Saturday, November 26, 2005

hollywood sexcapades

I got home about an hour ago and turned on the television for background noise. It was on a Cinemax channel showing this awful soft-core, Hollywood Sexcapades. I couldn't bring myself to switch channels - it had a ridiculous story line about this blogger chick who was trying a dating service called Black Tie, or something like that. When she wasn't banging all her dates porn-style, she was yapping incessantly about her blog and how she blogs about all the really important issues. She neglected to mention what those issues were. However, she did have enough time between the hot monkey sex and the blogging, which I can tell you firsthand is a huge time-suck, to go searching through the Hollywood Hills for a three-headed coyote called "El Diablo". Yeah, I don't understand it either. Her life seemed pretty full to me, what with all that sex and the blogging.

I wonder if she blogged about the coyote and if the comments were more like, "That's not the Hollywood Hills," rather than "That is a huge crack," or "Uh, that three-headed coyote is wearing red Converse All-Stars".

Bikini-A-Go-Go came on next, which has the worst boob jobs and the worst acting I have ever seen. But no bloggers.

i'm late with the spiderman 3 pics

I know, I know, I suck. I said I'd post the pics in a day or so and it's been longer than that. Did I mention that I'm a horrible photographer? If you read this blog with any regularity, you might have noticed my pictures suck. So I rely on professional photographers who understand my bone structure, and the kindness of friends with cameras. Currently, I'm waiting for my roommate, who took the pictures, to do something like digimark them or register them or something like that, I don't know. Then he'll email them back to me and let me know it's okay to post them. So hang tight and I'll post something to the superhero forum (thanks retro-man) when the pics are up. I know what it's like to keep checking back, only to have your hopes dashed on the rocks and I don't want to do that to you. Yes, I mean you.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

on loss and thanksgiving

A while ago I attended a Joan Didion reading at a church in Pasadena. She read from her book, The Year of Magical Thinking, which I still haven't read. She writes that it's:

"about death, about illness, about probability and luck, about good fortune and bad, about marriage and children and memory, about grief, about the ways in which people do and do not deal with the fact that life ends, about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself."

I keep the book on my nightstand but it's become part of the clutter and background and as more books and scripts pile up around it, it becomes less of a priority. I was going through my notebook and found this from my notes from the event, which could explain my reticence in accepting Thanksgiving invitations:

"The people we would discuss loss with aren't nearby, they're across the country. And it's not what you talk about at Thanksgiving."

I should move the book to the top of the pile.

xbox 360 "stand off" ad shot down

There is a 90-second advertisement called Stand Off for the new Microsoft Xbox 360, an ad that I hear will never make it to air and when you see it you'll know why. It is definitely worth checking out - see for yourself:

www.adjab.com/files/2005/11/xboxstandoff.wmv

Monday, November 21, 2005

i sustained major shopping injuries

I conned convinced Angel and James to drive to San Francisco for the grand opening of the only West Coast H&M Store. I had to check out the new Stella McCartney line and I get my best ideas for writing while in the car, so we left at midnight on Friday and arrived in San Francisco around 6:30am. There weren’t that many people standing in line, maybe 30. So we got some breakfast but by the time we returned, there were approximately 200 people standing in line.

Cut to the chase – I think I tore a muscle, one that makes my arms work. I guess that’s what happens when you have to navigate the maze of crazed shoppers while carrying about 80 pounds of clothes. Usually, just wearing steel-toed boots is enough preparation for a serious day of shopping, but not this time. I should’ve asked James and Angel to accompany me, just to help carry stuff. Now I can’t lift my right arm without seeing a blinding flash of light and experiencing excruciating pain in my arm, back, neck and shoulder. My left arm is only slightly better. I need to recuperate in time for Thursday. Camarillo Premium Outlets is having a Midnight Madness sale from midnight to 6am and I plan on starting my after-Thanksgiving shopping there.

