I totally forgot…

In June, I went to a Mustang Cruise put together by some of the guys on the boards at mustangforums.com. When I got there, I felt pretty out of place. I had one of maybe 3 or 4 classics. Everyone else had late models.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time and talked to some very interesting people, but I could hardly relate. Yeah, I’ve got an ’06 GT, but not only is it stock, I’d driven my ’68 fastback that day. To me, it’s way more interesting than the late model. Ah well. I was gonna go to another, but they were having it the same weekend as Comic Con and when they called, I was on the road out of town so I had to miss it.

A few days after this cruise, some of the guys were nice enough to post pictures. I saved a couple that were either of my car or included my car in the background while we were on the road. Unfortunately, I somehow didn’t save who actually took the pics. One has the guy’s info on it. The others said we could snag their pics, so I’m considering that permission for posting ’em here. There were over 160 cars on the cruise, too. It was awesome.

 

You can barely see me in the driver seat. Oh boy! And this next one, I was likely yacking with somebody about my jalopy. No surprises there, either.

Even though these last two pics are about the same, I like how the photographer below happened to catch a late model driving by. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I think the pic looks cool because of it.

 

 Special thanks to everyone who was there. I hope to do another one!

How I Became an Extra

I’m going to go all the way back to the beginning on this one. I’ll try to be as brief as I can, but the path was a fun one and I hope to impart some of that mirth while relating this story.

In college, I discovered the theatre…as a technician, not an actress. After sampling carpentry, sound, and props, I settled in on lighting. My first gig as a Lighting Designer was also my first gig as Master Electrician and Light Board Operator. My boss had faith in me and coached me along and I must say that that ballet turned out great.

At that point, I’d become the ultimate lighting tech. I’d work on any show…sometimes for free, because I didn’t have to worry about rent. I still lived with mom and dad. But my love for the theatre was what brought me to the Los Angeles area because there just wasn’t a whole lot of opportunity where I came from.

So, in college, I continued my lighting career, landing a job at a manufacturer of lighting filters. This was my first real job and it also gave me my first exposure to the world of TV and film. It was my job to find out who was filming what and go there to talk to the crew. It was sort of a sales job without the hard sell. And I got to hang around on set, watching and learning. It was great.

When that job’s description changed, I switched gears and went to work at a small studio as their Lighting Equipment Repair Technician. I loved it. But then September 11 killed the economy and I ended up out of a job.

A bit angered at the entertainment industry, I left to work for a company that manufactured racing engine parts. But I always felt that I was in the wrong place.

My husband needed a hand at his agency, so I went to work for him. Well, sort of. He’d started a subsidiary company and that was the desk I occupied as the office anchor. It was great because by this time, Jen and I were working like crazy on Lover’s Talisman. I wrote quite a few scenes while I was ‘at work’…because there wasn’t any other ‘work’ to be done.

Eventually, I blew the whistle on that, wanting to get back into the entertainment industry somehow, too. But I had zero contacts by this point. All the guys I used to know either had different phone numbers, moved out of state or switched professions themselves. And it’s nearly impossible to get in unless you know someone. So what was left? Background Acting, of course.

All one has to do is sign up…So I did. The pay sucks big time, but non-union, there’s lots of work to be had…especially if you’ve got a huge wardrobe like I do. I’m a thrift store queen and can costume up in clothes from the 1960’s through right now. From homeless to ultra-rich. I’m not a fashion fiend…Jen can vouch for that! I just like clothes.

So, I started going out on shoots and discovered that there’s plenty of down time. In other words, I could still keep up with Jen on our writing. And on a day-to-day basis, I met all sorts of interesting people and got all sorts of story and character ideas. Each day’s work was more like an adventure than anything. For me, it was the perfect job.

I got started at the end of January 2003 and worked like crazy until we started heavy editing on Lover’s Talisman in July. Then, Jen and I were really hittin’ the writing and I couldn’t go out on as many gigs. That obviously gave me more time on my hands in between working on Magic In The Works.

