Finally saw Million Dollar Baby today. I thought that the acting was phenomenal all around. Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank, and Morgan Freeman were all superb in their roles. I can definitely see Freeman winning an Oscar for his role in the movie, and maybe the other two principles as well. All three were great. I have to say though that this is one of the most unrelentingly depressing movies I've seen. I expected that there'd be some kind of positive, some glimmer of hope for the three main character by the film's end. But while I left the theater wowed at the acting, I was just emotionally drained from the movie's second half. Now I don't mind dark movies, in fact I often prefer them over cliched fairy tale endings and the like. But this didn't start out a particularly dark movie. It seemed to be a Rocky-like tale of inspiration and hope and overcoming odds, and even redemption. Then there was ... nothing. Nothing but heart-wrenching scenes, one after the other. And I was left wondering what the point was. What I took away from this movie was just a feeling of tragedy. Overall I do highly recommend the film and would definitely rank it is a great movie for it's powerful performances and skilled direction by Eastwood, but it's probably not something I'd want to watch again for a long while. It was just too draining and depressing throughout its second half. Still, check it out and see what the fuss is about, but be prepared for a film that initially appears to be a new take on the classic underdog boxing movie, but ends as a an extremely not-so-feel-good movie. My grade: B+
GRAMMY THOUGHTS:
- Watching the Grammy awards tonight and once again bemoaning the state of pop music ... but seriously, kudos to Green Day for having the guts to come out and kick ass with a rendition of american Idiot that is a punk-rock slap in the face to all the Southern-lovin' that is goin' on tonight, between the Lynard Skynard tribute (sure I love their songs, but if it ever did come down to a real debate between them and Neil Young, I think I'd take Young's side ...), and all the other conservative-leanin' music that is permeating this awards show. Sure, it's a radio-friendly pop song, but I love the lyrics of American Idiot -- very politically relevant yet still perfectly punk rock.
Political Aside: the song really does kind of point out how the same old crap is continually repackaged and changed into political dogma. When Billy Joe sings "Well maybe I'm the faggot America," it just makes me think of every other racial or ethnic slur that has ever been used in our supposedly unprejudiced nation. Think of every name that Jews, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and numerous other minorities have been called to marginalize and dehumanize them. How long ago was it that MLK Jr. called for us to judge people solely on the content of their character? So yes, it is just a pop song, but sometimes even seemingly trivial things can make you think (hey I am a film/TV major afterall!).
Anyways, back to the Grammys - a few pretty sweet performances though overall a lot of the same old fluff they always have. I did enjoy the Janis Joplin tribute with a noticably bald Mellisa Etheridge doing a great job channeling the spirit of Joplin. Good luck to her with her cancer recovery. I did enjoy the country-rock all star performance with Lynard Skynard and company as well. Sweet Home Alabama just never gets old. It was also kind of cool to see wo many stars doing that Tsunami relief song ... kind of surreal to see such people as Steven Tyler and Scott Waylan on the same stage with country and pop stars of very diverse backgrounds.
How many times are they gonna go back to the ol' U2 well? Yes, they are a great band, but do they really need to win a Grammy every year?
Maroon 5 is really the best new artist of the year? According to a ton of teenage girls, and Grammy, yes they are.
Well, music is just so subjective as I've said. I mean where's the love for THE DARKNESS, clearly the breakout new band of this past year!
TOMORROW:
I'm Tonight Show CB, meaning I escort the guests, including comedy legend DANA CARVEY into the studio. Sweeet. Oh, but it sucks ... Wed. I am working Ellen, not the Tonight Show, and of course my all-time favorite basketball player SIR CHARLES BARKLEY is going to be on the show. Dammit.
YESTERDAY:
I got some tools at Target and made a valiant effort to revive my broken PS2 by myself instead of waiting to hear from UPS. Well, that didn't work and I may have caused irreperable damage. I'm never going to beat Metal Gear Solid 3 at this rate.
ALSO: Looked at some apts. over the last few days. We'll see how those pan out.
SUNDAY NIGHT THOUGHTS:
Sorry, I taped all the FOX shows and didn't watch 'em yet, except Arrested Development, which was very funny and the best ep. in a while, thanks to Buster and Tobias. Didn't I say it's always funnier when they are featured? Can't wait for the return of Julia Louis Dreyfuss' hilarious character next week. Reviews of other shows to come soon.
And I got nothing else. I'll end with a quote from Dana Carvey in his iconic role as Garth Algar in Wayne's World.
Garth Algar: OK... First I'll access the secret military spy satelite that is in geosynchronous orbit over the midwest. Then I'll ID the limo by the vanity plate "MR. BIGGG" and get his approximate position. Then I'll reposition the transmission dish on the remote truck to 17.32 degrees east, hit WESTAR 4 over the Atlantic, bounce the signal back into the aerosphere up to COMSAT 6, beam it back to SATCOM 2 transmitter number 137 and down on the dish on the back of Mr. Big's limo... It's almost too easy.
Hmm ... exactly what I was thinking.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Friday, February 11, 2005
Reggie Miller Retires and Other Rainy Night Musings
Well, it truly is the end of an era.
I remember my senior year of high school I wrote a coulmn for the K-O News about how so much was changing from the world that we, the Class of 2000, had grown up in. Just as we were graduating, it seemed like so much else was changing as well in the worlds of pop culture, politics, and sports. At that time I wrote about how my all time sports hero, Charles Barkley, was retiring from the NBA. Who would I follow after him? Who would I root for? I have enjoyed many NBA games and playoff series since Sir Charles' retirement, but I don't think I've ever felt the same personal investment in the outcomes of the games. I haven't found another player to latch onto and hope that finally, this will be their year to win it all.
With one exception: Reggie Miller.
I have been a Reggie Miller fan for years now. No other sports figure has provided so many exciting, nail-biting moments as Reggie, the greatest clutch player in the history of sports. Reggie's last-second shots are the realization of every kid's fantasies. It's down to the wire, there's one second left, the game is tied, and the ball is in your hands - it's your shot, your chance to be a hero. Reggie embraced that challenge and was that hero. He was brash, showy, but yet he always seemed to be fighting the good fight. He was always a kind of underdog, playing on the small market Indiana Pacers and never getting the true recognition he deserves. He was the guy who seemed to have the guts to stand up to the big boys of the NBA and never take a backseat to anybody. He had legendaey duels with Michael Jordan's Bulls, Patrick Ewing's
Knicks (and of course Spike Lee), and Shaq and Kobe's Lakers. Reggie Miller is also one of the most interesting players to watch in the NBA. He has his own unique style of play unlike that of any other player, though some like Detroit's Rip Hamilton do their best to emulate him. Reggie is constantly moving, coming off screens, and faking out his defenders in order to get open. Even at age 39, he is still constantly on the move, and uses the space of the court better than anyone else. Reggie is also a near-perfect free throw shooter, consistently among the league's best. Plus he has his pre-free-throw ritual of dipping his hands into a bucket of salt before he shoots for a better grip on the ball.
Reggie is one of the NBA's all time greatest, if not the greatest of all time, in the realm of three point shooting. He has had so many clutch three pointers that it's impossible to remember them all, and he has continued to be the Pacer's go to guy in the clutch even now, despite the presence of other stars on the team like Jermaine O'Neal. Many remember his famed 13 point in eight seconds burst against the Knicks about ten years ago as one of the all time great end of game performances.
I remember back in middle school David Carasso was the biggest Knicks fan, and I had already become a huge Pacers fan. What we had in common was that both of our teams were always foiled in the end by Michael Jordan. But Knicks Vs. Pacers has to be one of the all time great sports rivalries, largely because of the amazing performances that Reggie would always bring to those games.
I saw Reggie Miller play in person this past year in Boston, in a playoff game against the then-woeful Celtics. Every time Reggie touched the ball, you could feel the crowd hold their breath, collectively anticipating what would happen next. Every time Reggie did make one of his patented quick-release three's, I stood and clapped despite being in Boston, because I knew I was witnessing greatness.
Now Reggie is retiring, and Miller Time will soon come to an end. The last great sports hero of my childhood will be gone. Coincidentally, Karl Malone, my brother's all time favorite along with his Utah Jazz partner John Stockton, also just announced his retirement. Except in rare instances when he an Stockton were pitted against the Bulls in the finals, Malone was always one of my least liked players. Not that I didn't respect him, but as a Barkley fan Malone and his Jazz were always the villains, and my brother and I had an intense rivalry with me rooting for Barkley and him rooting for Malone to finally win a title. Like Reggie, neither ever did. They were victims of an era dominated by Jordan and his Bulls. Jordan kept greats like Stockton, Malone, Barkley, Reggie Miller and many others from ever winning an elusive NBA title. But in recent years Reggie was one of the few still playing from that group, still gunning for a title. The Pacers, then coached by Larry Bird, got to the Finals in 2000, but were bested by the emerging Shaq and Kobe dynasty. Since then there have been many close calls, most notably against Detroit just last year, but still nothing.
So this will be it. One last time, I will watch the Pacers' playoff games with that sense of excitement mixed with dread that you can only get from watching a sports team you love play with everything on the line. And this time it is everything for Reggie Miller, the ultimate clutch player. With the emergence of the Shaq-Dwayne Wade duo in Miami, the Pacers are definitely underdogs. But you never know. Maybe they can do it. Maybe they can surprise people. But one thing is for certain - if the game is close, and the clock is winding down, and the world is watching - you can count on the ball being in Reggie Miller's hands to take the big shot, just like always.
And then, one way or another, it will be over.
OTHER RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Finally had the big dinner with the other new NBC pages tonight at a cool place in Burbank called Mo's. Good times, and man it was good to have some restaurant-bought food after a long stretch of microwavable cousine for dinner.
- BELATED SMALLVILLE THOUGHTS: Two GOOD episodes in a row? Wow, that was unexpected. Yes, the Lana-Jason-Lex subplot still totally reeks and is a waste of Lex's character. BUT, the Clark-Lois dynamic is really what carried this episode. Count me in as ready for METROPOLIS featuring the adventures of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. They need to drop the Lana-Jason-witch stuff and hook up Clark and Lana for one last time before Clark inevitably leaves Smallville, as in the comics. They also need more cool villains. Chris Carmack as an evil football player was pretty good here. I also really liked all the talk of Clark's destiny and the moral lessons he learned that led him away from playing college football. Kind of an anti-Incredibles message, but hey it makes sense for Clark NOT to play football and it's what WOULD do. Good stuff. My grade: B+
- OH YEAH ... Forgot to mention the SWEET reference to THE OFFICE on this past week's ep of LOST. A paper company in Slough? Niiiice.
- Cool to see the GREAT actor Morgan Freeman on the Tonight Show today. Also sweet was a skit featuring Gilbert Godfried as Cupid. I can't explain exactly why, but I find Gilbert and his loudmouthed loser/pathetic pervert persona to be absolutely hilarious, and probably laughed at his skit today the hardest I have at anything I've seen since I started at NBC and the Tonight Show. I was in tears at his line delivery. Give the man his own sitcom, for crying out loud!
