The World According To Me

http://underaragingmoon.blogspot.com/

What is your fortune? I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself. Well. You should still try to be good.

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TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey
Name:
Birthday:
Birthplace:	Flushing NY
Current Location:	Brooklyn NY
Eye Color:	Brown
Hair Color:	Brown
Height:	5'8"
Right Handed or Left Handed:	Left
Your Heritage:	Jewish
The Shoes You Wore Today:	Chuck Taylors - red Hi-Tops
Your Weakness:	Weakness? I say HA
Your Fears:	Fears? President Jeb Bush
Your Perfect Pizza:	Crawfish, Andouille Sausage, Goat Cheese, Xtra Mozarella thin crust - well done
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	Sell RLD
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	LOL
Thoughts First Waking Up:	Man I gotta piss
Your Best Physical Feature:	My Aura
Your Bedtime:	When I am done
Your Most Missed Memory:	1983 - 1993
Some people drink Pepsi some people drink Coke:	And Some Drink Cok 0 because it rocks
MacDonalds or Burger King:	Wendy's if anything
Single or Group Dates:	I don't date
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	Straight plain unsweetened tea
Chocolate or Vanilla:	there is only chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee:	double esspresso
Do you Smoke:	no - never have
Do you Swear:	I'm from Brooklyn - What the fuck do you think?
Do you Sing:	daily
Do you Shower Daily:	daily
Have you Been in Love:	yes
Do you want to go to College:	I can proudly say I have been thrown out of some of the finest institutions NY State has to offer
Do you want to get Married:	Already am
Do you belive in yourself:	Stupid question - Next
Do you get Motion Sickness:	Nope
Do you think you are Attractive:	Of course
Are you a Health Freak:	Are you nuts
Do you get along with your Parents:	yes
Do you like Thunderstorms:	yes
Do you play an Instrument:	Several - really well
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	of course
In the past month have you Smoked:	no
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	no
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	no
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	yes
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	unfortunately no
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	yes dozens of times
In the past month have you been on Stage:	nope
In the past month have you been Dumped:	nope
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	nope
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	nope
Ever been Drunk:	Ha
Ever been called a Tease:	nope
Ever been Beaten up:	yup
Ever Shoplifted:	nope
How do you want to Die:	in my sleep after a great shag
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	I am already it and I don't have to grow up
What country would you most like to Visit:	Scotland
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color:
Favourite Hair Color:
Short or Long Hair:
Height:
Weight:
Best Clothing Style:
Number of Drugs I have taken:	You can't count that high
Number of CDs I own:	Who can count that high
Number of Piercings:	none now - had 4 a long time ago
Number of Tattoos:	2
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	I Regret Nothing - It's all about the trip
CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!

I am moving my active blog back to Blogger. As much as I like some of the features of LiveJournal, it doesn' t get the traffic that Blogger gets, and Blogger is a little more user friendly. So for thos of you wo found me here, you can now find me at http://underaragingmoon.blogspot.com/.
ciao

Never under estimate the truly clueless...
There I am sitting on the subway, heading back to Brooklyn after a very satisfying evening watching my Rangers beat Toronto. I am sitting there minding my own business when who should step onto the train but Bob Marley. OK it wasn't Bob Marley, hell it wasn't even Jacob Marley though a dead man would have been more talented. Two hundred dollar leather shoes, three hundred dollar (at least) 3/4 length P-Coat, Exquisitely manicured corn rows that fell gingerly down around his shoulders and a better than decent acoustic guitar with the appropriate hundred and fifty dollar gig bag. The man could not play a lick. Why is it that people who can't play or sing choose to defame Bob Marley. What did Bob ever do to them? "Redemption Song" becomes "Revulsion Song" and then he wants me to give him money for it. The guy's dressed better than me for Christ's sake. If the guy really feels the need to express himself (poorly) then why doesn't he sing a Madonna song or better yet, Mariah Carey. Bob certainly doesn't deserve this kind of treatment and I am sure he is spinning like a whirlpool dishwasher in his grave.