My goal by this point was to get into SAG [Screen Actors Guild] because the pay was better and I could work less in order to write more. Well, luck was in my favor because I have three pre-1975 cars and Starsky & Hutch was in desperate need of one of them. So much so, they were willing to give me SAG vouchers to work on the movie. I jumped for joy when I got that phone call!!! I’d worked on it a couple days in April, but when they called me near the end of production, it was a totally different thing because I was being paid union rates. And those second two days ended up being a turning point for me in more than one way.

That following week, I visited one of the casting agencies that had booked me a lot on Carnivale. Armed with photos of myself and my cars, I put on my best smile and placed the photos in the hands of a casting director. She was so happy, she nearly fell out of her chair. She was casting Anchorman, which also took place in the early 70s. I ended up working at least one day a week for the next 9 weeks and managed to make enough money and SAG vouchers galore to get into the union.

That was September 2003 and I don’t think I’ll ever give up on extra work. It’s certainly not for everyone. The hours are very long. The conditions get questionable from time to time and there’s just nothing like spending a freezing cold windy night in a thin short-sleeved dress while the crew is wearing down jackets and telling us extras not to shiver when the cameras roll.

Yeah, we extras are the bottom of the food chain, literally, but I swear we’ve got one of the hardest jobs on set sometimes. Some days are spent waiting in boredom for 8 hours only to work for 1 and then go home. Others are fifteen hours of walking back and forth doing what I’ve come to call background pinball across frame all the while trying not to look like the same person each time we cross frame. Every day is different and for that, I’m so glad!

If anything, I hope my adventures in Hollywood make for good reading. No matter how crazy, they are all true. Some are so weird that I couldn’t’ve made them up even if I’d tried! I hope you enjoy.

Hello I’m Stan Talmadge

The title of this feature film changed a few times during the booking-through-shooting process. I believe the word “Stan” was the only word that did not change, but I didn’t want to title this entry that simply. It would’ve felt weird, I guess. I dunno.

What I do know is that Los Alamitos is a long way from where I live. Even without traffic (thank goodness for an 11:30AM call time!!!), it took almost an hour and a half to get to the location. I always give myself about 2 hours to get where I’m going unless I know I’ll be an hour and forty-five early. In those instances, I give myself a full hour just in case. Sometimes, the simplest shoots turn out to be an adventure just finding the set.

Needless to say, I got there a little early so I sat in my ’68 Mustang fastback (the car they’d booked for the show) and read further into _Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas_. Limelight and caron-arc fascinate me.

After getting a little lost in the motel complex, I found the catering area and had myself some breakfast while awaiting the usual doling out of vouchers followed by the inevitable escort to wardrobe. It was a small call. Only seven extras, most of us with old cars. The scene we were to work on took place in 1979.

And I wish I’d known it was supposed to be 1979 before I got there. The recorded information just said, “Bring 70s clothes. Do the best you can.” Well, when they say that, they don’t assume that I’ve got essentially the contents of a wardrobe trailer in my closets and can usually pinpoint the exact year back to 1968 or so. Most of the “70s” shoots I’ve been on want the ’70-’75 look, not the late ’70s look. Ugh. I had all sorts of great stuff I could’ve brought, but figured they wouldn’t use it.

Oh well. The costumer was okay with my light blue T-shirt and wraparound denim skirt. It wasn’t the best outfit, but it certainly wasn’t the worst.

It took awhile to get through hair and then make-up because the principal actors were also in the trailer, but I eventually emerged with a wacky hairdo and pink lips. All was well except that it was a little cold due to the sea breeze. The ocean was essentially across the street.

I worked the very top of the day. Me and another guy walked through frame maybe six or seven times. Just enough to make my feet tired of standing in my heels. (A favorite pair of mine, no less, that I usually have trouble matching to outfits because they are multi-colored in red, yellowish, blue and green while most of my ’70s clothes are brown and beige. They probably didn’t really match the outfit of the day, but since I was wearing a denim skirt and they were cute shoes, all was well.)