Friday, November 18, 2005

imagine that

Good news: They're finally making a film about John Lennon's murder. Bad news: It stars Lindsay Lohan and Jared Leto.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

more spiderman 3 pics to come

Curt Conners writes that the nice people over at the superherohype.com forums were interested in knowing more about the Spiderman 3 filming that took place on my block and in my building this past week. I have more pictures to post and will try to get that up within the next day or so. Sorry for the infrequent posts, juggling all this stuff has been hard.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

late night incoherent ramblings disguised as post

Hexod.us writes in the comments below that he/she/they(?) had no idea there was a bar at the Arclight. How could you not know about a bar at the Arclight? Doesn't everyone have that thing like with pigeons knowing where home is, only instead of "home", it's towards large groupings of alcoholic beverages? And couldn't that be "home"? No? In any case, there is a bar upstairs as well as downstairs. On two separate occasions while at the downstairs bar I spotted Bradley Whitford and James Cameron dining. But at the upstairs bar there was that incident with that porn star who ran for Governor - what was her name again? What was my point again? Oh yeah, comments.

Shannon, I'm glad that I was the only one who suffered and you were able to derive some pleasure and benefit from my poor judgement and misfortune. Buy me a drink the next time you see me and I'll tell you the one where my date tells me about his criminal history and how he passed the time in prison.

Thanks Jim, I think I deserved a better movie, too. No more actors, unless it's Javier Bardem. My astrologist says no more Geminis. But I'm opening up the age range. With one great exception I've always dated my age or older, but now the acceptable age range has been officially lowered to 26. Speaking of that great exception - Chris, it's November and I have two words for you: pumpkin bread.

Nanette, don't be scared, he's gone now.

Angel, my eyes were spinning. At one point the left one got stuck up at the top of my head. I don't know how I maintained. I don't get enough credit for my remarkable restraint.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

kicking myself

I hit some new lows on a bad date a few Saturday nights ago. He's an actor. All my reasons for going out with him are lame and shallow. I told myself I wouldn't go out with any more actors. I may need to have that tattooed somewhere so I don't ever forget.

We met on the set of that last film I worked on a few months ago. I realized upon meeting him that he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he was very sweet so I swept that little detail under the rug. JM and I spent a lot of time together on the set and got to know each other pretty well. Yeah, he was still dumb. But because he was so charming, I pretended it didn't matter. It took a few months because of rotten scheduling, but he was persistent and I liked being pursued, so there we were on a date. And there was no escaping it, he was still dumber than a box of rocks.

We went to the Arclight to catch a movie. I was eager to see Capote - he hadn't heard of it. Or Philip Seymour Hoffman. I suggested Good Night, and Good Luck - I noticed there was a glaze over his eyes, then blankly, "Huh?" We went through a couple more options but he didn't seem enthused or know about any of the films showing that night. Hmm, I thought actors were supposed to know something about that shit.

"What do you want to see?" I wondered out loud.

He flashed a big smile, "Hey, Wallace and Gromit! Do you like Wallace and Gromit?"

"Uh, yeah."

I like Wallace and Gromit. But this guy had been asking me out throughout filming and for months afterwards. It finally happens, an actual Saturday night date - not a bullshit meet for drinks mid-week and we'll play it by ear date, a real Saturday night main event date - and he wants to see Wallace and Gromit at the Arclight.

He suggested we get a drink since there was so much time before any feature started. We went to the upstairs bar, settled into a cozy sofa with a couple glasses of champagne, and talked about the film he's promoting now. Mostly, he talked and I drank. About the film he's promoting now. The screenplay he's writing. The film he's promoting now. The screenplay he's reading. The film he's promoting now. His hair. His workout. The film he's promoting now. Thankfully, he got more champagne, even though he wasn't drinking so much as watching the bubbles float up.

Then he told me that he was in love with a Russian woman. Okay, I was curious, "How long have you been in love with this woman?"

"A few months."

Even though I knew the answer, I paused and pretended to think before asking, "Is that the same few months that you've been asking me out?"

