My News Update: Viva California, Paging NBC, and more!

Well, the last week or so has been crazy to say the least. After a few days of freaking out and asking everyone and their brother for their opinion on the matter, I decided that I would accept the position at the NBC page program in Burbank, CA. There have been and will be moments where the idea of moving to CA on such short notice just gives me a headache, and I want to say screw it, but for the most part I am now getting more and more excited about going. I have been put in touch with a few current and former NBC pages, and they really helped get me psyched up to start the program and to get out to LA. As far as the NYC program goes, I feel pretty good about my chances of getting called up for a second interview and then of getting accepted, but again, nothing is guaranteed, and at this point I feel ready for and committed to the Burbank program. As far as housing in CA goes, what I decided on is to stay in an "extended stay" hotel for a month to start out, and then look for an apartment during that first month. It's just too difficult to find an apartment when I'm home in CT and not that familiar with the area, and can't check out the places first-hand. This way I'll be in a furnished room for a little while, can ship my stuff later, and will have some time to sort things out and maybe even find a roommate or whatever. The trickiest thing so far is the issue of transportation. I'm on a pretty tight budget for this move, and the car prices I've seen in CA are typically higher than here in CT. So with four days to go before the move, I don't know if I'm going to buy a used car here, in CA, or ship my brother and I's extremely well-worn Taurus which may not have much life left in it. Any suggestions?

Overall, it's really been a whirlwind and I'm hoping things will settle down a bit once I get to CA. At least the weather there should be better - this last week in CT has just been horrendous. Snow, ice, sleet, just terrible weather that is going to make me appreciate the LA sunshine that much more. I also shipped my trusty computer today. Oh man, what a hassle, I can't believe I've had this same bulky desktop since freshman year of college, and lugged it to Boston, CT, New York, and now LA! I can't believe it even runs with all the near-fatal meltdowns it's had, but hey, it's been working fine as of late and the money it costs to ship is still a lot less than buying a new PC, so I guess it's worth it. This week I have to go through my stuff and see what else I want to have shipped to CA. Maybe some clothes, definitely the ol' PS2 (gotta have that DVD and game playing wonder-box) and probably some other miscellanious stuff. Basically the car thing is the major issue right now, once I get the car (and related expenses, like car insurance) out of the way, it will be a big relief.

So on Thursday, despite already being pretty much committed to the California program, I hopped on a Greyhound bus and braved the WEATHER FROM HELL to journey to NYC ... ONE LAST TIME (sorry, been watching Lord of the Rings ...). I headed for 30 Rock and NBC to do my interview with the page program. kind of just for the heck of it I guess (plus my dad seems half-convinced that I'll spend two weeks in CA, hate it, and want to go back to the Northeast, thus the need for a backup plan ...). Once there I did kind of sense the differences between LA and NYC. You could kind of feel the atmosphere in NYC as being more all-business, more "yeah, we've got SNL here, but we're mostly really, really serious." The interview went well though, despite some crazy questions just begging for total-B.S. answers (ie what are the pros and cons of NBC being owned by GE? - take note prospective page program applicants!). But actually I think it was a really good interview and if I wasn't going to CA I'd probably feel pretty positive about the NYC program and my chances of getting in. But the reality is that for better or worse LA is the place to be for entertainment and TV, and even if for some reason I don't like it at least I can say I've tried it. But I think I'll like it and it should be a great experience ... one former page I talked to described the program in CA as summer camp for college grads, which while I'm sure is only accurate some of the time, still touched the right nerve with this summer camp vet. So it should be good times and a great experience and opportunity.

NYC for the day was also fun, because, speaking of summer camp, I got to have lunch with two former Camp Shalom counsellors, Bre and Melissa, which made the terrible weather a little more bearable and a gloomy day a lot more fun. There were a ton of people I would have liked to have seen in NYC, but time and weather didn't allow. All I can say is: come visit me in Caliornia! IT's crazy, just when I am freaking out about the big move, my friend Kirsten tells me she's going to Australia for a year of grad school, and my other friend Heidi says she's planning a year of teaching in China! So yeah, this is cake.

Didn't get to visit the Conan offices while in NYC, as they were on hiatus, but who knows, maybe I'll see 'em in LA in 2009. It will be weird I guess being around the Tonight Show in LA after having worked at Conan in NYC, especially since I've never been a big fan of Leno's late night humor, especially as compared to his heir-apparent Conan's Harvard-educated comedic genius. Oh well, it's still pretty cool I guess.