Okay, now we get into the rest of my day…

I read my book while sitting in holding. Occasionally, they had me pull my car into frame and park it, but out of the five times they had me do that, I had to pull it back out four times. They did finally use it in the last setup, though. I was beginning to wonder.

Regular day. Not much action. Not too bad overall except I was a little cold.

The Great Buck Howard

Why is it that 5:30AM call times feel eons earlier than even 6AM call times? Is it because for some reason getting up at 4AM is that much later than 3:30AM? I just don’t get it.

Anyway, I was a college student on The Great Buck Howard…except that I don’t think I’ll make it in the movie during the two scenes I was there for.

This was part of an opening montage-type group of fast scenes. I never made it into the first scene. I was always standing in line, waiting to go next, but they always cut just before I’d step into frame. Oh well. I don’t get irritated over that kind of thing. I’m there to do a job whether or not I make it on camera.

In the next scene, I was ultra-deep background. Why does that keep happening? I have no idea. Once again, I don’t care, but it does get a little annoying or maybe I’m taking it personally like I think they think I’m ugly or something… Just kidding. I mean, really, who wants to be waaaaaay in the back when all the action is happening a hundred feet away?

But I did my little cross anyway. If they use the tail end of the takes, I’m right there in the middle of the frame almost. Me and all the real UCLA students who were going to class.

Yeah, they didn’t shut down the place. They put up signs that said essentially, “We’re filming a movie. If you walk here, you might be filmed. If that bothers you, don’t walk here.” Honestly, having the real students there did fill out the scene quite well. It’d just be weird to go see the movie and learn I was in it while heading to my Underwater Basket-weaving class.

After those two scenes were done, they had more to do, but I was free to go…and glad for it. That was two short gigs in a row. I’m guessing the next one will be 16 hours… My luck has to change soon.

Otherness: Rift is now available in print!

Magic is only a small part of the real dangers lurking in a future of dark otherness.

It’s official. Otherness: Rift is now sitting on my coffee table. It just didn’t seem real until that moment. I dunno know why.

…And I just did a video for it. Oddly enough, I had to move my book in order to shoot some of the footage for the video, too!

What an experience this has been. From research, to writing, to rewriting, to editing, to rewriting, to release in ebook, to release in paperback and now doing this video. Wow. Life is insane, but very, very good.

Blast from my past

While hunting for something completely unrelated, I stumbled upon a stack of photographs that I’d assumed were lost long ago when I moved. Some of them are worth posting… Like this one:

This was taken on Van Nuys Blvd. during the Millenium Car Show in 2000. I don’t remember who took this photo of me, but I’m glad he gave me a copy. This was taken back when I used to enter my car in shows. I’ve won one trophy and that’s all I need.

I did not win anything at this show, but that’s beside the point. It’s just fun to be there. Plus, mine’s a driver. It’s not always spotlessly perfect. I haven’t put my car in a show since this one because my car got damaged in a small hit and run a few months after this pic was taken and I still haven’t fixed it. Lazy, I know, I know, but it has taken this many years to make it worth redoing the whole car and to finally get over my bad luck from that wreck.

I was thinking this might be the year I redo the car again, but I’m having second thoughts. I need to replace a lot of panels, so I think it might take me another year before I start sanding.

Entourage (2)

Been a little while since last I got to go out with my Viper.

I was on Entourage for my second time. We assembled at base camp and then headed up to the location. It was some sort of religious house (a sign read “A quiet place for priests to pray” or something like that.) that was doubling for the exterior of a school.

This is the second time my Viper has been booked as a parent’s car. What parent picks up their elementary school kid in a Viper? Not many. Not many. It was very weird for me to be there amid all the 4-doors and SUVs. But whatever. At least they didn’t completely turn up their noses at me.

They were even going to have me drive through frame, but, like duh, how about not the Viper. Finally! I mean, I knew I would end up parking the car and walking through frame. It’s always a matter of time. I never go to these assuming I’ll be driving.