- Lately my car's turn signals seem to randomly stop working, and it is making me nervous. But then they randomly start working again. Weird. Could I be pressing some button or switch that is turning them off? Anyone have any ideas?
- Man, RAIN is really a huge downer here in sunny LA. Today the pouring rain just made the Tonight Show audience SO antsy while in line. Everyone was grumpy and I got yelled at by people a ton of times today, so it was pretty chaotic.
- Lots to do this weekend. Looking at apts, other assorted errands, and more. Hopefully some fun thrown in there too. Yeah, you heard me.
I remember my senior year of high school I wrote a coulmn for the K-O News about how so much was changing from the world that we, the Class of 2000, had grown up in. Just as we were graduating, it seemed like so much else was changing as well in the worlds of pop culture, politics, and sports. At that time I wrote about how my all time sports hero, Charles Barkley, was retiring from the NBA. Who would I follow after him? Who would I root for? I have enjoyed many NBA games and playoff series since Sir Charles' retirement, but I don't think I've ever felt the same personal investment in the outcomes of the games. I haven't found another player to latch onto and hope that finally, this will be their year to win it all.
With one exception: Reggie Miller.
I have been a Reggie Miller fan for years now. No other sports figure has provided so many exciting, nail-biting moments as Reggie, the greatest clutch player in the history of sports. Reggie's last-second shots are the realization of every kid's fantasies. It's down to the wire, there's one second left, the game is tied, and the ball is in your hands - it's your shot, your chance to be a hero. Reggie embraced that challenge and was that hero. He was brash, showy, but yet he always seemed to be fighting the good fight. He was always a kind of underdog, playing on the small market Indiana Pacers and never getting the true recognition he deserves. He was the guy who seemed to have the guts to stand up to the big boys of the NBA and never take a backseat to anybody. He had legendaey duels with Michael Jordan's Bulls, Patrick Ewing's
Knicks (and of course Spike Lee), and Shaq and Kobe's Lakers. Reggie Miller is also one of the most interesting players to watch in the NBA. He has his own unique style of play unlike that of any other player, though some like Detroit's Rip Hamilton do their best to emulate him. Reggie is constantly moving, coming off screens, and faking out his defenders in order to get open. Even at age 39, he is still constantly on the move, and uses the space of the court better than anyone else. Reggie is also a near-perfect free throw shooter, consistently among the league's best. Plus he has his pre-free-throw ritual of dipping his hands into a bucket of salt before he shoots for a better grip on the ball.
Reggie is one of the NBA's all time greatest, if not the greatest of all time, in the realm of three point shooting. He has had so many clutch three pointers that it's impossible to remember them all, and he has continued to be the Pacer's go to guy in the clutch even now, despite the presence of other stars on the team like Jermaine O'Neal. Many remember his famed 13 point in eight seconds burst against the Knicks about ten years ago as one of the all time great end of game performances.
I remember back in middle school David Carasso was the biggest Knicks fan, and I had already become a huge Pacers fan. What we had in common was that both of our teams were always foiled in the end by Michael Jordan. But Knicks Vs. Pacers has to be one of the all time great sports rivalries, largely because of the amazing performances that Reggie would always bring to those games.
I saw Reggie Miller play in person this past year in Boston, in a playoff game against the then-woeful Celtics. Every time Reggie touched the ball, you could feel the crowd hold their breath, collectively anticipating what would happen next. Every time Reggie did make one of his patented quick-release three's, I stood and clapped despite being in Boston, because I knew I was witnessing greatness.
Now Reggie is retiring, and Miller Time will soon come to an end. The last great sports hero of my childhood will be gone. Coincidentally, Karl Malone, my brother's all time favorite along with his Utah Jazz partner John Stockton, also just announced his retirement. Except in rare instances when he an Stockton were pitted against the Bulls in the finals, Malone was always one of my least liked players. Not that I didn't respect him, but as a Barkley fan Malone and his Jazz were always the villains, and my brother and I had an intense rivalry with me rooting for Barkley and him rooting for Malone to finally win a title. Like Reggie, neither ever did. They were victims of an era dominated by Jordan and his Bulls. Jordan kept greats like Stockton, Malone, Barkley, Reggie Miller and many others from ever winning an elusive NBA title. But in recent years Reggie was one of the few still playing from that group, still gunning for a title. The Pacers, then coached by Larry Bird, got to the Finals in 2000, but were bested by the emerging Shaq and Kobe dynasty. Since then there have been many close calls, most notably against Detroit just last year, but still nothing.
So this will be it. One last time, I will watch the Pacers' playoff games with that sense of excitement mixed with dread that you can only get from watching a sports team you love play with everything on the line. And this time it is everything for Reggie Miller, the ultimate clutch player. With the emergence of the Shaq-Dwayne Wade duo in Miami, the Pacers are definitely underdogs. But you never know. Maybe they can do it. Maybe they can surprise people. But one thing is for certain - if the game is close, and the clock is winding down, and the world is watching - you can count on the ball being in Reggie Miller's hands to take the big shot, just like always.
And then, one way or another, it will be over.
OTHER RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Finally had the big dinner with the other new NBC pages tonight at a cool place in Burbank called Mo's. Good times, and man it was good to have some restaurant-bought food after a long stretch of microwavable cousine for dinner.
- BELATED SMALLVILLE THOUGHTS: Two GOOD episodes in a row? Wow, that was unexpected. Yes, the Lana-Jason-Lex subplot still totally reeks and is a waste of Lex's character. BUT, the Clark-Lois dynamic is really what carried this episode. Count me in as ready for METROPOLIS featuring the adventures of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. They need to drop the Lana-Jason-witch stuff and hook up Clark and Lana for one last time before Clark inevitably leaves Smallville, as in the comics. They also need more cool villains. Chris Carmack as an evil football player was pretty good here. I also really liked all the talk of Clark's destiny and the moral lessons he learned that led him away from playing college football. Kind of an anti-Incredibles message, but hey it makes sense for Clark NOT to play football and it's what WOULD do. Good stuff. My grade: B+
- OH YEAH ... Forgot to mention the SWEET reference to THE OFFICE on this past week's ep of LOST. A paper company in Slough? Niiiice.
- Cool to see the GREAT actor Morgan Freeman on the Tonight Show today. Also sweet was a skit featuring Gilbert Godfried as Cupid. I can't explain exactly why, but I find Gilbert and his loudmouthed loser/pathetic pervert persona to be absolutely hilarious, and probably laughed at his skit today the hardest I have at anything I've seen since I started at NBC and the Tonight Show. I was in tears at his line delivery. Give the man his own sitcom, for crying out loud!
- Lately my car's turn signals seem to randomly stop working, and it is making me nervous. But then they randomly start working again. Weird. Could I be pressing some button or switch that is turning them off? Anyone have any ideas?
- Man, RAIN is really a huge downer here in sunny LA. Today the pouring rain just made the Tonight Show audience SO antsy while in line. Everyone was grumpy and I got yelled at by people a ton of times today, so it was pretty chaotic.
- Lots to do this weekend. Looking at apts, other assorted errands, and more. Hopefully some fun thrown in there too. Yeah, you heard me.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
An Overly Complicated Avril Update
Oh Avril, why can't you just admit that your real name is Abigail Levine and that your father is a rabbi in Queens?
So today was an exciting day for me (no duh, dude, I've been talking aboot it for like forever now). Avril is gonna be on the show, the Pats are gonna be in the house, and who knows what other craziness. Let's say I was a wee bit giddy and overexcited heading off to work today. I started off the day by taking a group of AARP members on a studio tour. The tour was a bit weird as they told me after half an hour that they had to be back on their bus in about ten minutes (the tours are usually an hour and a half). So I had to rush a bunch of seniors around like crazy - note: this is not easy.
Cool thing # 1: I take the group up to the Tonight Show studio for the tour only to find AVRIL LAVIGNE REHEARSING!!! Arrgh, the music was too loud for the AARP'ers to take or to hear me over, so we quickly, to my dismay, had to exit and get on with things.
But:
Soon afterwards, after being mocked by my coworkers and after dealing with crazy people calling NBC, it was time for me to go BACKSTAGE at the Tonight Show to fill in as lunchtime CB, meaning I signed in any people arriving to rehearse for the show. So I'm waiting and looking out for any signs of you know who, only to be greeted by some dude who is going to be exploding a watermelon on his head tommorow night and by some guy delivering lunch for Kevin Eubanks. All the while, in the room right next to me, I could hear Avril and her bandmates and stylist, etc. joking around. Some of her band guys came out and I said hello, but where was the Skater Girl herself? Well, I did see her walk by a few times in a hurry but didn't get to say anything and she was obscured by all her peoples. So my shift was almost over and still nada. The talent coordinator comes around and starts talking, asking me how I'm enjoying things at NBC. I tell her I'm doing well and really liking it. Am I doing okay with the CB job? Yeah, I explain, I'm a big Avril fan and Patriots fan so I'm psyched for the show today. Did I see Avril yet? Um, no. not really ... But WAIT, points out the woman, there she is coming this way RIGHT NOW! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!! So I look up and see Ms. Lavigne with a bunch of what I assume are her friends, chums, peeps, what have you. As they walk by I look up, smile, and say "Hey guys, how's it going?" At which point Avril turns towards me, smiles, and says "Hey."
Daaaaaaaaaamn.
See, I could gloss over that detail and just say "yeah, I met Avril today and it was awesome" or somesuch exaggeration, but I am giving you the blow by blow REALITY of what happened and not embellishing. I was talking about this very idea with some girls in line for the show who were telling me how they met Actors A B and C and I said "now what do you mean by "met?" And they were like "oh, well we just said hello, really." So if that's what "met" means then yes, I met Avril Lavigne today. But she DID say hi to me so yeah, I had my thrill for the day.
The show itself was very high-energy and fun today., I like to think part of that was how my enthusiasm carried over into the people in line. I got all Patriots fans or Patriot supporters in line rallied and psyched up to see Bill Bellicheck and Deon Branch, and talked pop songs with some of the Avril fans in attendance. Jay Leno seemed to be on his game with the monologue and the house band had some really sweet songs they did today during the commercial breaks. A really funny Jay Walking segment to start the show, with random people from the nearby Oakwood Apartments (where fellow Camp Shalom alum Matt Silver stayed when he was studying here in LA last semester through Emerson) imitating different musical stars. Annete Benning was the lead guest. Eh, okay interview but not the most exciting. Being Julia seems like a pretty cool movie though that I wouldn't mind checking out. Next up, representing NEW ENGLAND, was the winning coach and MVP of the Superbowl. Pretty low-key guys, so not the most exciting interview, but I liked how they cast New Englanders as very humble, polite, and down to earth people.
I actually was very impressed with Avril's performance. She can legit sing and play guitar, and her voice is actually really good despite what I have heard others report to the contrary. Not only did she really nail her "Nobody's Home," but she did it TWICE. Technical difficulties forced her to do the whole song over again, and she was a trooper and did it again just as good if not better than before (though she did look pretty annoyed when she heard she was going to have to do that). She quickly left the stage after so there weren't too many problems at all with crowd control and whatnot after the show. I did run into one of her band members after and told him nice job and I really liked the performance. I will also note how it's crazy how seeing her backstage she looks like any normal girl you might see at BU or whatever, but it's only on stage, decked out in full rocker attire, and with her makeup and hair done in her trademark style, that she is fully transformed into Avril Lavigne: Punk-Pop Princess.