Speaking of Bob's, how many times do I have to hear "Knocking on Heaven's Door" butchered but by some rich white kid from Westchester who is spending the day slumming in his ghetto gear and pre-treated dread locks who couldn't carry a tune if it had a handle on it yet they think they are channeling Bob Dylan, who by the way isn't dead though based on his association with "Cold Mountain" and the subsequent video you might wish he was. (was that the longest run on sentence in history or what).

It reminds me of those High School parties where inevitably somebody would produce a guitar and every guy in the room would take a turn trying to get through bad renditions of "Horse with No Name", "Stairway to Heaven" and "Freebird". Everything is great, the girls hang around and sing the guys are feeling really cool until the guy who really knows how to play shows up and screws up everything. Then it's time for the hacks to go back into the kitchen and the backyard in order to find that one girl who is drunk enough to think that getting naked with them is a good idea but not so drunk that they throw up on the wanna be Neil Youngs/Gordon Lightfoots or accuse them of heinous things the next morning.

But Buskers in the subway are the worst. They always pick some song that they have no chance in hell of being able to preform well, yet, there they are. It's kind of like "Idol America" that way, with the edition of the pungent aroma of urine and subway grime. A joy for one and all to behold. Now isn't that kind of entertainment worth a quarter.

5 years without a VETO and our intellectually challenged president was going to VETO the bill that would squash his little back room deal. The man truly doesn't have a clue. And where was his butt boy Rove through all of this. I think Carl is asleep at the wheel. How did he not see the shit storm and PR nightmare this little deal was going to cause. The really scary thing is that this particular deal was exposed and for the most part it wasn't as bad as it could have been. What about all those back room deals that never saw the light of day until it was too late. The little amendments added on to bills in the middle of the night after the votes have all been counted. It's a goddamn disgrace. But no more than the lies that got us into IRAQ or the jobs that are being sent overseas by the thousands or the morally bankrupt administration that is distancing us further and further from the rest of the world.

The good news is that George W. Bush has secured for himself a place in history that can only be rivaled by Ulysses S. Grant and Huey Long. Keeping in mind I am loath to lump Sam Grant and Huey Long into such dubious company, even if their administrations were not quite on the up and up.

W promised to bring integrity back to the White House. All I can say is his definition of integrity varies greatly from mine, or Websters for that matter.

INTEGRITY
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY.

Nope, not only does he not understand what the word means and I am pretty sure he can't even spell it, but I know for damn sure he didn't bring any of it into the White House.
Gee, how does everything this guy has done in the last 5 years compare with a guy who got a hummer from a rather ugly intern. Call it what you want, but I'd take Bill and his girls over George and his lies and corruption any day of the week.

I understand that the President of Iran is calling for a "Holocaust Cartoon Contest" in the hopes of proving that the West has a double standard when it comes to freedom of speech. Well this mental midget has highlighted once more the tenuous grasp he has on the reality of the "West". First of all, there are tons of Anti-Semites out there who would jump at the chance to doodle a little "Auschwitz Antics" or "Treblinka Frolics". That's a no brainer. What he doesn't understand is that (at least in America) we are going through a major test of freedom of speech right now (those of you who have been reading my blog know this) and for now, the right is winning.

For now ...

Certainly (at least as far as the jerk off in Iran is concerned) the West is going to show how tolerant they are and allow the contest to proceed (they will condemn it in a dignified manner) and then underscore how nobody was killed over it, no embassies were evacuated because of it and most of all how the Middle Eastern followers of Allah, just don't understand us.
This may be true.
But they don't have to understand us. In fact, they never will. You can not reason with extremist fundamentalists. There is no compromise with someone who is in a rush to meet Allah and who wants to take you with him. Bush and his cronies didn't understand that 3 years ago and they still don't undertstand that now. So when they removed the evil "Saddam" from power (a secular cruel dictator, but not a fundamentalist wacko) they succeeded in replacing him with fundamentalists all over the Middle East. Do you think it's an accident that Hamas won the election in Palestine? Would they have won if the US hadn't taken up a course of unilateral pissing off the rest of the globe? I don't know.
We will never know.
The real question is, who doesn't understand who?
I think they understand us as much as they need to. It's the West that needs to do it's homework.