I was given two fake kids. We did a couple variations on our crosses and then my day was done. I think I worked a total of about 4 hours. Not too shabby.

And I don’t even really have anything about the show to report. I couldn’t hear any interesting dialogue and the scene was so short, there probably wasn’t much going on other than all the kids getting to school.

Winged Creatures

The budget was low, but the talent was way high. I was an “onlooker” on a feature called Winged Creatures.

I was early. I parked. I got shuttled. I found holding. I ate breakfast. I was forgotten.

I ventured forth to get my voucher and almost ran into Forest Whitaker because I was looking at the ground rather than where I was going. Wardrobe squared me away. I changed into something more boring. I went back to holding.

Where I waited for a few hours. I’m still reading that book about the Wars of the Roses. I thought I’d finish it during this gig, but I actually worked this time.

Or… Well… Here’s what’s kinda weird. And this was a surprising first.

During the first scene I worked, I didn’t know I was actually working. They grabbed all the onlookers, brought us to set and placed us. I ended up the deepest, but I was standing on the ledge of a planter with a tree in it. I thought that was kind of fun. I’d never been elevated above everyone like that before.

But then as I waited for the scene to start, I got bored and started making laps around the tree.

No, I’m not kidding. I was walking around in circles because I was bored and it was kind of cold outside. Around and around and around. I was practicing keeping my balance on the 5″ wide ledge while not looking down at my feet as I walked. Around and around and switch directions and around and around.

Then, the AD called lunch. Huh? Whuh…What?

As I headed toward catering, I asked some of the other extras if any filming had happened because we’d been out there for a couple of hours. Apparently, in the background of Kate Beckinsale, the director wanted us extras too look natural as we struck up conversations and stuff. All the while I’m learning this, my head’s about to explode! They were filming while I was doing laps around a friggin’ tree!!!!!

I never got yelled at for it so I’m assuming that either they couldn’t see me or I was so deep that the movement didn’t look stupid. I dunno. But my mind is still reeling from learning that they were filming while I was walking around a tree.

Yeah. Nice.

After lunch, though, they started cueing us and I got to use my stupid walk around the tree and hop off to move closer to the action. During the course of that, I ended up directly in the path of Jeanne Triplehorn and Dakota Fanning as they left the hospital we were working in front of. That was pretty cool.

And thank goodness I wasn’t still walking around that damn tree!!!!!!!!!!

This was one of those gigs I really gotta laugh about, though. I mean, I got paid to walk around and around a tree. All I can say is wow, I love Hollywood!

Types of Car Guys

Types of Car Guys…
While posting in a Mustang forum the other day, I had a tangential thought that had nothing to do with the forum or what I was posting. It just randomly landed in my brain and had me looking back over my automotive life.

The early years were spent in autoshop. It was there that I intensely learned the types of car guys through the school of hard knocks. Not that I’m grumpy, I’m most certainly not. I love guys and find them fascinating. Hell, I’ve been told I’m “more of a man than most men.” And it has been wondered if I’m a lesbian because I’m not into traditional girl things. Well, if I’m a lesbian, why do I hate chicks so much? Why would I prefer to be around guys and cars? I guess I’m just wired different. Oh well. Such is life. In fact, it keeps my life interesting to say the least.

Although still off my original topic, that brings me to something else I gotta share. One guy say to me, “You must be a dude. You have a dick, don’t you?” Before I could say anything, my ex-boyfriend said, “She doesn’t have a dick. She’s got five. She keeps them in jars as trophies.” Same guy who said I am more of a man than most men. It has been about a decade since then. I wonder if I’ve girlified since then. I still have the jars–err…uh…never mind.

Anyway, back to my topic…

In no particular order, I started thinking about the various car guy types I’d met. From the old guys who’d seen and done it all and really didn’t give a shit anymore. To the young bucks dripping with so much machismo, they slipped in their own puddles.