So yeah, that was my day in a nutshell. Pretty cool, huh?
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- LOST - Excellent episode tonight, the first new one in a while - lot's of high drama and nail-biting suspense, as I was really gripped by what was happening and how the castaways would deal with the murderous Ethan Rom. The ending was appropriately brutal and shocking, and had a lot of cool dynamics between the characters, most intriguingly with Jack being forced to trust Sawyer with a gun, which will definitely lead to some interesting stuff down the road (or, from the previews, maybe by next week). I will say that the flashbacks are getting a little bit excessive, and I don't see why they always need to have them, especially in a plot-heavy episode like this one. But, still a darn good, thrill-packed installment of TV's best new show. My grade:
A-
- Just a quick thought that JACK AND BOBBY may have had it's best episode yet tonight. They are really improving this show by leaps and bounds and making the characters more well rounded and less annoying lately. Extremely good episode - you should check out this show if you haven't seen it yet.
Man, what a day. One for the books.
So today was an exciting day for me (no duh, dude, I've been talking aboot it for like forever now). Avril is gonna be on the show, the Pats are gonna be in the house, and who knows what other craziness. Let's say I was a wee bit giddy and overexcited heading off to work today. I started off the day by taking a group of AARP members on a studio tour. The tour was a bit weird as they told me after half an hour that they had to be back on their bus in about ten minutes (the tours are usually an hour and a half). So I had to rush a bunch of seniors around like crazy - note: this is not easy.
Cool thing # 1: I take the group up to the Tonight Show studio for the tour only to find AVRIL LAVIGNE REHEARSING!!! Arrgh, the music was too loud for the AARP'ers to take or to hear me over, so we quickly, to my dismay, had to exit and get on with things.
But:
Soon afterwards, after being mocked by my coworkers and after dealing with crazy people calling NBC, it was time for me to go BACKSTAGE at the Tonight Show to fill in as lunchtime CB, meaning I signed in any people arriving to rehearse for the show. So I'm waiting and looking out for any signs of you know who, only to be greeted by some dude who is going to be exploding a watermelon on his head tommorow night and by some guy delivering lunch for Kevin Eubanks. All the while, in the room right next to me, I could hear Avril and her bandmates and stylist, etc. joking around. Some of her band guys came out and I said hello, but where was the Skater Girl herself? Well, I did see her walk by a few times in a hurry but didn't get to say anything and she was obscured by all her peoples. So my shift was almost over and still nada. The talent coordinator comes around and starts talking, asking me how I'm enjoying things at NBC. I tell her I'm doing well and really liking it. Am I doing okay with the CB job? Yeah, I explain, I'm a big Avril fan and Patriots fan so I'm psyched for the show today. Did I see Avril yet? Um, no. not really ... But WAIT, points out the woman, there she is coming this way RIGHT NOW! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!! So I look up and see Ms. Lavigne with a bunch of what I assume are her friends, chums, peeps, what have you. As they walk by I look up, smile, and say "Hey guys, how's it going?" At which point Avril turns towards me, smiles, and says "Hey."
Daaaaaaaaaamn.
See, I could gloss over that detail and just say "yeah, I met Avril today and it was awesome" or somesuch exaggeration, but I am giving you the blow by blow REALITY of what happened and not embellishing. I was talking about this very idea with some girls in line for the show who were telling me how they met Actors A B and C and I said "now what do you mean by "met?" And they were like "oh, well we just said hello, really." So if that's what "met" means then yes, I met Avril Lavigne today. But she DID say hi to me so yeah, I had my thrill for the day.
The show itself was very high-energy and fun today., I like to think part of that was how my enthusiasm carried over into the people in line. I got all Patriots fans or Patriot supporters in line rallied and psyched up to see Bill Bellicheck and Deon Branch, and talked pop songs with some of the Avril fans in attendance. Jay Leno seemed to be on his game with the monologue and the house band had some really sweet songs they did today during the commercial breaks. A really funny Jay Walking segment to start the show, with random people from the nearby Oakwood Apartments (where fellow Camp Shalom alum Matt Silver stayed when he was studying here in LA last semester through Emerson) imitating different musical stars. Annete Benning was the lead guest. Eh, okay interview but not the most exciting. Being Julia seems like a pretty cool movie though that I wouldn't mind checking out. Next up, representing NEW ENGLAND, was the winning coach and MVP of the Superbowl. Pretty low-key guys, so not the most exciting interview, but I liked how they cast New Englanders as very humble, polite, and down to earth people.
I actually was very impressed with Avril's performance. She can legit sing and play guitar, and her voice is actually really good despite what I have heard others report to the contrary. Not only did she really nail her "Nobody's Home," but she did it TWICE. Technical difficulties forced her to do the whole song over again, and she was a trooper and did it again just as good if not better than before (though she did look pretty annoyed when she heard she was going to have to do that). She quickly left the stage after so there weren't too many problems at all with crowd control and whatnot after the show. I did run into one of her band members after and told him nice job and I really liked the performance. I will also note how it's crazy how seeing her backstage she looks like any normal girl you might see at BU or whatever, but it's only on stage, decked out in full rocker attire, and with her makeup and hair done in her trademark style, that she is fully transformed into Avril Lavigne: Punk-Pop Princess.
So yeah, that was my day in a nutshell. Pretty cool, huh?
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- LOST - Excellent episode tonight, the first new one in a while - lot's of high drama and nail-biting suspense, as I was really gripped by what was happening and how the castaways would deal with the murderous Ethan Rom. The ending was appropriately brutal and shocking, and had a lot of cool dynamics between the characters, most intriguingly with Jack being forced to trust Sawyer with a gun, which will definitely lead to some interesting stuff down the road (or, from the previews, maybe by next week). I will say that the flashbacks are getting a little bit excessive, and I don't see why they always need to have them, especially in a plot-heavy episode like this one. But, still a darn good, thrill-packed installment of TV's best new show. My grade:
A-
- Just a quick thought that JACK AND BOBBY may have had it's best episode yet tonight. They are really improving this show by leaps and bounds and making the characters more well rounded and less annoying lately. Extremely good episode - you should check out this show if you haven't seen it yet.
Man, what a day. One for the books.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Closer to Fine
Yep, today's title is brought to you by the Indigo Girls. So it's a guilty pleasure comfort song, okay? You got a problem with that?
But the reason that I'm closer to fine is that FINALLY, today it would seem that I have my car back and it's cleaned, touched-up, repaired, and ready to be driven. ABOUT TIME. Also I still haven't found an apartment, but I renewed my stay here at my current lodgings for another month, so at least it gives me a little time to really look around and find an apartment. Nice. Too bad it will be like nine weeks until I get an answer about having UPS replace my broken PS2. But really I'm just glad about the car thing - it's been such a hassle over the last few weeks. And today I wasn't exactly sure how things would go. But I brought it in in the morning and picked it up after work, and it all somehow went smoothly. Sa-weet.
Worked Dennis Miller all day today until 8pm, so it was a lot of standing around and talking to the somewhat sketchy security guards and watching these crazy people coming in to sit in the audience, including characters who I will call: Gay 1985 Michael Jackson, Crazy Professor Santa Claus, Black-Haired Hag-Lady, and American Tony Blair. But man, on a serious note, hearing some of the stories from the security guards it was really amazing. This one guy who is probably only in his twenties but looks much older, works three jobs and was talking about how he recently worked three straight days without sleep, which he apparently does scarily often. That's insane, I mean I can't imagine that. It really makes you think about how lucky you are to have gone to college and to be in a position to get a decent job (even if he is currently making a lot more than I am ...). But such hardships didn't stop those wacky security guys from making numerous lude comments about all the women in line and giving the occasional lady a random, full body pat-down. Hey, I told you they were pretty sketchy. Sleep deprived, yes, but sketchy nonetheless. Nice guys though for the most part ...
Today the unofficial theme on Dennis Miller was Oscar-nominated people who nobody has heard of. They had the British lead actress from Vera Drake, which I don't think one person in the audience had seen, and the lead actress from Hotel Rwanda, which was the same deal. It was also cooking Day, with Dennis donning a dorky chef's hat not once, but twice to do cooking segments with bigtime chefs. There was also a nice Varsity Club segment where a smart liberal, arguing about the validity of teaching evolution in public schools and the faultiness of teaching creationism, actually made his point so clearly and lucidly that Miller had no choice but to agree. Nice! Now that's what I like to see. The highlight of the two tapings thoug hwas definitely a panel they had of Oscar-nominated screenwriters. They had the writers of Finding Neverland, Motorcycle Diaries, Million Dollar Baby, and ... Julie Delphy from Before Sunset / Sunrise! To hear the writers talk about their works was great, but it was also a thrill to see Delphy (who starred in and cowrote the Sunset/Sunrise movies with Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater). Before Sunrise was one of those movies that I first saw on some cable channel late at night while flipping channels, and became so absorbed in it that I watched the whole movie. It was cool to see an actress who was clearly very smart and creative and really cared about the writing process as well. Very nice.
WEIRD EXPERIENCE OF THE DAY: So I'm eating a late lunch at NBC between Dennis Miller shows, and as I'm eating in walks the man himself - Dennis Miller! He sits down at the table right next to me, wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt, and begins to eat while reading a magazine! I was going to say something about the show but thought that maybe he didn't want to be disturbed. I finished my lunch and was thinking of saying something, but before I know it he darts up from his seat, leaves the commisary, and leaves his uneaten food and all his garbage right there on the table! Hmmm ...
I did get in a word at the show with Dennis Miller writer / comedian Bob Oshak, who was trying his hand at doing crowd warm-ups today. In the second taping I told him "Nice job - good progress from this morning." He laughed at that one.
Tommorow is it - Avril Lavigne on the Tonight Show! I should tell her how junior year at BU and beyond, my roommates and I would relieve stress by blasting Skater Boy and jumping around like idiots, wearing loosened ties and holding up fake microphones. Or maybe I'd better not mention that ... hmmmm. Oh, those were good times, and one of my funniest music-related dormroom memories from BU. The best though was probably how Dan "Remdog" Remin would always come out of the shower at night when a bunch of people would be hanging out in our room, and to add to the awkwardness we'd play either "I'm Too Sexy" or wrestler Shawn Michael's "Sexy Boy" theme song. Good times indeed.
Oh yeah, Bill Belichick and Deon Branch of the PATRIOTS are gonna be in the house tommorow! Oh man I can't take it, I'm gonna be freaking out!
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- 24, 24, 24! Last night's episode kicked my ass! That was freaking awesome, maybe the best of the season (and my brother said it was only alright ...). The tension leading up to the capture of Aisha Tyler's character was so well done, it made the last few minutes of the show truly edge of your seat. The Jack and Tony team-up was cool, and I liked Tony as washed-up drunk jail-bait-dater. Edgar saved the day again, and his character is becoming more and more likable with each episode. And of course they had the classic 24 ending - the catch the badguy with crucial information, only to have him shot by a sniper before he can reveal it. Hey, it's been done before, but it works every time. Good thing I taped this one, because I was fast forwarding through those commercials like nobody's business.