Of course, if we had a president who picked up a newspaper once in while ....

3 Episodes and they caved. "The Book of Daniel" is no more.
NBC should change their name to the "Jellyfish Channel". What happened to freedom of speech? What happened to creative freedom? I'll tell you what happened. These are just words that mean nothing unless the bible thumping, witch burning, gay bashing, jew hating, liberal loathing white rednecks all over this country say it doesn't offend them. Well you know what?
YOU CAN ALL GO FUCK YOURSELVES.
Yes I liked "The Book of Daniel". I thought it was a well written, intelligent and thought provoking show. Clearly these are all things that the the religious right doesn't like or understand. These people are so frightened of ideas not there own that they must shout all other thoughts down. So we burn witches, beat up homosexauls, burn down synagogues and keep women from voting or working. It definitely explains how President Pin head got elected (well stole) a second election.

Fear of new ideas is an epidemic below the mason dixon line as well as the "fly over states". READ A BOOK YOU MORONS (besides the bible). Oh I forgot, you have burned anything worth reading.

These are the same mental midgets who believe that "Intelligent Design" is a scientific theory. Well they do have a handful of Scientists who back that up. Of course they are good christians also so they will go directly to hell if they dissent.

You fuckers have co-opted my country and I am getting tired of it. Your time is coming. Your president has screwed up this country and world for the last 5 years and the backlash that is coming is going to suck the black velvet Jesus paintings right off your walls like an Atlantic City Hooker at closing time. You're not Americans. You're biggots, racists, homophobes, neophobes and any other phobe I can think of. Fear is way of life for you. Fear of strangers, fear of change fear of things you don't understand (which is just about everyhthing that has happened after 1776.) This country wasn't made for you. You just think it is. It's easy for our dim-witted president to shut out the rest of the world, but the world is watching, The USA has become a laughing stock in the international community and I am tired of it.

And NBC, I am finished with you also. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. ASHAMED. Ask yourself why people with intelligence watch more pay TV than Network. I am sure you will just fill the void with another reality show. Perhaps the religious right would approve of Jesus TV. ALL JESUS, All the Time.

NBC = National Bitch (of the Religious Right) Company.

So now we are supposed to cow tow to the muslim world because they are offended by a comic strip? Are you fucking kidding me? It's enough. If they don't want to live in a modern wolrd, that is fine. If they want to keep their women in the beekeeper suits, barefoot, stupid and pregnant, that is fine also. But protesting a cartoon with threats of violence kind of waters down their other protestations. The rest of the world can say anything they want about allah, mohammad, jesus, ra, yaweh, john smith and the bogwan rajnish if they feel like it. If these morons weren't sitting on 3/4's of the worlds oil supply, they would have been bombed into oblivion a hundred years ago. If I could, I would repost that comic all over the web and keep running it for a year. And any newspaper editor that caves and fires anyone over this should be ashamed of themselves and has no right calling themselves serious news people. Have some balls, and stand up to these terrorists. It's enough already.

As I am fed up with Blogger and the nonsense and poor service, I thought I would try Live Journal. So, if you aren't sick of my ranting yet, this is where you will find me from now on.

I have moved over my more interesting archived posts from Blogger as I won't be going back there anymore. (I didn't fill in the holes in the walls from my poster pins and picture frames either).

Tonight for the first time I watched “American Idol”. I have avoided it (and the rest of the reality TV universe) with extreme prejudice for quite some time. Unfortunately tonight was a perfect storm. There was very little else on the tube (see the March 14th blog on Network TV) and I needed to get some writing done so I left Fox on after Seinfeld ended. So on comes “Idol America” excuse me, I mean “American Idol”. I couldn’t be bothered to turn the channel so I let it play.

I have one question and one question only.