But it wasn’t always about age. I think it was a confidence thing.

As evidenced by my little Car Guy Types here:

There were a few–maybe two or three–guys per autoshop class who were genuinely excited about having a girl in the class. They wanted to take me under their wing and teach me a thing or two (or three or four) about cars and for that I’m greatly indebted to those few men who for the most part were surprisingly not trying to date me, or if they were, didn’t show it. I did date a couple of these guys because I’m attracted to people I can learn from. And what better way to learn than from someone as passionate as I was about cars? Plus, there’s always the added bonus of working on cars together and cracking jokes about honing my master cylinder.

Next are another favorite of mine… The guys who genuinely didn’t care that I was a girl and treated me like one of the guys. There was the occasional, “You wrench like a girl.” type jokes, but I love ’em. I loved those guys because they also helped cultivate my deep appreciation for dick-and-fart jokes while teaching me a thing or two or three about cars.

Now we start getting into the other, less fun types…

And there are two subsets of this type. Both hated that there was a girl in the class. She didn’t belong there no matter how smart or how capable or how much she liked cars. She was a girl and should be playing with dolls or something. (Little did they know, at home, I was collecting antique dolls and now I restore them as well as I restore cars.) Anyway, one type I put up with because of the nature of their affliction. The other I simply avoided like the plague because I didn’t need the bullshit.

On my first day in bodyshop class, during break, a guy sat down next to me. I’d been hiding all the way in the back of class. I never know if I’m walking into an ambush, so I just hide until I know who feels what about having a girl in class. Anyway, this guy plunks down next to me and says, “So why are you here?” I reply, “Uh…To learn…” Duh. Why else does a person take a class? He says, “Yeah, sure. You’re just here to pick up guys.” I stifled a pretty hard laugh. I mean, doesn’t every girl pick up guys in autoshop rather than engineering or business, or even music or literature? Sure. And every woman knows mechanic’s hands are always so clean and silky smooth. Uh-huh. Yeah, like a rasp or a cheese grater when sculpting bondo. Niiiice. Like the business end of a cylinder hone. Mhmmm… Oh yeah, now there’s a great exfoliant.

But that set the tone for my in-class relationship with the guy. In essence, I avoided him. Just as I avoided the guys who said, “Isn’t there a kitchen you should be cleaning somewhere?” Bullshit. I suck at cleaning. Always have. Just ask my mom.

So, you have the guys that are just really irritated that there’s a woman in ‘their domain’. They try to sabotage every now and then, but I’ve also found that they are often pretty stupid. Which makes them more pissed off when I get around whatever they put in my way. More bullshit just triggers more avoidance. Who needs the anguish? Besides, success is the best revenge.

And finally, there’s the guys who like the other sub-set are upset that there’s a woman in the class. She doesn’t belong there, but she’s there and he’s gotta deal with it. And by golly, there’s no fuckin’ way she’s gonna score higher on the test or fix a car better. No fuckin’ way. No sirree. He’s gonna have to show her just how much smarter and how much better he is.

And that’s why I put up with those guys. They learn the most from the class and about life while trying to outdo the chick. I wasn’t there to impress anyone but myself, so I really didn’t care if a guy felt he had to do better than me. Quite honestly, I’ve always been book smart and the autoshop tests were pretty easy for me…which made ego guys work harder to learn more. I always had one of the top three or four scores on each written test. And seeing a guy go from a D to a B during a semester was always a joy.

Same for working on the cars. I wasn’t always that great. I had lots to learn about how things went together and stuff. That was when the ego guys could and often did show me up…and I learned a lot from them showing off. For that I’m thankful.

So there you have it. Toolwench’s take on the types of car guys. I still think it’s a confidence thing. Women are guilty of it, too. There were times when I did want to show that I had a clue what I was doing. I do get irritated when I rumble up in my Mustang and some asshole says, “Hey, is that your boyfriend’s/husband’s/dad’s/brother’s/uncle’s car.” I do sometimes feel that I have something to proove, but I choose those battles wisely. I know where I stand in my car knowledge and lack thereof. I always want to learn more. That will never change.