I was looking on Variety.com's website at the shows currently produced by NBC Universal. Nothing right now being made that I'm really into that's done in CA, but the cool thing is that new stuff is always coming out. I see that they are making a new Kojak series for USA starring Ving Rhames as Kojak -- now THAT sounds like it could be sweet to work on. Speaking of the Univeral merger, can anyone say discounts to Universal Studios? So who cares if I won't have medical insurance, I can get 15 percent off the Mummy 3-D roller coaster.

Man, talking to Jeremy Yanofsky the other day about his upcoming BU semester in London really got me nostalgic for jolly old England. I really hope I can get back there someday soon to at least visit. LA is sure to be cool and all, but at some point I'd love to do some international traveling, and I also need to go to Israel at some point which I am ashamed to say I have yet to do (and yet I've been to the Vatican ...). Maybe I'll get a chance to go on Birthright Israel while I'm still in the eligible age-range - I guess I'll have to wait and see how things go.

But yeah, LA should be great. I'll have the same cell number, IM, email, etc, so I hope everyone keeps in touch! And come visit! I'll further update how the move goes, but for those wondering about my last entry's stunning CLIFFHANGER ENDING --- the resolution is pretty much this: Thursday I'm going to California.

RANDOM STUFF:

- Holy crap, I am psyched for 24. The hype this year is huge, in TV guide, EW, even the NY Times. Two hours Sunday and Monday is going to be intense.

- Finally, last night my brother and I sat down and watched all 5+ hours of Return of the King - the Extended Edition. All I can say is: DAAAAAAAAAAAMN. That ruled. Lots of sweet new scenes that really make the movie flow better - Theoden's speech to Sarumon at the tower, Gandalf vs. Witch King, Aragorn and the army of the dead comandeering the black ships -- all awesome scenes -- "We will fight!" 5 star awesomeness.

- Nice ep. of Lost on Wednesday, though we still don't really have a clue what's going on, and the flashbacks of Evangeline Lilly's Kate character pose a lot more questions than they answer. It looks like someone's biting the big one next week. I'd bet on the bratty blonde chick, but you never know with this show.

- Also a good ep. of the show you're not watching, but really, really should - Veronica Mars. This was another very dark episode, and it seems like they are gearing up for some big revelations soon about the Lilly Kane murder. Nice to see that girl from Napoleon Dynamite with a recurring role here, she was really good in that movie, and is doing a really good job in a totally different type of setting here.

- Still haven't watched my tape of The OC from this week ... I wonder who will be revealed to be related to Seth Cohen this week?

- That was some crazy stuff on The Real World this week too. Man, what a bunch of strange characters they have on this season - Landon is like the confirmation that inside the minds of many a Abercrombie-wearin' preppy jock is a scared little boy who waves knives at people when he's drunk and likes himself a good cry on a daily basis. Remember when this show was about a slice-of-life look at young adults? Now it's like let's see how much trouble these seven idiots will cause together. Still, addictively entertaining in a why did I just watch that crap kind of way.

- Watched The Ladykillers on DVD the other day. Now I'm a big Cohen Bros. fan, and I love Big Lebowski and Fargo, and this one was pretty good in it's own right, but not great like those two classics. The wordplay was typically clever but the characters were a little grating and the ending just kind of came out of nowhere. Still, gotta love the crazy dialogue.

- Read that The Office's mad genious Ricky Gervais (aka David Brent) is going to be WRITING AN EPISODE OF THE SIMPSONS! Now that could seriously kick ass, as those Brits know and appreciate their bloody Simpsons, as well they should.

- RIP to Will Eisner, aka one of the greatest pioneers of the comic book artform, and a true American original, as well as an outspoken member of the Jewish community. While I have not yet had the privelage of reading many of his well-known works, I can only aspire to follow his example of innovation and storytelling mastery. He weaved his experiences, his religion, and his character into numerous award winning works, and his name is synonomous with quality and exceptional artistry (hence the Eisner Awards, the Oscars of comics). This was really sad news and I hope that in the future I can read and discover some of Will Eisner's works.

- On a lighter note, I want to state for the record that even though I'm going to be in LA, have no fear, I will STILL HATE THE LAKERS. As far as sports, the only real loyalty I feel now is towards BOSTON, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. You gotta keep it real, right?

- Wow, that was a long entry. I'm sure I'll have plenty more to tell in the days and weeks ahead. Hope everyone in school had a great vaction and has a great start to the new semester. Peace out.