Cup o’ T

Los Angeles is Burning

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 10:43:04 -0700

Last year was a banner year for fires in SO Cal. This year, though we’ve actually had an inch or two of rain, it is still pretty dry (despite the sensational news reports to the contrary). Right now, happily, there are no major natural disasters to report in LA.
That is not to say that there are no disasters taking place here. LA itself is one big catastrophe. I was recently reading and article by Travel and Leisure that ranked 25 major metro areas in the US in a wide array of Categories. Except for weather (ranked #4) and luxury boutique shopping (ranked #2) LA took the bottom slot in almost every notable category. Friendliness? Last place. Affordability, ease of getting around, safety? Last, last, last. Intelligence? Yup, last. The list goes on.
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around why things are so bad here yet housing prices (even given the current meltdown) are still ridiculously high. The best I can figure it is this city is the only place in the country with a built in marketing machine. Hollywood sells LA as it sells itself around the world.
The vapid and disingenuous foundation that things are built on in the Media (movie) Industry are the very things that keep drawing people to this area. It’s a self referring feed-back loop that Hofstadter would be proud of.

A Short Winter

Sun, 2 Mar 2008 20:39:16 -0800

Thank God the Oscar’s are over. I think I ripped off a 26 days in a row stretch of work during January and February. It’s the LA version of of a long cold winter... a long cold Awards Season (SAG, Critic’s Choice, People’s Choice, Grammy’s, Spirit, and the Oscar’s).
I guess that’s as a good a reason as any for not keeping up with any kind of blog what so ever.
We still have a couple more to go (Kid’s Choice, ESPY’s, ect., over the next couple of months) but this was the Season. It’s an interesting perspective seeing “Hollywood’s Best” as nothing but a bunch of self-serving self-promoter’s that really care about nothing more than upping the bottom line.
It seems that the last few weekends of work have been cold and rainy. This weekend - no work/no rain! YAY!
Steph and I “celebrated” by going to the park and knocking out a photo shoot for some dresses she is selling on her website. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

No Country For Old Men - Movie Review

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:18:44 -0800

I’m a movie fan. It’s no secret, I’ve dedicated my “professional” life to becoming a maker of movies. One thing you’ll notice, though, is that I don’t don’t do reviews. In my mind, it’s a twist on the old saying “those who can’t do teach.” For me, it’s those who can’t make a movie, critique them. For me, being a fan, it’s is usually a moot point. I will almost always find SOMETHING about a movie that I like and will hold on to. I am on the movie maker’s side, if they loose me, they’ve really been working at it.

On the flip side, seldom do I use the word “brilliant” to describe work. Making movies is not brain surgery and I think that most film makers should be thanking their lucky stars that they have been fortunate enough to navigate the murky waters of Hollywood and come out with a film at the end.

Yet, as Steph and I left the theater yesterday, she asked me what I thought. “Brilliant,” I said and noticed an askew glance or two from the people that had left holding their heads and saying “what the hell was that?”

She asked why, because she too had been one of those left scratching their heads.

Here it is, in a nutshell - which, by the way makes this more of an opinion column than a review. No Country For Old Men is about as perfect an allegory for the Human Condition as I have ever seen. Writers, painters, and filmmakers struggle for lifetimes trying to capture what the Coen brothers have brought to the screen.

If you watch it, keep in mind that Death comes for us all, chance (or ,arguably, destiny) plays a bigger part in our lives than we care to admit (self-determination eeees KAPUT!) and at the end of it all, only Religion pretends to provide answers (and who’s to say if any or all are right or wrong).

A Year and A Day

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:15:55 -0800

Have you ever spent a year of your life doing something that you never really wanted to do, but ended up doing anyway? In the Army, this year is usually a tour in some war torn country. When you’re a kid, it’s whatever grade you happen to be in. When in Hollywood, it’s whatever survival job you’re working to pay the rent until the big break comes. It was my anniversary at The Production Truck this week. I bought hot wings for the guys and my friend and co-worker Blu Fox bought an ice cream cake.

Much better than getting shot at.

A View From The Production Truck

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:28:30 -0800

Sitting on the back gate of the truck and looking in to the walls and things that rule my world. People order stuff that they need for a production, they go out clean, they stay out for a while, they come back dirty and broken, we fix and clean them then put them away...people order stuff...
The seasons of my life can be measured by the comings and goings of reality TV and Awards Shows (oy Scott Baio season two, OY Grammy’s).
Though I shuffle and scoot around piles of tents and tables and chairs, I let my mind wander... to the Western US circa 1882 where a lone man with a violent past struggles with a secret...