Do these people have no shame?
Clearly the answer is no,

Now I am not comparing them to the Jerry Springer crowd (though there is clearly some cross over). These people are worse than horrible. I hade to mute the TV for a number of these freaks. It’s one thing to get up at a Karaoke bar when you are polluted on margaritas and belt out “Lady Marmaleide” but it is something completely different to do it on National TV and then get angry when Simon tell you that you sing like crap and should get out of the business.

Everybody rags on Simon for being a prick, well you know what? The man is right on the money. These people suck and the music business just like the film business doesn’t cut anyone slack. He is just doing what any record company A&R exec would do. He’s just doing it on TV.

The funny thing is, the worse these people are, the more outraged they are when they don’t’ make the cut. They blame the judges. “The judges don’t know what they are talking about.” “The judges don’t know talent when they see it.” The trouble is they are not seeing it. There was one freak on tonight who was so sure he was going to win the whole thing that when he came in to sing he boasted how he can sing on 3 different levels. He was so bad you couldn’t even say he sang poorly, because that would do an injustice to people who sing poorly. They actually gave him a second chance (which I didn’t understand, other than it made for good TV) and when he came back he actually sang the bawdy Frat song from “Trading Places” of course none of the judges knew that (it just shows how poorly they are schooled on pop culture) and he did it so poorly that it was embarrassing. When he walked out of the room the second time he still didn’t get the fact that he really should never be allowed to sing anywhere at anytime ever again.

My assumption is that at the end of this blight on Network TV they actually pick somebody who has what the marshmallow fluff pop music industry is trying to shove down the public gullet. But at what cost? Thousands of people with no talent line up for days to audition for something they have no shot at getting and this is considered “Must See TV”. It’s almost more embarrassing for the folks who invest so much in this show and who they are going to “vote” for. All of these folks need to get a life.

Or a Karaoke machine….

Did anyone watch the inaugural episode of "The Book of Daniel"? Well I did.
I liked it. Really liked it. Which of course means it won't last five episodes.
And why won't it last five episodes you ask?
Well there are a number of reasons.
1. It is well written.
2. It has a great cast (really really top quality)
3. It is funny yet serious.
4. The humor is intelligent and requires a little effort.
5. It co-stars Jesus, an adulterous bishop and a vicodin popping priest who has a gay son, a dope dealing daughter, an alcoholic wife (who has a lesbian sister) and an over-sexed adopted son of Asian descent.

All the makings for a TV show with a conservative bullseye on it's back. There hasn't been a show with this kind of quality character development and risk taking story line since "Soap" (which by the way had the 1st primetime gay character, faithfully portrayed by Billy Crystal).

This past Monday night I am sure there were conservative heads exploding all over this country.
I can hear them popping ...
At least for the next couple of weeks ....

I realize I have been away awhile and I am sure there is no one reading this blog anymore, but as I really only write for myself anyway I shall continue to waste people's time with my observations.

Observation #1: The New Year came very early this year ...

Observation #2: I really miss reruns of "The Odd Couple" "The Honeymooners" and "Hogans Heros".

Observation #3: After 5 days of MTA strike hubub on every TV channel, radio staion and newspaper during X-Mas week, it is now as if it never happened. Either New Yorkers have very short memories or are very forgiving (I would suggest the former). I myself am still pissed off and hope our less than useless Governer sticks by his guns and presses every person that walked off the job, the union leaders, and the union for the millions of dollars of fines levied by the courts.

Observation #4: Toilet training of a 3 year old girl is only enjoyable in that it is the only road to the end of diapers.

Observation #5: The film buisness still sucks, but I don't care, my last film is just about finished.

Observation #6: I am enjoying watching the current administration and the Republican party single handedly tear itself apart with no help from the spineless Democrats.

Observation #7: Even though I am no big fan of sub zero weather, NYC just isn't NYC when it is 54 degrees in January.

Observation #8: Coke Zero is addictive.

Observation #9: Being married for 9 years has been easier than I ever thought it could have been (clearly I chose the right person).

Observation #10: I hope 2006 is better than 2005 (and 2005 wasn't as bad as it could have been ....)