- Veronica Mars: Why aren't you watching this? Please, try it, this show is amazing! The first new ep in a while was another great one. The flashbacks this time around, while not seeming to tie in directly to the ongoing Lilly Kane murder mystery, provided many subtle clues about various characters' mindsets at the time of the murder. The main plot, basically dealing with the kidnapping of a Sug Knight-like character's daughter, was very well done. The acting as usual was top notch, and I just love the dark, moody, post-modern film noir atmosphere this show has, from the sparse narration to the excellent background music. And a nice nod to the coolness that is the opening theme song in this episode's intro, as Veronica describes her relationship with the kidnapping victim by saying: "We used to be friend. A long time ago." which led right into the super sweet Dandy Warhols theme song featuring those very same words as the opening lyrics. Awesome.
- Real World: Oh poor Melody - she spends so much time alienating everyone and hanging out with her weird-ass crew from some bar called Drinkers, yet she is surprised when her roommates get annoyed with her. Oyyyy ... why am I watching this again?
- Don't have any real disagreements with the NBA All-Star Lineups, except in the east where the talent pool is fairly weak and thus makes picking players a little more difficult. But I agree with some of the TV analysts that they should have included Steve Francis, aka Stevie Franchise, on that East lineup. His numbers are better than Grant Hill's, and he is a starter this year, so where is the love for the Franchise? I am also surprised to see Chris Webber absent from the West lineup. He has really come back strong this year and has reestablished himself on the Kings as their premiere player. Peja is another guy who isn't having his best year but is undeniably an all star caliber player. Some new faces like Manu Ginobli and Gilbert Arenas definitely deserve slots this year, but not sure about the inclusion of Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the East for example. Not sure who should be on there instead, but again it's kind of a tossup in the talent-depleated eastern conference.
Alright, let's see if tommorow yields any interesting tales to tell. So much for my happy ending? So much for this being a short blog entry.
But the reason that I'm closer to fine is that FINALLY, today it would seem that I have my car back and it's cleaned, touched-up, repaired, and ready to be driven. ABOUT TIME. Also I still haven't found an apartment, but I renewed my stay here at my current lodgings for another month, so at least it gives me a little time to really look around and find an apartment. Nice. Too bad it will be like nine weeks until I get an answer about having UPS replace my broken PS2. But really I'm just glad about the car thing - it's been such a hassle over the last few weeks. And today I wasn't exactly sure how things would go. But I brought it in in the morning and picked it up after work, and it all somehow went smoothly. Sa-weet.
Worked Dennis Miller all day today until 8pm, so it was a lot of standing around and talking to the somewhat sketchy security guards and watching these crazy people coming in to sit in the audience, including characters who I will call: Gay 1985 Michael Jackson, Crazy Professor Santa Claus, Black-Haired Hag-Lady, and American Tony Blair. But man, on a serious note, hearing some of the stories from the security guards it was really amazing. This one guy who is probably only in his twenties but looks much older, works three jobs and was talking about how he recently worked three straight days without sleep, which he apparently does scarily often. That's insane, I mean I can't imagine that. It really makes you think about how lucky you are to have gone to college and to be in a position to get a decent job (even if he is currently making a lot more than I am ...). But such hardships didn't stop those wacky security guys from making numerous lude comments about all the women in line and giving the occasional lady a random, full body pat-down. Hey, I told you they were pretty sketchy. Sleep deprived, yes, but sketchy nonetheless. Nice guys though for the most part ...
Today the unofficial theme on Dennis Miller was Oscar-nominated people who nobody has heard of. They had the British lead actress from Vera Drake, which I don't think one person in the audience had seen, and the lead actress from Hotel Rwanda, which was the same deal. It was also cooking Day, with Dennis donning a dorky chef's hat not once, but twice to do cooking segments with bigtime chefs. There was also a nice Varsity Club segment where a smart liberal, arguing about the validity of teaching evolution in public schools and the faultiness of teaching creationism, actually made his point so clearly and lucidly that Miller had no choice but to agree. Nice! Now that's what I like to see. The highlight of the two tapings thoug hwas definitely a panel they had of Oscar-nominated screenwriters. They had the writers of Finding Neverland, Motorcycle Diaries, Million Dollar Baby, and ... Julie Delphy from Before Sunset / Sunrise! To hear the writers talk about their works was great, but it was also a thrill to see Delphy (who starred in and cowrote the Sunset/Sunrise movies with Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater). Before Sunrise was one of those movies that I first saw on some cable channel late at night while flipping channels, and became so absorbed in it that I watched the whole movie. It was cool to see an actress who was clearly very smart and creative and really cared about the writing process as well. Very nice.
WEIRD EXPERIENCE OF THE DAY: So I'm eating a late lunch at NBC between Dennis Miller shows, and as I'm eating in walks the man himself - Dennis Miller! He sits down at the table right next to me, wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt, and begins to eat while reading a magazine! I was going to say something about the show but thought that maybe he didn't want to be disturbed. I finished my lunch and was thinking of saying something, but before I know it he darts up from his seat, leaves the commisary, and leaves his uneaten food and all his garbage right there on the table! Hmmm ...
I did get in a word at the show with Dennis Miller writer / comedian Bob Oshak, who was trying his hand at doing crowd warm-ups today. In the second taping I told him "Nice job - good progress from this morning." He laughed at that one.
Tommorow is it - Avril Lavigne on the Tonight Show! I should tell her how junior year at BU and beyond, my roommates and I would relieve stress by blasting Skater Boy and jumping around like idiots, wearing loosened ties and holding up fake microphones. Or maybe I'd better not mention that ... hmmmm. Oh, those were good times, and one of my funniest music-related dormroom memories from BU. The best though was probably how Dan "Remdog" Remin would always come out of the shower at night when a bunch of people would be hanging out in our room, and to add to the awkwardness we'd play either "I'm Too Sexy" or wrestler Shawn Michael's "Sexy Boy" theme song. Good times indeed.
Oh yeah, Bill Belichick and Deon Branch of the PATRIOTS are gonna be in the house tommorow! Oh man I can't take it, I'm gonna be freaking out!
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- 24, 24, 24! Last night's episode kicked my ass! That was freaking awesome, maybe the best of the season (and my brother said it was only alright ...). The tension leading up to the capture of Aisha Tyler's character was so well done, it made the last few minutes of the show truly edge of your seat. The Jack and Tony team-up was cool, and I liked Tony as washed-up drunk jail-bait-dater. Edgar saved the day again, and his character is becoming more and more likable with each episode. And of course they had the classic 24 ending - the catch the badguy with crucial information, only to have him shot by a sniper before he can reveal it. Hey, it's been done before, but it works every time. Good thing I taped this one, because I was fast forwarding through those commercials like nobody's business.
- Veronica Mars: Why aren't you watching this? Please, try it, this show is amazing! The first new ep in a while was another great one. The flashbacks this time around, while not seeming to tie in directly to the ongoing Lilly Kane murder mystery, provided many subtle clues about various characters' mindsets at the time of the murder. The main plot, basically dealing with the kidnapping of a Sug Knight-like character's daughter, was very well done. The acting as usual was top notch, and I just love the dark, moody, post-modern film noir atmosphere this show has, from the sparse narration to the excellent background music. And a nice nod to the coolness that is the opening theme song in this episode's intro, as Veronica describes her relationship with the kidnapping victim by saying: "We used to be friend. A long time ago." which led right into the super sweet Dandy Warhols theme song featuring those very same words as the opening lyrics. Awesome.
- Real World: Oh poor Melody - she spends so much time alienating everyone and hanging out with her weird-ass crew from some bar called Drinkers, yet she is surprised when her roommates get annoyed with her. Oyyyy ... why am I watching this again?
- Don't have any real disagreements with the NBA All-Star Lineups, except in the east where the talent pool is fairly weak and thus makes picking players a little more difficult. But I agree with some of the TV analysts that they should have included Steve Francis, aka Stevie Franchise, on that East lineup. His numbers are better than Grant Hill's, and he is a starter this year, so where is the love for the Franchise? I am also surprised to see Chris Webber absent from the West lineup. He has really come back strong this year and has reestablished himself on the Kings as their premiere player. Peja is another guy who isn't having his best year but is undeniably an all star caliber player. Some new faces like Manu Ginobli and Gilbert Arenas definitely deserve slots this year, but not sure about the inclusion of Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the East for example. Not sure who should be on there instead, but again it's kind of a tossup in the talent-depleated eastern conference.
Alright, let's see if tommorow yields any interesting tales to tell. So much for my happy ending? So much for this being a short blog entry.
Monday, February 07, 2005
"Alex Trebek? The Game Show Host?"
Jose Chung: Alex Trebek? The game show host?
Scully: Mulder didn't say that it was Alex Trebek. It was just someone that looked incredibly like him.
Jose Chung: Did he? I mean, you were there.
Scully: Well, not exactly. I don't have any recollection of this. I was surprised to wake up the next morning to find Mulder asleep in my room.
Jose Chung: Oh!
See, in both reality and fiction, the enigmatic host of Jeapordy causes trouble and confusion. Case in point: today, during my first experience working the Ellen show as an NBC page, things were going smoothly until Trebek decided to show up.
I got to work not knowing exactly what I would be doing for Ellen, but it turned out I was CB, meaning I checked in the show's guests upon arrival. And the guests weren't who I thought they'd be from checking the Ellen website, since Ellen tapes in advance of the airdates by a few days or even a week. So who did I check in first? Only LAUREN GRAHAM - my favorite actress from one of my TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 2004, Gilmore Girls. Sure, it isn't exactly the most manly show on TV, but it is very intelligent and witty and the writing is top-notch. Graham's extremely likable character of Lorelei is always a pleasure to watch on the show, and there she was right in front of me, hairstylist and makeup artist in tow. Of course, she was escorted to her dressing room so quickly by one of the Ellen staff that I didn't even get to say anything. But then - she came out of her dressing room and went outside to smoke. Okay, so I was mildly dissapointed that Lauren Graham, aka the lovable and wholesome Lorelei, was a smoker, but oh well, at least it gave me the chance to give a cheerful "Hi, how are you?" as she passed me by again. Her hairstylist lingered outside for a bit so I told him how I was a big fan, but didn't get to tell the real deal. Oh well.
Some castoff from the Apprentice, Danny K-something also showed up with some friends and seemed really cool. I guess he's from Boston and was actually a professor at BU for a little while. Sweet.
