones, they can be eaten, and when the consumer opens the can it has a pleasant look to it.
So, that's cannery 101 in a nutshell.
Anyway, I got to go write a fish story, and you have to go back to whatever it is you do. What do you do anyway?
If you ever worked at a cannery, write me and tell me about it.
So anyway, I just have a few minutes, I have to get back to work. I have an audition on Friday for a new TV show, and I have to write my own audition. I have to write and host a segment of this new TV show and I have to make it interesting and fabulous! I'm looking forward to it though, because if there was anything I would be perfect for, the host position on this show would be it.
I don't want to go into to many details yet, but its a "how to" kind of show all about food. I'm going to write about something I know; how salmon gets canned. You see I worked in a salmon cannery for two summers when I was younger, so I know all about it. Contrary to popular belief, they don't just put open cans in the water and wait for the salmon to swim into them. No, canneries wait till the fish are caught and brought there. Then the fun begins.
Canneries are really dangerous places. Its cold, its wet, there are sharp knives and dangerous machines everywhere. The cement floors are wet and covered with fish slime, oil and guts. People work long hours. They are tired and cranky. They throw fish guts at each other and make bad jokes. Oh, and the coffee sucks.
12 hours of gutting fish on the slime line is a horrendous job. Its repetitive and hard on the body. You are always cold as the temperature inside has to be kept low to maintain the product. It's wet; there is water spraying everywhere. Standing on a cement floor in rubber boots, up to your ankles in fish guts, wearing a rain slick over the warmest clothes you have, you really can start to hate fish. I bet the fish would hate us more though, if they were still alive and were capable of such thoughts. Anyway, when the salmon are running and the cannery is in full operation, it can be a very exciting place. Everyone is working, everyone is partying, and everyone is thinking about what they'll do when the season is over and they have some money.
After my second year in the cannery, after 56 straight days of work, after putting in 110 to 115 hours on the clock each week, I was able to go to Paris and live for about six months on the money I made in 9 weeks. Not a bad trade-off.
When gutting a fish, you stick a knife in its belly and rip up from one end to the other. Then, spreading its fleshy sides, remove the internal organs from esophagus to anus. Sometimes I found interesting things they ate recently, like rocks and stones, but I once found a coin inside a fish. I don't remember what happened to it. I also remember seeing fish with bear claw marks on them. They escaped the bear, but ran into a net. Oh, well.
Fish destined to be sold fresh or fresh frozen had to be treated delicately to maintain their integrity, and therefore, the highest price.
Fish destined for the cannery are treated with less care, and they are sent to machines to be headed, gutted, finned and prepped for canning. The name of the machine that did all that in one smooth flow was the "Chink". Not very PC now a days, but it harkens back to another time, to the beginning of the cannery era, when most of the workers were Chinese laborers. I found a picture of a cannery in operation in 1908, and the caption read, "Iron Chink at work..." In 1984, it was still called the Chink. Dangerous machine that one. I saw a guy stick his hand in too far to retrieve a fish and get his arm broken. He was trying to stop a fish from clogging the works. Bad decision, made because he was over tired and not thinking clearly. He was lucky in one respect; after getting back from the hospital with his arm in a cast, the cannery found a soft dry cushy job for him for the rest of the season. Better than paying unemployment for them, I guess.
Anyway, after the fish are prepped, they get chopped up and put in cans, skin bones and all. The chopped fish are sent down to the "piano bar", that's a line where the chopped fish are spread out nice and evenly so they fall evenly into the cans. The workers on the "piano bar" quickly spread the flesh with both hands as it goes down a conveyor, and it kind of looks like they are playing a key board, hence the name, the piano bar. I subbed on that line a little, though it was mostly women.
After the cans are filled and before they are sealed, they go down another line where workers, again mostly women, remove flesh from the overfilled cans and put flesh in the lighter cans. A can too full may not seal properly, and a can too light won't weigh enough.
The filled cans are then sealed, and sent to the oven where they are baked for 90 - 120 minutes at a high temperature. This will kill all bacteria, and also soften the bones and skins and makes them edible. Salmon is a unique fish in that there are not too many bones, they can be eaten, and when the consumer opens the can it has a pleasant look to it.
So, that's cannery 101 in a nutshell.
Anyway, I got to go write a fish story, and you have to go back to whatever it is you do. What do you do anyway?
If you ever worked at a cannery, write me and tell me about it.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New year 2008
Hi World:
Well, after almost six months of inactivity on this blog, welcome to 2008. I sure am glad to have a new year ahead of me. 2007 was great, but 2008 will be even greater. I just know it.
2007 was my first full year, end to end, in Los Angeles. I really like living here, even with all the challenges. I love the potential and the opportunity that exists around every corner.
2008 will be the year my new project, the one I said I would tell you about six months ago, will really take off. In 2007, Kris and I started Bikini Movie Review, a fun movie review and comedy website featuring women in bikinis reading movie reviews and just having a lot of fun. Please check it out and pass it on to your friends.
2008 is an election year. I'm looking forward to participating in the democratic process of voting and electing a new president.
2008 will be the year I book a television show guest star spot, a national commercial, and another feature film role. That's what I want, that's what I'm going to have.
2008 will be the year I play more music.
2008 will be the year I work even harder.
2008 will be the year I get out of debt.
2008 will be the year I write in this blog everyday.
I hope you have a great 2008 and let me know what you want and if you get it.
Peace.
Noel
Well, after almost six months of inactivity on this blog, welcome to 2008. I sure am glad to have a new year ahead of me. 2007 was great, but 2008 will be even greater. I just know it.
2007 was my first full year, end to end, in Los Angeles. I really like living here, even with all the challenges. I love the potential and the opportunity that exists around every corner.
2008 will be the year my new project, the one I said I would tell you about six months ago, will really take off. In 2007, Kris and I started Bikini Movie Review, a fun movie review and comedy website featuring women in bikinis reading movie reviews and just having a lot of fun. Please check it out and pass it on to your friends.
2008 is an election year. I'm looking forward to participating in the democratic process of voting and electing a new president.
2008 will be the year I book a television show guest star spot, a national commercial, and another feature film role. That's what I want, that's what I'm going to have.
2008 will be the year I play more music.
2008 will be the year I work even harder.
2008 will be the year I get out of debt.
2008 will be the year I write in this blog everyday.
I hope you have a great 2008 and let me know what you want and if you get it.
Peace.
Noel
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