No this dog will not wag George I am.
Terror level Red.
Oh MY….
Just life in NYC
Right ….

Does anyone find it at all interesting that the day that a couple of opinion poles come out (last Friday) showing Bush’s ratings dropping like pigeon crap on Lord Admiral Nelson’s head in Trafalgar Square, we mysteriously have a terror alert here in NYC? I mean come on guys.

Same old song and dance my friend.

Unfortunately, this time, the mayor of New York City, (a mayor I am not terribly fond of, but have to respect) took matters into his own hands and against the wishes of most of the Fed, released the information before the President’s cronies could make hay of the incident.

So…

Instead of being the President who found out about an alleged terrorist plot ( I believe that’s what they are calling it now) and saving the day with quick “decisive” action on the part of the intelligence community he had to claim the threat as “unsubstantiated” because it was too late for him to be the hero. The dog was out of the bag so to speak. This was one dog who’s tail wasn’t going to wag. His timing however, is impeccable. He is getting slammed 9 ways from Sunday and he needed something to halt the hemorrhage of blood from his presidential femoral artery.

Starting with the amazing cock up that was the Katrina fiasco, including his college drinking buddy as the head of FEMA or the ex head of FEMA another close friend who was already lining up the construction contracts for the New Orleans rebuild.

Iraq, which has become (well it always was) Viet Nam without the lush vegetation and under brush. The death toll keeps rising and he has no clue as how to get us out of there.

His own right wing base wants his testes on a platter because he is considering putting a non-reactionary non right wing non ultra conservative woman on the bench of the highest court in the land. Of course the spineless Democrats finally can now just watch the Republicans implode over this one. The thing I love is that George had clearly searched the land. Hi and low. He has interviewed every federal justice now sitting or who ever sat on the bench, and through his infinite wisdom, he has concluded, that the finest possible candidate in all the land is …. His personal attorney. Good thing his lawyer isn’t H&R Block, he would have a real tough time picking one Block for the bench.

George has got his Johnson in a ringer and his only hope at deflecting some of this was to put some terror back in our lives. Well…

Georgie, I am here to tell you that most New Yorkers barely gave it a notice after Friday afternoon. You see, once you have seen the towers fall, you know when it’s real and when it’s just politics. You have been playing politics with us too long Georgie boy. Orange alert level right after the Democratic convention, that was ingenious. Rove definitley earned his pesos with that one. Our Mayor, while technically part of your party, doesn’t really like you and really has no use for politicians in general. Beleive it or not his first responsibility is to the people of NYC. So if you want use NYC for your own gain, next time you are really going to have drop something on us if you want our attention.

Don’t ask for whom the bells toll W, because their tolling for you. NYC will not be your play thing anymore.

OK, how many people have had phone calls recently from someone named Peter Parker or John Smith or Steve Jones or Bruce Banner but they sound surprisingly like the pimp from “Bachelor Party”? Oh and the call was from your bank? Possibly CHASE?

Well I got one from John Smith on Saturday and let me tell you, it pissed me off. I thought it was just me but I just got a phone call from a buddy of mine telling me he just got a call from (and I shit you not) Peter Parker but he sounded nothing like Tobey Maguire or Paul Soles (the voice of the 1967 Peter Parker/Spiderman cartoon), nope he sounded like Gandhi or Baboo Bot from “Seinfeld.

What are these people thinking?

I mean it’s bad enough that they are shipping every job that is not nailed down over seas but to have to get a call from my bank (actually credit card company) and have some guy in New Delhi trying to pass himself off as an American, well in the words of Yosemite Sam, That burns my biscuits. Don’t get me wrong I am no jingoist flag waver but I do resent having my intelligence insulted. Do they think that nobody will notice. I have known many people from India and Pakistan and let me tell you, not one of them has been named Fred Williamson or Marvin Rabinowitz.

So what’s the point? Why would a big corporation like CHASE allow this type of thing to go on within the ranks of their sales group?

Perhaps they think that a foreign name would put people off?

Hmm. Not more than hearing somebody who sounds like Apoo tell me their name is Robert Young.

