First and
foremost: I'm sorry. LOL. I was back on the set of
"Net Games" last Wednesday. This was sooooooooooooo a
Thursday entry. Hell back in the day it would've made
it a 3AM Wednesday night entry. Of course that was
pre-Animal Crossing. To give you an idea of just what
this game has done to me, the only reason I'm writing
you now is Tom Nook's store is closed for a raffle day
(in which I won a baby grand piano!!!) and I can't
sell any of the fish that I caught. So I can't really
do much today. (sigh). My life actually revolves
around a virtual store. I have been getting up at 8:45
AM, to sell things right when Tom's store opens at
9AM. I've lost my mind. I am sure many of you can't
relate to this. Well can you relate to
this...
...I have SOLD
(for real money) items within this game. They made a
system where through a complicated password you can
actually SHIP things to people. You tell Tom the name
and town of the player, and you give him the product -
and he gives you this crazy long password. You tell
the person that password, he tells Tom in his
game...and voila it appears. Of course I had to
find rare items and then sell them on Ebay. LOL. So
far I've made a little over $20. It really is an
AMAZING thrill to find something in a videogame
and realize that you'll make ACTUAL money for it.
Insane. People have been doing this with the game
Diablo for awhile now. Some of those items (because
it's a PC game, and PC gamers are insane) have fetched
several HUNDREDS of dollars. All for a virtual item.
Amazing...
Also I need
to add that Jessica is JUST as addicted as I am, as
well as Paddy who now basically lives here. Absolutely
every spare second I've had is either watching Jess or
Paddy (which is just as fun) or playing myself.
Luckily I've still been able to do some really cool
"career" things in the time I've had this drug
which brings me to this:
I'm
actually taller than CT, he was just on
steps...
I got called back
to be in the final "crane shot" scene in the movie.
WORD. So whenever this goes to DVD, I'll have 2 scenes
to freeze frame and slo-mo. LOL. Anyway, this day on
set was much more eventful and fun. First off it was
nighttime, so wearing a suit wasn't as bad as the 110
degree heat. (Fuck the dry heat comments - 110 is
HOT). As well, people recognize you on the 2nd day so
you feel a bit more comfortable. As well, I got
to talk to CT for a bit in between takes and that was
cool. We were talking about growing up in a divorced
family. Me, him and the sound guy. What struck me was
that he actually asked us questions. I know it
shouldn't be strange, but he was talking about his
childhood and being a latchkey kid and most people
would tell their story and let it be. BUt he really
wanted to hear what our situations were like. It was
very cool of him. Strange thing to talke about on set
at 1 in the morning, but cool nonetheless. He even did
some "Soul Man" lines for a crew guy during downtime.
I think we all assume that because his last big hit
was in 1986 he'd be bitter, but I'm finding that it's
just not the case at all. The fact that they're
working is success. Just becuase one of their earlier
jobs hit the lottery, doesn't make their work now any
worse. But we as the public ALWAYS view it like
that. "OOOOOH, what has HE done in 15 years".
Well in CT's case - a shitload. Go to www.imdb.com,
he's done a lot.
But somehow
because they aren't in the big budget hits we consider
it a failure of a career. HUH? Hits are truly like
winning the lottery. Had CT not been in ET, The
Outsiders, and Soul Man - who says he wouldn't have
gotten a nice break in his late 20's? Which would've
set him up for better shit now? Fortunately, or
unfortunately it happened when he was younger, and
people actually remember the name "C. Thomas Howell"
one way. As well, he has a family now and priorities
change. I guess all I'm saying is my perspective on
what I used to consider "hack" actors is completely
changed. Michele Greene has a bunch to do with it to.
She actually opted out of LA Law after 5 years in
1992. She didn't like the direction it was going, and
wanted to pursue other things. She's now just signed
with a record label and is becoming known as a great
latino singer - something she truly loves. As well,
she's acting constantly. Yet an outsider would think -
"ooh, what has SHE done since LA Law" The truth
is she's incredibly successful and the "Hit Lottery"
has very little to do with that. Charlotte had that
attitude all the time whenever we talked about actors.
She would laugh and poke fun of actors she thought
were "hacks" because they hadn't been in a hit in so
many years. It pissed me off then, but now it really
irks me. She just doesn't get it. And while we're on
the subject...
...that's the slap
in the face. Anyone remember August and September of
2001? That month when I had NOTHING to do. The
month that I called Charlotte daily and asked if there
was ANYTHING I could do to help things out. She
told me to wait. I waited for 7 weeks and finally
told HER that I wasn't waiting and that I was
performing The Trinitrons on September 30th. The rest
of the year I had 3 shows, all with tremendous
down-time in between. My point? Why didn't she hook me
up with some extra work? A few phone cals (that
I'm making this week) and you can be put into 1 of
several databases that can get you some pretty
consistent work. Case in point:
Every single extra
I talked to on the set Wednesday all came from
some guy/agency named Jeff Owen. They said they gave
him $20 to take a picture and he puts you into this
internet database. Then you call a number and listen
to a voicemail to see what's available Not sure
exactly how it works - but they all said it's really
easy and they work all the time. They've all been on a
BUNCH of sets. In fact most are bored sick of it, but
they do it for the $54 anyway. The point is, it's not
hard. It's probably the FIRST FUCKING thing
I would do if I was a manager who had a client with
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much downtime. At least you're
out there doing SOMETHING. So of course I got the
number from one of the extras...in fact - here's a
picture:
LOL. Ahh the silly
things extras do on set. I brought my video camera and
we took turns taking action shots to prove we were
actually there. Actually I'm the only one who cared
about that. Heh. Anyway, I got the numbers I needed
from Adam and will be going to this place to put my
name and picture in. I mean - DUH. Why not? It's good
money, lotsa food, and you get to hang out and learn
more about movie-making. SO
WHAT THE HELL WAS Charlotte
thinking? AHHHHHHHHHHH. I read those entries from
last year now and want to
RIP MY HAIR OUT. Something as easy as a
phone call she could've made. Just to keep me from
going insane (too late). Oh well, it's over, it's
over, it's over. Let's look at pics:
Me, the
1st Assistant Director and of course the
man...
Here's the
shot from the monitor and the actual crane it's
shooting from...
Uhm, me
again...
I actually
set up the camera and stood in front of it before
I asked another extra to take some shots.
Heh.
The start
of the final scene. This was my vantage point of the
scene before I walk out of the
house...
And of
course the video
which is just a mix of the shots that
Andrew the british extra took. Heh. It was
a fun night, and I'm glad I grabbed my
camera for the 2nd day. I was a little
pissed at not bringing it before. Cool
little chapter in The Journey so
far...
Finally, Michele's
manager rescheduled for this week, so we'll have to
wait and see what she says as far as other managers
are concerned. Michele has really taken me under her
wing and made me realize soooooooooo much. The
validation that I was right feeling the way I did with
Charlotte has just lifted me up. It's amazing, any
FOOL could see that I was right in the situation...but
the amount of self-doubt that woman implanted in me
never budged until I talked to Michele. Yes, I'm
pissed I've wasted this year away because I was so
fucked up - but ya know what, the year ain't over yet.
I've got 3 months. 3 months to pull 2002 out of my
ASS.