So then next up on my list is the aforementioned Alex Trebek. ("A whore like your mother, Trebek!") Just as about twenty five audience members crowded into the hallway to use the bathroom, I see a silver haired figure enter through the regular audience entrance, not the artist entrance where I was stationed. Was that him? Nobody said anything, so I assumed that just like in The X-Files (where in the episode "Jose Chung's: From Outer Space" he assumed the identity of a Man In Black along with future governor Jesse Ventura), it was only some guy who LOOKED like Trebek, or at the least I could neither confirm nor deny that it was, in fact, him. Some guy from Ellen ran by a few minutes later and asked me if Trebek had arrived yet. I wasn't sure so I said I wasn't sure, but I didn't actually see him come in. Oops. The audience coordinator for the show stormed out of the back, asking why a truck was parked in Trebek's reserved spot. I said that I didn't think he had come, but it WAS possible that he had slipped in through the regular entrance and that that was actually HIS truck parked there. So this woman was NOT HAPPY with me. She gave me a glare that would kill a lesser man and just kept shaking her head in frustration, and started grilling me about whether or not I had seen Trebek. Geez, you'd think I was working security detail at the White House or something. My interrogation at the hands of Low-Level Ellen Staffer on Power Trip (who I hope is not reading this ...) was interrupted by word that Trebek WAS in fact in the building. Okay, so nobody told ME that. I mean, without his trademark mustache from back in the day is he really even THAT recognizable. If this woman had SEEN the X-Files then she'd KNOW that Alex Trebek is one of those people who is not easily identifiable. THE QUOTE ABOVE PROVES IT. She got me so rattled that I had all but forgotten about my earlier run in with a Gilmore Girl.
So after the Trebek affair died down I was still at my post waiting for one more man to arrive - yes, that man was WILLIAM SHATNER. As if I wasn't already nervous enough, I have Captain Kirk himself beaming aboard. So after much waiting the Shatnermobile finally arrived. I said "Hello, how are you today?" and Shatner replied, in his typical stacatto manner: "I'm fine, thanks for asking." Oh lord.
The Ellen show itself was totally nuts. I can't say I really enjoyed it because it was just too crazy to really take it all in. You see today was a special Mardi-Gras themed celebration so the "Riff-Raff Room" where they store all the extraneous audience members who can't fit in the studio was converted into what was basically a Mardi-Gras themed Bar Mitzvah party, complete with DJ, juice bar, live band, and buffet-style food. Oh yeah - and a bunch of teenaged to middle-aged women shrieking and dancing to techno-pop dance music. Just wow. I was just kind of standing there unable to fully process anything, and since we pages are kind of outcasts at Ellen - a non-NBC produced show, most of the staff people just kind of stare at us and aren't really forthcoming with information on what's going on. All I know is that Lauren Graham and Ellen herself made cameo appearances in the Riff Raff Room, which just caused utter chaos to erupt. Oh yeah, did I mention that everyone inside was wearing Mardi-Gras beads and masks? Head .. exploding. They give out some nice prizes on that show though - everyone in the studio audience got a free Gilmore Girls Season 2 DVD set - probably a good 50 - 60 dollar value. None for me though.
Tommorow I will be bringing in my car for what is hopefully the final time in a long while. I have my doubts that everything will go smoothly but I guess we'll see.
Working two Dennis Miller tapings tommorow. I wonder who's on? Then Wed. is the big Avril day at the Tonight Show.
Looks like I'm staying at the Burbank Extended Stay Inn for another month since I haven't found an apt yet. I got a new lead today though that could be pretty promising.
RANDOM STUFF:
- Didn't watch 24 yet ... taped it. Will provide thoughts later.
- Superbowl movie trailer thoughts: Batman Begins: I am still holding my breath worrying that this could suck. My prediction is that it will be a big improvement over the Schumaker abominations but will still be lacking in certain areas. I am hoping that it will be a masterpiece though. The cast is certainly awesome. The trailer was pretty sweet, but ... more car jokes? Why? I liked the Scarecrow's look and the action is looking nice. But I still have some doubts.
War of the Worlds: Well the trailer didn't really so much but with Spielberg and Cruise you know this is gonna be good. But show me the aliens!
- Just now watching Kevin Eubanks going down in a huge vat of Clam Chowda on the Tonight Show, since I wasn't there today to see it live. Not a very kosher thing to do, but hey, he's gotta pay the price for being an Eagles fan.
- And go *BU* for kicking BC, aka NEWTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE, out of the Beanpot tournament. What a couple of months it's been for BOSTON.
Scully: Mulder didn't say that it was Alex Trebek. It was just someone that looked incredibly like him.
Jose Chung: Did he? I mean, you were there.
Scully: Well, not exactly. I don't have any recollection of this. I was surprised to wake up the next morning to find Mulder asleep in my room.
Jose Chung: Oh!
See, in both reality and fiction, the enigmatic host of Jeapordy causes trouble and confusion. Case in point: today, during my first experience working the Ellen show as an NBC page, things were going smoothly until Trebek decided to show up.
I got to work not knowing exactly what I would be doing for Ellen, but it turned out I was CB, meaning I checked in the show's guests upon arrival. And the guests weren't who I thought they'd be from checking the Ellen website, since Ellen tapes in advance of the airdates by a few days or even a week. So who did I check in first? Only LAUREN GRAHAM - my favorite actress from one of my TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 2004, Gilmore Girls. Sure, it isn't exactly the most manly show on TV, but it is very intelligent and witty and the writing is top-notch. Graham's extremely likable character of Lorelei is always a pleasure to watch on the show, and there she was right in front of me, hairstylist and makeup artist in tow. Of course, she was escorted to her dressing room so quickly by one of the Ellen staff that I didn't even get to say anything. But then - she came out of her dressing room and went outside to smoke. Okay, so I was mildly dissapointed that Lauren Graham, aka the lovable and wholesome Lorelei, was a smoker, but oh well, at least it gave me the chance to give a cheerful "Hi, how are you?" as she passed me by again. Her hairstylist lingered outside for a bit so I told him how I was a big fan, but didn't get to tell the real deal. Oh well.
Some castoff from the Apprentice, Danny K-something also showed up with some friends and seemed really cool. I guess he's from Boston and was actually a professor at BU for a little while. Sweet.
So then next up on my list is the aforementioned Alex Trebek. ("A whore like your mother, Trebek!") Just as about twenty five audience members crowded into the hallway to use the bathroom, I see a silver haired figure enter through the regular audience entrance, not the artist entrance where I was stationed. Was that him? Nobody said anything, so I assumed that just like in The X-Files (where in the episode "Jose Chung's: From Outer Space" he assumed the identity of a Man In Black along with future governor Jesse Ventura), it was only some guy who LOOKED like Trebek, or at the least I could neither confirm nor deny that it was, in fact, him. Some guy from Ellen ran by a few minutes later and asked me if Trebek had arrived yet. I wasn't sure so I said I wasn't sure, but I didn't actually see him come in. Oops. The audience coordinator for the show stormed out of the back, asking why a truck was parked in Trebek's reserved spot. I said that I didn't think he had come, but it WAS possible that he had slipped in through the regular entrance and that that was actually HIS truck parked there. So this woman was NOT HAPPY with me. She gave me a glare that would kill a lesser man and just kept shaking her head in frustration, and started grilling me about whether or not I had seen Trebek. Geez, you'd think I was working security detail at the White House or something. My interrogation at the hands of Low-Level Ellen Staffer on Power Trip (who I hope is not reading this ...) was interrupted by word that Trebek WAS in fact in the building. Okay, so nobody told ME that. I mean, without his trademark mustache from back in the day is he really even THAT recognizable. If this woman had SEEN the X-Files then she'd KNOW that Alex Trebek is one of those people who is not easily identifiable. THE QUOTE ABOVE PROVES IT. She got me so rattled that I had all but forgotten about my earlier run in with a Gilmore Girl.
So after the Trebek affair died down I was still at my post waiting for one more man to arrive - yes, that man was WILLIAM SHATNER. As if I wasn't already nervous enough, I have Captain Kirk himself beaming aboard. So after much waiting the Shatnermobile finally arrived. I said "Hello, how are you today?" and Shatner replied, in his typical stacatto manner: "I'm fine, thanks for asking." Oh lord.
The Ellen show itself was totally nuts. I can't say I really enjoyed it because it was just too crazy to really take it all in. You see today was a special Mardi-Gras themed celebration so the "Riff-Raff Room" where they store all the extraneous audience members who can't fit in the studio was converted into what was basically a Mardi-Gras themed Bar Mitzvah party, complete with DJ, juice bar, live band, and buffet-style food. Oh yeah - and a bunch of teenaged to middle-aged women shrieking and dancing to techno-pop dance music. Just wow. I was just kind of standing there unable to fully process anything, and since we pages are kind of outcasts at Ellen - a non-NBC produced show, most of the staff people just kind of stare at us and aren't really forthcoming with information on what's going on. All I know is that Lauren Graham and Ellen herself made cameo appearances in the Riff Raff Room, which just caused utter chaos to erupt. Oh yeah, did I mention that everyone inside was wearing Mardi-Gras beads and masks? Head .. exploding. They give out some nice prizes on that show though - everyone in the studio audience got a free Gilmore Girls Season 2 DVD set - probably a good 50 - 60 dollar value. None for me though.
Tommorow I will be bringing in my car for what is hopefully the final time in a long while. I have my doubts that everything will go smoothly but I guess we'll see.
Working two Dennis Miller tapings tommorow. I wonder who's on? Then Wed. is the big Avril day at the Tonight Show.
Looks like I'm staying at the Burbank Extended Stay Inn for another month since I haven't found an apt yet. I got a new lead today though that could be pretty promising.
RANDOM STUFF:
- Didn't watch 24 yet ... taped it. Will provide thoughts later.
- Superbowl movie trailer thoughts: Batman Begins: I am still holding my breath worrying that this could suck. My prediction is that it will be a big improvement over the Schumaker abominations but will still be lacking in certain areas. I am hoping that it will be a masterpiece though. The cast is certainly awesome. The trailer was pretty sweet, but ... more car jokes? Why? I liked the Scarecrow's look and the action is looking nice. But I still have some doubts.
War of the Worlds: Well the trailer didn't really so much but with Spielberg and Cruise you know this is gonna be good. But show me the aliens!
- Just now watching Kevin Eubanks going down in a huge vat of Clam Chowda on the Tonight Show, since I wasn't there today to see it live. Not a very kosher thing to do, but hey, he's gotta pay the price for being an Eagles fan.
- And go *BU* for kicking BC, aka NEWTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE, out of the Beanpot tournament. What a couple of months it's been for BOSTON.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Patriots!
GO PATRIOTS! SUCK IT PHILLY FANS! BOSTON GETS ONE MORE!
And: Kevin Eubanks is gonna get dunked in a tank full of BOSTON CLAM CHOWDA tommorow!