So what is the reasoning behind such a blatantly stupid yet deliberate act of fraud.

Yes it’s fraud, there I said, you can too . FRAUD.

Sure if Sanjay Singh called me up to tell me about the new things that CHASE wants to sell me I would hang up on him also, but, and here’s the big difference, I wouldn’t abuse him first the way I abused John Smith. I told Mr. Smith that, actually it went something like this:

Me: Hello
JS: Hello Mr. ________ my name is John Smith and I am calling from CHASE BANK to tell you…
Me: Excuse me? What’s your name?
JS: John Smith and I am calling from CHASE BANK to (they always have to start their spiel all over from the beginning if you interrupt them)
Me: No you’re not. No way are you John Smith. You’re Sanjay Singh from Bombay
SJ: No I’m not, I am John Smith and I am calling from CHASE BANK
Me: Don’t give me that, you’re a telemarketer sitting in the black hole of Calcutta and you ain’t no godamn John Smith. Don’t call here anymore.

Then I hung up. Had he just said his real name I would have hung up on him right away without the added abuse. Granted I enjoy that kind of thing. But all the same, CHASE BANK is going to quickly lose my business because of stunts like that.

Just one more corporation under estimating the intelligence of the public.

Oh did I mention it was

CHASE BANK. SENDING ALL THOSE JOBS OVERSEAS.

CHASE BANK, TAKING FOOD OUT OF THE MOUTH OF AMERICANS.

CHASE PAYING PEOPLE TO MAKE BELIEVE THEY ARE JOHN SMITH…

I went to school with John Smith sir and I can tell you here and now that you are no JOHN SMITH!!!!

This was a funny guy.
Nobody could deliver such absurd dialogue with absolute seriousness better than Don Adams. He was part of a group of comedians which have not been remotely paralleled in the last 40 years. Buck Henry, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar these guys brought the funny. It wasn't dumbed down for the masses. It wasn't (for the most part) test marketed to chimpanzees in the Congo for an approval rating. It was raw, intelligent, irreverent and more than anything else, it was funny.

Really funny.

Don Adams had a way of delivering a line so that even though he was deadly serious, you were laughing before the payoff of the joke even reached the screen. Whether he was voicing "Tennessee Tuxedo, The Penguin With a Plan" or as Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, defender of justice and thorn in the side of KAOS and Bernie Koppell. He had no peer. He was an original often copied, never surpassed.

I am thrilled that a younger generation was able to enjoy him as the voice of "Inspector Gadget" but his true genius was his delivery coupled with his facial expressions. In case you never got to see it, he had a show in the mid 70's called "Don Adam's Screen Test". It was a great show where ordinary people from the audience would be put into famous scenes (very often perfect replicas of the actual set) with real actors (some times famous, I recall Don Rickles being a regular guest) and as they shot it, the comedy of recreating the scene was hysterical even when the scene wasn't supposed to be. It was the kind of TV that I really miss when I see ads for "The Apprentice 1, 2 & 3" or "Survivor. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.

Oh and the next time you watch "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" listen for the voice of Comet the reindeer coach as he chastises poor Rudolph for his blinkin beacon ... It's Don.

Agent 86, you've been relieved of duty ... but I hear they have great job waiting for you up there ... Ok, would you believe ....

4 Years.
Never Forget.
Be glad your alive.
Hug somebody, give somebody a kiss.
Say thank you to somebody who should have been thanked.
Call somebody you should have called a long time ago and didn't

Never Forget that it is good to be alive....

Wednesday, August 3,
One down three to go.
What can I say, the first weekend of shooting was everything I had hoped it would be and more. For the most part the actors came prepared and on time. We had very few technical problems and we finished up three scenes ahead of where we planned.

I wound up cutting two scenes out of hand once we were out there. They were superfluous and un- necessary. That became clear once I had a chance to see the scenes before and after.

I just finished capturing all the video and sound footage from the three days. I am mostly happy with what I am looking at. I seem to have some communication problems with my DP as he does not always understand what I would like him to do. I am chalking this up to this being our first weekend working together. I am sure it will get better.

