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So I did a short film earlier this year, an all-volunteer cast & crew, to protest the passage of Proposition 8 here in California, which bans same sex marriage in favor of opposite marriage. The Supreme Court just ruled it constitutional, and the finished PSA was uploaded just after the decision. Click the video for a slightly higher quality version on YouTube (hit the HQ button). Pardon the weirdness here, I’m reconfiguring. Things are going to be messy for a minute. This is genius. This is a reason to have a wedding, just to be able to do the video.
Brian & Eileen’s Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo. via Waxy. It was a weird coincidence, but I had two auditions in a row that used the number six in their working titles. Otherwise, they were totally unconnected. The first was for a student film called Room 6, which was kind of a heist gone wrong that became a kidnap thriller. I was late. I was later than I’d ever been for an audition. Traffic was awful, the freeways were jammed, and I had to travel overland out to Santa Monica. Luckily for me, they didn’t care, and mentioned that most everybody had been late, and that they probably wouldn’t be doing any more mid-week afternoon auditions. Still, it was inexcusable, and I should have left an hour (!) earlier. I read for a weaselly con man, scared of my big, dangerous partner. The director & his AD were terrific guys, and had me read a scene from Snatch, complete with accent, which they liked a lot. We’ll see what happens. The second was, in contrast, a mere mile from our house. It was titled Agent 6. I got to sleep in a bit, rolled out of bed an hour before the appointed time, and had a leisurely breakfast before a casual drive a few blocks over. Nice. I probably could have walked. I was playing the part of a CIA agent, tied up and beaten by a thug who didn’t realize who I worked for. I read for the part in a warehouse full of film equipment, while my scene partner walked around me, pushing me as I panted and tried to get her to see reason. Lots of fun, that one. Now, let’s never be late again. I started the dream as I was entering into a house, Victorian in style, a bit spooky, and the door closed behind me. I heard some kind of narration about the haunted nature of the place, and something about pirates and the vengeful god, Neptune. Then the windows, which were false, went dark, and it appeared that a storm was raging outside, complete with lightning. I was blasted with water coming through the windows, on all sides, as if waves were smashing into the house. I remember thinking how amazing it was that a “ride” would go this far. Then it was over, and I could see daylight through the windows. In fact, could see daylight all over the place, since the house was coming apart. A group of angry pirates then started coming up through a trap door in the floor near the far wall. I rushed over and stomped around their heads and arms, careful not to actually make contact, and realizing this was all part of the game. They retreated, and I jumped out a window to my right into a pool that the house was floating on. More pirates started to come at me, and I swam for the side of the pool, heaving myself over just before the pirates closed in on me. I found myself in a vaguely medieval town, marveling at the detail, and found little signs that gave me clues as to the nature of the place. It was a theme park, called Caligia (no idea why, or if that meant anything). The employees were all acting the part of residents of that little world, and they all carried pager/PDAs that told them the descriptions and names of approaching patrons, so they could address them directly. It was a bit like The Pirates of the Caribbean come to life, and I couldn’t wait to see more. Unfortunately, I found I needed to pay the entry fee to continue, and a flyer showed the base price: $499. The place was impossibly expensive to run, clearly, but easily one of the best theme park concepts in my memory (which was, you know, dream memory). It’s a rich man’s game, immersive wonderlands.
And it just happens to be MJ’s, and we just happened to go on Tuesday the other week, during the insanely inappropriately named “Rim Job” night. But it’s supposed to be the best night to go, since it’s crowded and they have hot go-go boys writhing above the crowd. The place was full of mostly hot messes, but there were a few normal guys from the neighborhood and beyond (also a few gay-friendly straight couples), and the DJ wasn’t half bad. Not a patch on the guy who spins at Faultline for their Sunday beer bust, who mixes old and new tunes with panache and wit and is worth going to listen to for his set alone, but pretty good. I was sweated on by passing dancers, which was a bit disturbing, but we saw a few friends and acquaintances, so I think I’ll give it another shot. Especially if I pick up a couple more “no cover with this” flyers.
Super late with this, and Dennis already put up a thorough description of the night, but here are a few more images. (L-R: Brian, Dennis, Ryan, Jason, Jesse, Johnny) (L-R: Ryan (barely), Jason, Jesse, Johnny, Evan, Nater, Nicole) Jesse’s swine outfit was fantastic. (L-R: Ryan (Danny’s friend), Danny, Ryan (Dennis’s roommate), Evan, Dennis)
Nater, who I hadn’t seen since last year, made it up to the fiesta. Phillip didn’t go out with the revelers, having work the next day, but he joined in while we were inside. And then, of course, Micky’s. Before I catch up on some overdue happenings, I wanted to jot down my latest audition note. This one was for several voices for a video game, and the auditions were held in a music studio in Santa Monica. I love voice auditions. It’s a chance to create characters I would otherwise have no chance of pulling off on camera without heavy makeup, and sometimes not even then. I did forget to fill in the talent “card” (really just a sheet of paper with blank spaces next to personal info and measurements), and they bumped me one slot while I scribbled. Embarrassingly amateurish of me. One thing seemed odd, they asked for my birth date and Social Security number. Uh, sorry, I’ll be happy to hand over my Social once you need to write me a check, but until then I’ll keep that private. And asking for my birth info is just gauche. But they didn’t blink at the missing bits, and were all smiles and handshakes as they ushered me in. I gave them a young hothead, a sneering goblin, a kindly old man, and a scholarly 50-year-old who seemed to me like the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons. I stayed far away from an impression, of course. It’s best not to sound like anyone else’s nerd. They liked what I did for the lead character, or at least they heard something that made them want me to try the arrogant punk character. It’s always encouraging to be asked to read for additional roles. Since this was for a game, there was a lot of shouting for spells, battle cries, and the like. It was hard not to snicker when hearing lines like, “eeeeEEEEERAAAAWKAH!” float past the door as the guys ahead of me did their thing. Some of them really screamed their heads off, and the rest had almost no inflection. Do these guys not play games? It seems to me it’s the quality of the shouts, not the volume, and they’re delivered with some passion in the games I play. Often the acting is pretty sub-standard, but I think the game companies still use in-house employees for some things. It’s only recently that the voice acting has been examined by reviewers and critiqued by players. If I don’t get this, I’ll have to check it out when the game is released. Maybe they LIKE the guys who scream their heads off. I just saw this documentary, which has a killer soundtrack by Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, and is a record of that band’s first European tour, managed by the unlikely head of their label, Kiefer Sutherland. It’s a terrific doco, the sound editing and mixing alone is reason to see it. The music is powerful and raw, but has such a clean production I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that studio tracks were used for some of it. Yet, there were quirks that wouldn’t be overlooked for the album, so I have to hand it to Florian Ammon for his recording prowess. The band is earnest, generally good-natured, and funny. They know how unlikely it is they’ll skyrocket to fame, and take it in stride when their first show’s audience barely responds. But if you have any interest in Kiefer Sutherland, he comes across in the film as a down-to-earth and forthright person, who loves and believes in the band he’s shepherding and desires only to see them appreciated. He’s also clearly a goofball and more than a little disorganized. In reading about Sutherland’s latest legal woes, it seems important to keep perspective on what little has been reported. The truth is not often fully explored, and rumors persist long after the details of an event become public. But of course, there’s always the possibility that Kiefer is, indeed, a pirate. |
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