Boston is the kind of place that you just can't live in for four years without developing a little of the old Celtic Pride. Unless you had previous affilliations with NYC or LA or somesuch other overachieving city, then you can't help but be drawn into the country's greatest city for underdog sports teams - Beantown, baby. Sure, the Celtics were once an NBA dynasty, and the Pats are currently tearing it up in the NFL, but it's not like say NYC where people in Boston ever really EXPECT to win. Perhaps that's why there seems to be a certain detachment with the Patriots in Boston. They are just too efficient, too machine-like in their winning ways. It's almost like they belong in NYC or something (and they were almost in HARTFORD ...). In Boston we like a good fight. Even so, if celebrations are any indication, then there is still a lot of Pats appreciation in Beantown. Hell, at our BU graduation Pats coach Bill Bellichek received a standing ovation while the Archbishop of someplace or other (Albania I believe ...?) got mild applause, even though the latter saved like thousands of lives while Bill did nothing more than win a couple of Superbowl rings. But anyways, as I've talked about before, prior to going to BU I was kind of an unaffilliated sports fan. For my favorite sport, NBA basketball, I rooted for individual players I liked, such as my all time sports hero Charles Barkley (who is going to be on the Tonight Show next week!!!) and Reggie Miller (who's Pacers I am still hoping can win it all). I stopped really caring about hockey with the demise of the Hartford Whalers (As apparently did the rest of America). For baseball and football, I was pretty ambivalent. I came from an NYC-leaning family, as my mom's father grew up in New Haven and was a longtime Yankees fan, as was my Mom. But I was never one to like teams that were consistent winners. It is so easy and annoying for people to like such teams. You gotta root for the underdog sometimes. So it was that in Boston, where I lived just steps from historic Fenway Park, that I really became enveloped by Boston sports. You had to, living right at the epicenter of Red Sox Nation, where the theme songs were Boston favorites like "Dirty Water" by the Standels ("Oh BOSTON you're my home!") and (inexplicably) "Sweet Caroline" by Neal Diamond. There on Beacon Street we were surrounded who lived and breathed the Sox, and all other Boston sports kind of fed into that. Celebrating the Pats' Superbowl victories was almost more a celebration of Boston itself, with all it's inferiority complexes and eccentricities, than of the Pats' team specifically. How else to explain the dominating chants of "Yankees Suck" that rang out after the Patriots' wins, and at all other local athletic events? When the Sox lost out to the Yankees last year, you could feel a tangible sense of sadness all along Beacon Street and all across the entire city. The lifeblood had been drained out. That's why it must have been so great to be in Boston when the Sox finally won it all this year. I've never seen a city so united in a single cause. That's why you gotta love Boston sports. Going to a Redsox or even Celtics game in Boston just has that special, old-time feel. It's dirty, grungy. You won't find a lot of bells and whistles ... no scenic stadiums or fancy arenas. Just a lot of blue-collar, puritan work-ethic, a lot of tradition, a strong sense of identity, and a whole lot of pride.
That being said:
Yeah Patriots! Another win for NEW ENGLAND.
ANYWAYS:
So I watched the game at fellow New Englander in Hollywood Paul Lurie's place. It was some good times, and it was also his birthday so there was plenty of good food. One of his friends from the Late Late Show where he works made an outstanding Reeses Pieces cake that really fulfilled my chocolate-plus-peanut-butter fix. (I have long counted this combo as one of my faves).
Tommorow I forego working The Tonight Show, as I will instead be working for the first time on ELLEN. Should be interesting. I see the guest is Leah Remini who I just saw on Dennis Miller. Dammit, if I was working the show Tuesday it'd be Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls and Alex Trebek. And Friday is Avril. Oh well, I may get to meet her on Wednesday as she'll be on Leno and I'll be stationed backstage during music rehearsals (I think ...) so that could be cool. Should I make a T-shirt that says Sk8R Boy? Um, no, just kidding.
Oh, CAR UPDATE: Finally got my car back from the dealership and returned the rental car. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE ... they STILL have not done the touch-ups and cleaning for which I originally brought it in LAST TUESDAY. Whaaaaat? So this Tuesday I have to bring it in AGAIN for the day. I swear, if they don't have EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING done by the end of that day, I AM NOT going to be happy.
Also still have heard zilch from UPS regarding my broken PS2. I'm sure this will take like a year to take care of.
Oh well, all in all I guess I CAN'T COMPLAIN.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Maybe it was just because I was watching with alarge group of people (flashbacks to freshman year at BU), but I really enjoyed tonight's post-Superbowl SIMPSONS. Aside from just plain being funny, this was the most biting, effective satire that the show has done in a long, long while. The biblical stuff, making fun of Mel Gibson's Passion and those who either love it or are offended by it, was both very funny and incredibly spot-on. They really pulled no punches this week, mocking the NFL, Mel Gibson, conservatives, liberals, and a few well placed jabs at FOX. The sports celeb cameos were the best and funniest they've had in a long time as well. Michelle Kwan, Lebron James, and Yao Ming cracked me up with their one-liners. And hold the phone, they GAVE A NAME to COMIC BOOK GUY? Not sure how I feel about that, but this ep really had everything. Maybe it's just the high from the Pat's win talking, but I am going to call this a near-great episode and give it an A-. My favorite line was probably Homer's "Whoo-hoo!" after being offered a job as a football dance coach, then quickly asking: "But why?" Lot's of funny, well-timed jokes to choose from, which was in stark contrast to ...
AMERICAN DAD ... wow, that was American BAD. Now in terms of Family Guy, I fall into this category: I think it is a very funny show with a unique style, but to put it on the same level as classic Simpsons is ludicrous. But in terms of sheer off-the-wall, mile-a-minute funniness, seasons 1 and 2 of Family Guy were very funny and a lot of fun. The show did start to go downhill after a while, which was probably bad omen for this show from Seth McFarlane. Ouch, this was painful in places. It was way too derivative of Family Guy. Nerdy son? Check. Over-the-top Dad? Check. Wannabe cool, outcast daughter? Check? Weird characters that live with family? Check. But this show has no real identity of it's own. The political humor / satire that was supposed to set it apart fell extremely flat and was surprisingly tame. The other humor was a mix of gross-out gags and quick-cutaways that felt ripped off from Family Guy, but out of place here. The supposed standout characters - a talking alien and a German fish, were not all that funny and not really likable like Brian the dog and baby Stewie are on Family Guy. Who knows, maybe given lots of time (new eps don't come out till May) and some retooling this show can come back and bring the funny. I just hope the poor quality of this episode isn't a sign that the new Family Guy eps will follow a similar path. FOX really needs to learn which shows to give a push. Why are they previewing this show which won't really be ready until May, and not using the post-Superbowl slot to showcase forgotten gems like King of the Hill or Malcolm in the Middle?
- Nice game today in the NBA between Houston and LA. I am still in awe when I actually see ppl here ROOTING for the evil Lakers. Blasphemy! Although ABC's coverage of the NBA is pretty poor compared to NBC's formerly great coverage, the dueling, grumpy old men Bill Walton and Steve "Snapper" Jones were in top form today on ABC. Walton is just hilariously ridiculous in his bombastic assertions (the fans were totally wrong in their all-star voting, superbowl Sunday is America's greatest and most important holiday) and Steve Jones is equally amusing in how seriously he takes Walton and how eager he is to refute him. Oh, welcome back Hubie Brown to the world of NBA broadcasting. You may be long-winded, but you are damn entertaining and seem like a really nice guy.
Well, time for another week already. Should be eventful. Stay tuned.
And: Kevin Eubanks is gonna get dunked in a tank full of BOSTON CLAM CHOWDA tommorow!
Boston is the kind of place that you just can't live in for four years without developing a little of the old Celtic Pride. Unless you had previous affilliations with NYC or LA or somesuch other overachieving city, then you can't help but be drawn into the country's greatest city for underdog sports teams - Beantown, baby. Sure, the Celtics were once an NBA dynasty, and the Pats are currently tearing it up in the NFL, but it's not like say NYC where people in Boston ever really EXPECT to win. Perhaps that's why there seems to be a certain detachment with the Patriots in Boston. They are just too efficient, too machine-like in their winning ways. It's almost like they belong in NYC or something (and they were almost in HARTFORD ...). In Boston we like a good fight. Even so, if celebrations are any indication, then there is still a lot of Pats appreciation in Beantown. Hell, at our BU graduation Pats coach Bill Bellichek received a standing ovation while the Archbishop of someplace or other (Albania I believe ...?) got mild applause, even though the latter saved like thousands of lives while Bill did nothing more than win a couple of Superbowl rings. But anyways, as I've talked about before, prior to going to BU I was kind of an unaffilliated sports fan. For my favorite sport, NBA basketball, I rooted for individual players I liked, such as my all time sports hero Charles Barkley (who is going to be on the Tonight Show next week!!!) and Reggie Miller (who's Pacers I am still hoping can win it all). I stopped really caring about hockey with the demise of the Hartford Whalers (As apparently did the rest of America). For baseball and football, I was pretty ambivalent. I came from an NYC-leaning family, as my mom's father grew up in New Haven and was a longtime Yankees fan, as was my Mom. But I was never one to like teams that were consistent winners. It is so easy and annoying for people to like such teams. You gotta root for the underdog sometimes. So it was that in Boston, where I lived just steps from historic Fenway Park, that I really became enveloped by Boston sports. You had to, living right at the epicenter of Red Sox Nation, where the theme songs were Boston favorites like "Dirty Water" by the Standels ("Oh BOSTON you're my home!") and (inexplicably) "Sweet Caroline" by Neal Diamond. There on Beacon Street we were surrounded who lived and breathed the Sox, and all other Boston sports kind of fed into that. Celebrating the Pats' Superbowl victories was almost more a celebration of Boston itself, with all it's inferiority complexes and eccentricities, than of the Pats' team specifically. How else to explain the dominating chants of "Yankees Suck" that rang out after the Patriots' wins, and at all other local athletic events? When the Sox lost out to the Yankees last year, you could feel a tangible sense of sadness all along Beacon Street and all across the entire city. The lifeblood had been drained out. That's why it must have been so great to be in Boston when the Sox finally won it all this year. I've never seen a city so united in a single cause. That's why you gotta love Boston sports. Going to a Redsox or even Celtics game in Boston just has that special, old-time feel. It's dirty, grungy. You won't find a lot of bells and whistles ... no scenic stadiums or fancy arenas. Just a lot of blue-collar, puritan work-ethic, a lot of tradition, a strong sense of identity, and a whole lot of pride.
That being said:
Yeah Patriots! Another win for NEW ENGLAND.
ANYWAYS:
So I watched the game at fellow New Englander in Hollywood Paul Lurie's place. It was some good times, and it was also his birthday so there was plenty of good food. One of his friends from the Late Late Show where he works made an outstanding Reeses Pieces cake that really fulfilled my chocolate-plus-peanut-butter fix. (I have long counted this combo as one of my faves).
Tommorow I forego working The Tonight Show, as I will instead be working for the first time on ELLEN. Should be interesting. I see the guest is Leah Remini who I just saw on Dennis Miller. Dammit, if I was working the show Tuesday it'd be Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls and Alex Trebek. And Friday is Avril. Oh well, I may get to meet her on Wednesday as she'll be on Leno and I'll be stationed backstage during music rehearsals (I think ...) so that could be cool. Should I make a T-shirt that says Sk8R Boy? Um, no, just kidding.
Oh, CAR UPDATE: Finally got my car back from the dealership and returned the rental car. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE ... they STILL have not done the touch-ups and cleaning for which I originally brought it in LAST TUESDAY. Whaaaaat? So this Tuesday I have to bring it in AGAIN for the day. I swear, if they don't have EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING done by the end of that day, I AM NOT going to be happy.