J is flying in tomorrow night and he will be a welcomed addition. It seems things are moving along quite nicely with “Nailed” and it’s getting into the hands of the people who need to see it. So with any luck, when he returns to England in two weeks he will be meeting with a number of people who are interested in giving us money.

I am still concerned about the actress playing Carol Ann. The quality I saw in her at the audition is not coming through, mostly I think because she is not off book yet. With any luck she will be on track by Friday.

Tuesday, July 26,
3 days to go…
Still not sure when or even if J is going to get over here for this but I am beginning to really want him here. Just to keep the boat going steady in one direction. But, there’s still time.

We had our tech scout yesterday. This is when the whole crew (in this case 4 of us) go to each location and discuss all of the technical aspects of the shoot. Where the camera will go, are there any potential sound issues, truck access etc… Everything went fine.

I just finished a two hour session with my actress who is playing Danielle. She has great instincts and understood what I wanted without me actually having to tell her. She showed up having already figured out who the character really was down deep and is already in a place that I need her to be when we shoot her first scene on Saturday. Though I am not surprised, as she was one of the two actresses that knocked it out of the park at their audition. I expect big things from her.

Rehearsal tomorrow night will be my best gauge for whether or not my actors will be off book for their scenes this weekend. I actually have very little to worry about, except for one of them, who I do have some doubts about his/her ability to be off book (actually I am not alone in this fear, both my AD and Prod. Manager have the same fear). But only time will tell and I may yet be pleasantly surprised.

Everything else seems to be on schedule. There is a chance of rain on Friday, but there’s not a whole lot we can do about that. It’s just scattered showers so we may have to shoot between the rain. This is what Guerrilla film is all about.


Thursday, July 28,
1 day to go….
Last night’s rehearsal was great. We got a lot of good work done and my concerns about certain actors not being off book have been layed to rest. I think we are going to be fine. We have a number of scenes that we are hoping to shoot if the day goes as planned (As I think it will) and if by chance it rains (though it doesn’t look like it right now) we are covered as all of my actors are available and we will be ale to shoot another scene at my house and we will be able to light it to look like a sunny morning.

Everything seems to be falling into place. Still no word from J (did I mention how much I hate the French?) I think he is supposed to be back tomorrow, but I really wish he would check his e-mail today.

Well, once more into the breach dear friends…..

OK, so as promised, I began a production diary for the new project which is tentatively titled "A QUESTION OF TIME". Things are moving along pretty well, but I will let all of you be the judge:

Friday July 8,
So, I met with my script supervisor this morning at Bubby’s my old stomping ground. It was nice. Saw some old friends, got to catch up with her and best of all she is going to Script Super the second half of the shoot. I have scheduled it accordingly. Loading up all the dialogue heavy scenes into the last two weeks. More work for her but I know she loves it.

More inappropriate head shots coming in from people who have never worked before who are under the impression that Guerrilla Film means, any crap acting will do and that I will desperately take anyone that waltz’s though my door just because they have done me the favor of answering an internet ad.

WRONG.

I have 17 people showing up Wed. night and if they all suck then none of them will get hired. I will not settle or compromise on this one.


Sunday July 10,
I spoke with my partner J yesterday after he read the script. He loved it. We both agreed that it’s not on the same level as nailed, but I suspect I shall never write another script on the level of “Nailed”. He has two great comments both of which I have fixed. One was just a line but it changed the whole tenor of the scene. The other, is a rather feel good twist to the ending. Under normal circumstances, I might have problem with this but in the context of the this particular story, it’s really the whole point of the story. He’s quite sharp my buddy J.

I told him about using “One Moment in Time” for the closing credits and at the same time we both came up with the idea to have his wife sing it. So I sent him the mp3 demo I made of it and the lyrics.

Monday July 11,
J loved the song as did M and she is really excited about singing it. So when we go over there in Oct. I will bring the required gear to facilitate that.