"Yeah."

"Why have you been asking me out for months and why are we out right now if you're in love with someone else?"

"She's married to someone else."

"So since you can't be with her..."

He smiled, and as slime oozed out of every pore, he said, "Celia, there's no denying the chemistry between us."

I almost did a spit-take. I drank more champagne instead. Mine and then his.

"Even T said something about it."

What did he just say?! Background: T was the producer of the film we worked on. T asked me out several times during pre-production and filming, once in front of the entire cast and crew, but we hadn't gone out yet because of scheduling issues. JM and T don't like each other and often had terse conversations re the production.

Carefully, I asked, "T said something about...?"

"During filming, T came up to me and said, 'So I noticed you and Celia are really getting along.' So I'm like, 'No duh. Yeah we have good chemistry.'"

Ugh. Why does it make my skin crawl every time he says "good chemistry"?

"Then he asked, 'So are you going to ask her out?' and I told him I already had."

Hmm, so that's why T backed off. If I were him and found out I was going out with that dumbass I'd probably reconsider going out with me, too.

Then it was time for Wallace and Gromit. I remember wishing I was stoned and not just slightly drunk. Right before going in the movie, JM went to the concession stand and loaded up on hotdogs, popcorn, red vines and soda. He ate throughout the movie and fell asleep for about 20 minutes after he finished the red vines. When he woke up, he asked, "Uh, what'd I miss?"

Nothing. Just me kicking myself repeatedly.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

that's must-see tv

Whatever it is you're doing, stop and TiVO or drop everything on Sunday night at 8pm to watch the live presidential debate on The West Wing between Congressman Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Senator Vinick (Alan Alda), and moderated by Forrest Sawyer. Since it's a live event, they're actually doing the show twice - once for the east coast and a second time for Pacific/Central time zones. I'm starting to enjoy this show again. I miss Aaron Sorkin. Someone send a PA over to JJ Abrams to get some drugs for Aaron so he can crank out the amazing storylines and dialogue again.

Then I might just switch over to Fox and check out Family Guy at 9pm. I hear that this episode is in response to the Parents Television Council, which ranked the show #2 in its worst TV show list. I love that. After all, what's the point of having a soapbox if you're not going to use it?

i'm technology-challenged

It only took me two days to figure out how the phone works on my new Palm Treo. I almost crashed my car the first time my boss called me on it. Once I realized that odd ringing wasn't in my head, I had to figure out how to answer it with one hand and negotiate the 101 Freeway at 70 mph. But now I know how the phone works.

Yesterday in the middle of a big meeting with potential investors in our film fund, he started IMing me silly messages. I remained poker-faced while he giggled at my comments. So now I know how to use that function. I hope no one who wants to give us millions of dollars noticed.

Then there's the camera phone. I accidentally made this picture of the wall of CDs in my bedroom the wallpaper on my phone. So now I can't see the dial pad and don't know how to get rid of it.

my cds


That reminds me, I need to put away some CDS. I'm a mess.

a rodeo clown keeps me from blogging

Sorry for the scarcity of posts, I'm trying to get used to this new gig, new computer, new phone, and new haircut as well as finish a screenplay and read the new Joan Didion book. Besides blogging, I haven't had time to get a pedicure/manicure, drop off my dry cleaning, bring 10 pairs of pants and two jackets in for alterations, go grocery shopping, and see my masseuse, dealer, facialist, psychic or astrologist. All that has to wait until I finish reading this screenplay about a rodeo clown and his dog.

I got home last night and couldn't find any peace. They're filming Spiderman 3 in my building and on my block. I managed to figure out how my new Treo works, so I snapped a picture:

alexandria hotel spiderman 3 shoot


Okay, it's not very good. They'll be here for a while, I'll take others. I hope they don't shoot until 4am for an entire week, especially if they're going to be stomping around on my roof. Then Spiderman will have to join the rodeo clown on the list of reasons why I can't sleep or blog.