Also still have heard zilch from UPS regarding my broken PS2. I'm sure this will take like a year to take care of.
Oh well, all in all I guess I CAN'T COMPLAIN.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Maybe it was just because I was watching with alarge group of people (flashbacks to freshman year at BU), but I really enjoyed tonight's post-Superbowl SIMPSONS. Aside from just plain being funny, this was the most biting, effective satire that the show has done in a long, long while. The biblical stuff, making fun of Mel Gibson's Passion and those who either love it or are offended by it, was both very funny and incredibly spot-on. They really pulled no punches this week, mocking the NFL, Mel Gibson, conservatives, liberals, and a few well placed jabs at FOX. The sports celeb cameos were the best and funniest they've had in a long time as well. Michelle Kwan, Lebron James, and Yao Ming cracked me up with their one-liners. And hold the phone, they GAVE A NAME to COMIC BOOK GUY? Not sure how I feel about that, but this ep really had everything. Maybe it's just the high from the Pat's win talking, but I am going to call this a near-great episode and give it an A-. My favorite line was probably Homer's "Whoo-hoo!" after being offered a job as a football dance coach, then quickly asking: "But why?" Lot's of funny, well-timed jokes to choose from, which was in stark contrast to ...
AMERICAN DAD ... wow, that was American BAD. Now in terms of Family Guy, I fall into this category: I think it is a very funny show with a unique style, but to put it on the same level as classic Simpsons is ludicrous. But in terms of sheer off-the-wall, mile-a-minute funniness, seasons 1 and 2 of Family Guy were very funny and a lot of fun. The show did start to go downhill after a while, which was probably bad omen for this show from Seth McFarlane. Ouch, this was painful in places. It was way too derivative of Family Guy. Nerdy son? Check. Over-the-top Dad? Check. Wannabe cool, outcast daughter? Check? Weird characters that live with family? Check. But this show has no real identity of it's own. The political humor / satire that was supposed to set it apart fell extremely flat and was surprisingly tame. The other humor was a mix of gross-out gags and quick-cutaways that felt ripped off from Family Guy, but out of place here. The supposed standout characters - a talking alien and a German fish, were not all that funny and not really likable like Brian the dog and baby Stewie are on Family Guy. Who knows, maybe given lots of time (new eps don't come out till May) and some retooling this show can come back and bring the funny. I just hope the poor quality of this episode isn't a sign that the new Family Guy eps will follow a similar path. FOX really needs to learn which shows to give a push. Why are they previewing this show which won't really be ready until May, and not using the post-Superbowl slot to showcase forgotten gems like King of the Hill or Malcolm in the Middle?
- Nice game today in the NBA between Houston and LA. I am still in awe when I actually see ppl here ROOTING for the evil Lakers. Blasphemy! Although ABC's coverage of the NBA is pretty poor compared to NBC's formerly great coverage, the dueling, grumpy old men Bill Walton and Steve "Snapper" Jones were in top form today on ABC. Walton is just hilariously ridiculous in his bombastic assertions (the fans were totally wrong in their all-star voting, superbowl Sunday is America's greatest and most important holiday) and Steve Jones is equally amusing in how seriously he takes Walton and how eager he is to refute him. Oh, welcome back Hubie Brown to the world of NBA broadcasting. You may be long-winded, but you are damn entertaining and seem like a really nice guy.
Well, time for another week already. Should be eventful. Stay tuned.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Miller Time
"There's no doubt about it, show business lures the people who didn't get enough love, attention, or approval early in life and have grown up to become bottomless, gaping vessels of terrifying, abject need. Please laugh." -- Dennis Miller
So working the Dennis Miller Show was a nice change of pace from Leno's ba-dum-ching, cringe-inducing monlogues. Now I could cringe at Miller's right-wing views on foreign policy and Iraq. But still, I am a fan of Miller and his mind-bending metaphors, and I was cracking up throughout a majority of his show. The cringe-worthy part was during the political, Varsity Club segment where Miller tastelessly defended the American soldier who said he enjoyed killing Iraqis. It was bad enough to hear Miller express his approval, but to hear so many in the audience cheering this was kind of sickening. Still, you gotta appreciate Miller's style of humor that really tests the limits of one's pop-cultural baggage. Bonus: The featured guest was Leah Reami (not sure 'bout the spelling on that one ...), she of King of Queens and Saved by the Bell fame. What's with all these SBTB sightings lately? Bonus II: 'the other guests were the finalists from NBC's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit contest. Haha as Dennis miller commented, it must be getting close to Sweeps time. Overall it was a pretty low-pressure gig, plus I got free cookies from the backstage area.
The other highlight of my day was definitely this: someone sent me a letter at NBC! Yep, when I got to work today it was already posted on the bulletin board - some woman who was on my first tour on Thursday sent me a card saying how much she enjoyed the tour. She aid she felt bad because she thought she may have come off as rude later in the day when I helped seat her for the Tonight Show, as she was complaing about the seat she got. I couldn't even really remember or picture who exactly this woman was, but still I really got a kick out of getting a letter of my own at NBC, and for my first tour no less! She ended by wishing me luck and saying she hoped to come back to Burbank soon. So that was the talk of the pages this morning. See, niceness is sometimes acknowledged and appreciated.
Oh, so I looked at my schedule for next week, and I'm subbing as Tonight Show "CB" next Wed., the day Avril is coming on ... I'm not sure what exactly CB does, but it definitely has got to increase my chances of a Lavigne sighting.
Still trying to figure out the apartment thing. And still waiting to get my car back. Go PATRIOTS!
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The O.C. - Almost kind of redundant to comment on this show now, it's starting to fall into a comfortably predictable groove. It's at a point where every major storyline is pretty clearly going in a particular direction, and we the audience are just asked to sit back and enjoy the ride. We know Kirsten and Sandy are headed for troubled waters, Seth and Summer are gonna have some sparks a-flyin', and of course Alex and Marissa are on the road to some sapphic satisfaction (never thought I'd write THAT phrase). I'm still pretty darned entertained by this show though. My grade: B+
- Man, I can't even stay up late enought to watch Conan anymore. But if any former Conan interns are reading this, I have been making sure to give plenty of shout-outs to the future Tonight Show host on all of my studio tours.
- WHY am I still getting mass emails from John Kerry? Dude, you lost the election and I don't want to hear your complaints about Bush anymore. Go away and make way for a democrat who can actually WIN AN ELECTION. Harsh, I know, but Kerry fared worse than Gore, and Gore had the decency to disappear for a while after his particular fiasco.
- So while working in the ticket office today we had a good old fashioned jumping contest. Compared to some girls at nbc, I can actually jump pretty far.
- Oh, Kenny "The Jet" Smith ... you may be the most inarticulate personality in all of TV. But I still love Inside the NBA on TNT, by far the best sports-related talk show there is.
- Wow, the Atlantic division in the NBA is AWFUL. the lowly BOSTON CELTICS are, by some perverse logic, are NUMBER ONE in their division, despite being more than a few games UNDER .500. With Indiana, Detroit, and New Jersey all playing fairly poorly, and only Miami doing anything of note, the East this year is just pathetic. Maybe another division realignment is in order?
And that's it for now. Okay all my bruthas from otha muthas, keep it real - respeck.
- Gosh! This UPS stuff is taking forever! I want a new, functioning PS2 and I want it NOW.
-
So working the Dennis Miller Show was a nice change of pace from Leno's ba-dum-ching, cringe-inducing monlogues. Now I could cringe at Miller's right-wing views on foreign policy and Iraq. But still, I am a fan of Miller and his mind-bending metaphors, and I was cracking up throughout a majority of his show. The cringe-worthy part was during the political, Varsity Club segment where Miller tastelessly defended the American soldier who said he enjoyed killing Iraqis. It was bad enough to hear Miller express his approval, but to hear so many in the audience cheering this was kind of sickening. Still, you gotta appreciate Miller's style of humor that really tests the limits of one's pop-cultural baggage. Bonus: The featured guest was Leah Reami (not sure 'bout the spelling on that one ...), she of King of Queens and Saved by the Bell fame. What's with all these SBTB sightings lately? Bonus II: 'the other guests were the finalists from NBC's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit contest. Haha as Dennis miller commented, it must be getting close to Sweeps time. Overall it was a pretty low-pressure gig, plus I got free cookies from the backstage area.
The other highlight of my day was definitely this: someone sent me a letter at NBC! Yep, when I got to work today it was already posted on the bulletin board - some woman who was on my first tour on Thursday sent me a card saying how much she enjoyed the tour. She aid she felt bad because she thought she may have come off as rude later in the day when I helped seat her for the Tonight Show, as she was complaing about the seat she got. I couldn't even really remember or picture who exactly this woman was, but still I really got a kick out of getting a letter of my own at NBC, and for my first tour no less! She ended by wishing me luck and saying she hoped to come back to Burbank soon. So that was the talk of the pages this morning. See, niceness is sometimes acknowledged and appreciated.
Oh, so I looked at my schedule for next week, and I'm subbing as Tonight Show "CB" next Wed., the day Avril is coming on ... I'm not sure what exactly CB does, but it definitely has got to increase my chances of a Lavigne sighting.
Still trying to figure out the apartment thing. And still waiting to get my car back. Go PATRIOTS!
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The O.C. - Almost kind of redundant to comment on this show now, it's starting to fall into a comfortably predictable groove. It's at a point where every major storyline is pretty clearly going in a particular direction, and we the audience are just asked to sit back and enjoy the ride. We know Kirsten and Sandy are headed for troubled waters, Seth and Summer are gonna have some sparks a-flyin', and of course Alex and Marissa are on the road to some sapphic satisfaction (never thought I'd write THAT phrase). I'm still pretty darned entertained by this show though. My grade: B+
- Man, I can't even stay up late enought to watch Conan anymore. But if any former Conan interns are reading this, I have been making sure to give plenty of shout-outs to the future Tonight Show host on all of my studio tours.
- WHY am I still getting mass emails from John Kerry? Dude, you lost the election and I don't want to hear your complaints about Bush anymore. Go away and make way for a democrat who can actually WIN AN ELECTION. Harsh, I know, but Kerry fared worse than Gore, and Gore had the decency to disappear for a while after his particular fiasco.
- So while working in the ticket office today we had a good old fashioned jumping contest. Compared to some girls at nbc, I can actually jump pretty far.
- Oh, Kenny "The Jet" Smith ... you may be the most inarticulate personality in all of TV. But I still love Inside the NBA on TNT, by far the best sports-related talk show there is.
- Wow, the Atlantic division in the NBA is AWFUL. the lowly BOSTON CELTICS are, by some perverse logic, are NUMBER ONE in their division, despite being more than a few games UNDER .500. With Indiana, Detroit, and New Jersey all playing fairly poorly, and only Miami doing anything of note, the East this year is just pathetic. Maybe another division realignment is in order?
And that's it for now. Okay all my bruthas from otha muthas, keep it real - respeck.
- Gosh! This UPS stuff is taking forever! I want a new, functioning PS2 and I want it NOW.