I found myself an intern. Not just an intern but a smart, aggressive self starter who just happens to live around the block from me. D is going to be a real asset to this project. I feel confident that she will be able to handle the on set AD duties as well as being available to S (my production manaager).

We did a location scout yesterday and I think we are in good shape location-wise. We found a great little spot just below the Brooklyn Bridge where there is a set of steps that rises to the sky and has this amazing reveal of the bridge. It is going to be breathtaking.

J hasn’t been able to find a cheap flight to get over here yet but we are still hoping to work that bit out.

On the brighter side J gave "Nailed" to the first of our money possibilities yesterday. That’ the next step in the “Nailed Saga” hopefully the response will be similar to all the previous responses we have gotten so far.

Only time can tell...

Thursday July 12,
So, auditions last night ….
I really hate auditions and casting sessions. I tell you, I could never be an actor. The amount of rejection that actors have to deal with would probably drive me to homicide. We actually had 14 out of 17 people show up and that’s pretty damn good even under the best of circumstances and I know that one of the no-shows must have been too embarrassed to come back as she showed up at 9:15am first and called me to find out why no one was there. If she really had the fire required for doing this type of film she not only would have come back again at night but been there early just in case. Instead she let her embarrassment take the place of her desire to work and bailed. Better now than when it gets tough later.

Most of the folks who read for us last night were better than average with the exception of 2. One who just should never have answered the ad to begin with and who should really consider a career change and another one who was just so wrong for the part. I actually might have considered casting this person in one of the smaller roles if I hadn’t already decided on someone I know already.

What was really nice was that I had enough quality actors show up that I actually had to make a choice between 2 for each of the principals. Which is much better then what I feared would be the reality, me settling for what I could get.

2 of the actresses just knocked it right out of the park on their first go. I am happy.

So, on to the next phase. Table reading on Sunday night then rehearsal on Wed.

I spoke to J this morning. He is going to make it over here regardless of the cost it seems. As I understand it, the money people who are looking at “Nailed” are having the same reaction to the script as everyone else. This is a good thing.

All in all, I am quite content.


Friday, July 13
Well it was a hard choice but I made it. I have a cast and I think they are all going to bring a performance level to the project that I was hoping for.

Sunday, July 15,
Tonight was the first reading of the script and I would have to say, in all humility that we have quite a project here. All of the actors really understood their parts and the script really moved. It came in at about one hour and twenty five minute so with all the added stuff it should run about 90- 95 minutes. A perfect length for this type of script. We got to know each other a bit and it seems we are all on the same page. Wed, is our first rehearsal and I am realy looking forward to that.


Wednesday, July 20,
First rehearsal. What can I say. Everything I expected and more. It’s kind of amazing the different ways that Actors and Directors view the world. For me as a director these preliminary rehearsals are all about finding the rhythm, moments and the emotional level of the scene. For many actors, they view these rehearsals as fumbling in the dark to find their character, beginning to get off book (which means memorizing the whole script) and trying to figure out what I want. What’s funny about that is at this early point in the process, I am not always exactly sure what I want until I hear my words spoken and see it on it’s feet. So as the dance begins, both sides are feeling one another out.

The big difference between theatre and film, is that for most actors, theatre is an on going exploration of character and themes. Film is inherently the opposite of that. We capture one moment in time and that’s all they get. Some directors, Sydney Lumet being one of the best known, like to spend a few weeks and rehearse the whole movie down to the finest blocking movements. There are other directors who won’t rehearse at all. Woody Allen never rehearses his actors. He gives them the script and lets them loose. Once they are on set, he will walk through the scene with the actors and point out specific locations where he would like certain lines delivered but he rarely give actors “direction”. Of course if you look at the actors he has worked with over the years it’s easy to understand how that can work for him.

I fall somewhere in the middle. Coming from a theatre background, I do recognize the value that some rehearsal does serve. I like to use it as a tool to get the actors to begin to feel comfortable with each other. Particularly if there is supposed to be some history between the two characters. But I digress…

The rehearsal was great. We accomplished everything we needed to and then some. We roll camera a week from tomorrow and I think we are in good shape.
For now…