And, no, it’s not my boyfriend’s/husband’s/dad’s/brother’s/uncle’s car. It’s mine!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jericho (2)

First gig of the year, can you believe it? I barely can.

Anyway, I was booked as a ‘prisoner’ on Jericho. When I got there, I discovered I had a new distinction as one of the ‘new’ prisoners. I figured whatever that meant was more likely that I wouldn’t be recalled. No big deal. I rarely ever am.

I parked. I was shuttled. I ate breakfast. I got my voucher. I went to wardrobe.

The wardrobe girl was awesome. Lots of energy and way cool. She like what I was wearing, but needed to give me a coat because us prisoners were supposed to be dirty and she’d have to dirty up the coat. As soon as she said dirty, a million red flags went off in my tiny little brain as I flashed back to the head-to-toe fake dirt dusting I got whenever I was on Carnivale. It was always so bad that I was blowing it out of my nose for, like, three days after the shoot. ‘Course on Carnivale there was fake dirt and tons of real dirt, too, because we were usually shooting on dirt lots or on stages with dirt dirt covering the floor.

I was given a leather coat and instructed to go stand in the hair and make-up line. (There were about thirty of us there. Not a huge call.) While I was in the line, a sweet girl came running up saying I needed to go back to wardrobe because they accidentally gave me her coat. Whoops! They were all apologetic and I really didn’t care. I kinda thought it was funny. Plus, I didn’t really like the leather coat. It was stiff compared to the ratty one they gave me instead–which was already pre-dirtied. That was nice.

In the hair trailer, the lady put some goo in my hair to make it look oily and dirty. Then, the make-up guy dusted me with dirt-looking powder. Face, neck and hands.

I was now ready to go.

And I was brought onto the set almost immediately. I grabbed my book (I’m still working my way through a book about the Wars of the Roses. I haven’t had much time to read lately.) and headed through the mini-backlot and onto a soundstage where the prison was set up. Following instructions, I parked my ass on a bench in a cell…and started reading while I waited for the festivities to begin.

I’m pretty sure the camera couldn’t see me at all during those takes. Whatever. I just kept reading until we were instructed to go back to holding.

I read some more.

Finally, I was called back to the set and as a ‘new’ prisoner, I got to be in motion down the hallway.

And then the plot thickened… I was to be walking with one of the principals. I got to follow ‘Maggie’ for the next few hours. And if I don’t actually make it into episode 20, I’m definitely all over the cutting room floor because there were only about five of us in that part of the scene.

The gal playing Maggie, I believe her name is Erin, is way cool. She talked to us like we were real people, not scummy extras. A few of the high points were her excitement about how she got the fake blood that was on her shoe…squibs. It was her first time getting “shot” and she was so excited her enthusiasm was easy to share! And at one point, Skeet and her goofed off between takes and she said something along the lines of “We have lots of fun here.” I had to agree that it showed. Everyone on the crew was awesome.

The special effects guy, Tom, even introduced himself to various extras and laughed along. The A.D.’s and even the director were very laid back, but also down-to-business. These are the best kind of shoots because it makes everyone feel like part of a team even if only for a day.

During one of the tighter shots, I was even given a mark I had to hit and the A.D. treated me great. I was so glad. Sometimes, extras get totally talked down to. I hit my mark spot on every take. I hope I didn’t suck so hard that they intentionally edit me out. Whatever. I was just glad to be there and have the opportunity.

After that scene, I didn’t work the rest of the day. I just read my book or talked to other extras in holding. When I was wrapped, it had been eleven and a half hours since I’d arrived. I was glad to be leaving and glad I’d spent the day.

Ironically, as I left, the traffic sucked so hard I turned right instead of left, which sent me down the road where Blaina and Jay from Driven To Distraction met. That was a very nice ending to a long, but good day.

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