-
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Tales to Astonish
Well, it was nice to see the Napoleon Dynamite fans come out in full force for today's Tonight Show. I think Napoleon Dynamite is one of those movies that is really a good character judger. It's like if someone really likes and "gets" that movie than you can tell that they are of a certain cool sensibility. So it was pretty cool to see dozens of "Vote for Pedro" T-shirts and whatnot when I went out to greet the line. It's always a good feeling to see that no matter how obscure your interests are, others out there share them. I felt like I was among my people or something. But of course I was just some guy spouting the nbc company line and wearing a dorky uniform, so outwardly I was not really a fellow Napoleon fan, but just a corporate suit in training. Oh well, it was nice to see the geeks a-representin.'
Something did happen in line today that really freaked me out and I couldn't get it out of my head. This middle-aged guy at the front of the line approached me, just like totally shaking in anger. He started yelling something to me about being separated from his friends who had already been admitted inside, and just really shaking, like I really thought he might have a heart attack or something. I wasn't even sure exactly what he was saying or asking, but I was trying to tell him that we couldn't always keep large groups together inside, that was just the way it worked. And suddenly he just got even more angry and said how this was ridiculous and he'd been waiting in line all day, and he was just quivering ... and he literally grabbed his wife and pulled her away and just stormed off out of line and right down Almeda Ave. It was just really shocking. And riht before that I was joking around with these people who were like oh yeah, your job must be so fun and whatnot. After that they just looked at me and shook their heads knowingly. It was just a really weird, crazy incident that I couldn't shake off for a while.
The show was okay ... Cate Blanchett had one of those weird, uncomfortable and semi-perverted seeming interviews that Jay Leno sometimes does, where he asks all these sex related questions but in a kind of shy way that comes off as really sketchy. Also ... wow did that monologue bomb today (please tell me no one from nbc is reading this ...). Jon Hedder from N. Dynamite seemed like a really cool guy, very down to earth. Oh, and what happened to Howie Mandell? The bald, goateed, aging hipster that showed up late at the show today was a total 180 from the curly-haired nice-guy who I fondly remember as the host and creator of Bobby's World. Then Ashanti did her pop diva dance thang, and that was kind of a cool spectacle.
Tommorow I am working until 8 pm to do the Dennis Miller show. Should be interesting, but it's gonna be a loooooong day.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Okay, these facebook.com mass emails have gotten waaaaaaaay out of hand.
- Sorry to hear about one of my all time favorite coaches, Rudy T, stepping down from the Lakers. Sure, I don't like the Lakers, but I have always found Rudy T. to be one of the more inspiring figures in the NBA, and I'll never forget his famous "Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion" speech after he and the Rockets won their first title in the '90's. He really seems like such an intense personality, I can see how coaching must take a huge mental and physical toll on him. Best of luck to him in whatever he decides to do in the future.
- I have really enjoyed the last few episodes of Jack and Bobby. They are really toning down the mother character and are also humanizing Jack and making him a lot less annoying. Oh and FINALLY JAck is ridding himself of Missy, the most annoying TV girlfriend around. While they do need to do a better job of linking the current drama with the fast-forward Bobby-as-President segments, they seem to be striking a nice balance between a John Hughes high school drama and the "how will he achieve his destiny?" aspect of a show like Smallville. Speaking of which ...
- Wow! A total turnaround from last episode's total sucktitude. This was a DAMN GOOD episode of Smallville, which is amazing as it was continued from last week's very lame "very special episode." THIS is what Smallville is about, what Superman should be about. Heroism, morality, truth, hope, faith, friendship, good vs. evil, alienation, loss, mystery, and action. It was a very genuine, emotional moment when Alicia met her untimely fate. And despite the fact that she's been involved in a pair of highly lame storylines, I really like the actress who plays Alicia, I predict she'll be doing big things in the future. The Chloe storyline was actually handled very well, and Lois' character is progressing nicely and really adds to the show. And then there was ACTION that was driven by EMOTION and CONFLICT. Finally. Plus, there was a return to the foreshadowing of Clark as Superman, with a really nice analysis of how a symbol like Superman can inspire people to accept others who are different. Good stuff. Sure, the Jason / Lana subplot is still cheesy and ridiculous, and Tom Welling still needs to work a bit on his acting range, but here's hoping this is a turning point and the show can finish up its run as strong as it started. My grade: A-
So since I'll be doing a Dennis Miller taping tommorow, I'll try to end with a Dennis Miller-esque quote. Let's see ... yeah. Nope, sorry, that would consume way too much time and brainpower than I'm currently willing to expend right now. How DOES he do it?
Something did happen in line today that really freaked me out and I couldn't get it out of my head. This middle-aged guy at the front of the line approached me, just like totally shaking in anger. He started yelling something to me about being separated from his friends who had already been admitted inside, and just really shaking, like I really thought he might have a heart attack or something. I wasn't even sure exactly what he was saying or asking, but I was trying to tell him that we couldn't always keep large groups together inside, that was just the way it worked. And suddenly he just got even more angry and said how this was ridiculous and he'd been waiting in line all day, and he was just quivering ... and he literally grabbed his wife and pulled her away and just stormed off out of line and right down Almeda Ave. It was just really shocking. And riht before that I was joking around with these people who were like oh yeah, your job must be so fun and whatnot. After that they just looked at me and shook their heads knowingly. It was just a really weird, crazy incident that I couldn't shake off for a while.
The show was okay ... Cate Blanchett had one of those weird, uncomfortable and semi-perverted seeming interviews that Jay Leno sometimes does, where he asks all these sex related questions but in a kind of shy way that comes off as really sketchy. Also ... wow did that monologue bomb today (please tell me no one from nbc is reading this ...). Jon Hedder from N. Dynamite seemed like a really cool guy, very down to earth. Oh, and what happened to Howie Mandell? The bald, goateed, aging hipster that showed up late at the show today was a total 180 from the curly-haired nice-guy who I fondly remember as the host and creator of Bobby's World. Then Ashanti did her pop diva dance thang, and that was kind of a cool spectacle.
Tommorow I am working until 8 pm to do the Dennis Miller show. Should be interesting, but it's gonna be a loooooong day.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Okay, these facebook.com mass emails have gotten waaaaaaaay out of hand.
- Sorry to hear about one of my all time favorite coaches, Rudy T, stepping down from the Lakers. Sure, I don't like the Lakers, but I have always found Rudy T. to be one of the more inspiring figures in the NBA, and I'll never forget his famous "Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion" speech after he and the Rockets won their first title in the '90's. He really seems like such an intense personality, I can see how coaching must take a huge mental and physical toll on him. Best of luck to him in whatever he decides to do in the future.
- I have really enjoyed the last few episodes of Jack and Bobby. They are really toning down the mother character and are also humanizing Jack and making him a lot less annoying. Oh and FINALLY JAck is ridding himself of Missy, the most annoying TV girlfriend around. While they do need to do a better job of linking the current drama with the fast-forward Bobby-as-President segments, they seem to be striking a nice balance between a John Hughes high school drama and the "how will he achieve his destiny?" aspect of a show like Smallville. Speaking of which ...
- Wow! A total turnaround from last episode's total sucktitude. This was a DAMN GOOD episode of Smallville, which is amazing as it was continued from last week's very lame "very special episode." THIS is what Smallville is about, what Superman should be about. Heroism, morality, truth, hope, faith, friendship, good vs. evil, alienation, loss, mystery, and action. It was a very genuine, emotional moment when Alicia met her untimely fate. And despite the fact that she's been involved in a pair of highly lame storylines, I really like the actress who plays Alicia, I predict she'll be doing big things in the future. The Chloe storyline was actually handled very well, and Lois' character is progressing nicely and really adds to the show. And then there was ACTION that was driven by EMOTION and CONFLICT. Finally. Plus, there was a return to the foreshadowing of Clark as Superman, with a really nice analysis of how a symbol like Superman can inspire people to accept others who are different. Good stuff. Sure, the Jason / Lana subplot is still cheesy and ridiculous, and Tom Welling still needs to work a bit on his acting range, but here's hoping this is a turning point and the show can finish up its run as strong as it started. My grade: A-
So since I'll be doing a Dennis Miller taping tommorow, I'll try to end with a Dennis Miller-esque quote. Let's see ... yeah. Nope, sorry, that would consume way too much time and brainpower than I'm currently willing to expend right now. How DOES he do it?
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Hootin' and A' Hollerin'
It is often easy to forget about Middle America. Sure, we on the coasts try to pretend they don't exist, but every so often, certain events remind us that yes, there are quite a lot of those non-coastal states, and yes, their ways are often slightly different from what we on the west or east coasts are used to. So when, for example, an election comes along, the liberal elite moans and groans about all of these bible-thumpin' people who seem to pop out of nowhere and excercise their right to vote. Today though ... today I was woken up to a phenomena that, being a Connecticut Yankee transported to Hollywood, had really passed me by. Yes, today I realized that country music fans exist, there are many of them, and they are INSANE.
I assumed as did many of my fellow nbc pages that the big draw on today's show would be Leonardo Dicaprio. But that was before I was privvy to the crazy popularity of a man by the name of Kenny Chesney. Who? Well let's just say that this guy is a country music phenomena, and the ladies freakin' love him. So basically, today was teen idol overload, and as the designated Tonight Show floorseater I spent four hours dealing with hundreds of frantic, hormonally charged women who were all in a frenzied state between fainting and shrieking at the top of their lungs. I'm telling you, it was CRAZY. The long line for the show was littered with packs of southern women who had been waiting all night to get in. They were wearing Kenny T-shirts, had Kenny Signs, and had personal gifts that they made especially for Kenny. Leonardo who? So of course these crazy women-folk decided to, um, have some fun with me and see if they could use their southern charms to try to move to the front of the line, get backstage, meet Kenny, etc. - none of which I can actually do, but yet I was bombarded with requests. By the time the line went into the studio, I had about fifty totally crazy women who were apparently on a first name basis with me, kept referring to me as their friend, and who thought it'd be fun to yell out my name everytime they saw me pass by, all the way up to the point when the show started. I wonder if Jay noticed the chaos I was being enveloped by? He definitely was amused at the, um, enthusiasm of this crowd though. The worst was after the show ended - I'm trying to help the crowd exit in an orderly fashion and suddenly I get mobs of Kenny fans coming at me and making a beeline for their country music god. So I'm yelling for people to get back, but Kenny in his great wisdom actually APPROACHES these women and SIGNS THEIR CDS's and T-SHIRTS. This of course caused mass chaos, as all the other women saw him signing stuff and RAN LIKE MAD to the stage to try to get the same from the K-man. It took three security guards and me to TRY to calm down this riot and it took a good while for things to finally settle down. And then, to top it off, as I'm leaving for my car I run into a group of women who I had talked to earlier. "Danny! Danny!" I went over and humored them, they were pretty funny after all, and hey, if they were talking to me AFTER the show then maybe they actually DID appreciate the time I took to be nice to them in line. Oh wait. "Hey, Danny, WHEN DOES KENNY COME OUT IN HIS CAR?" Oy. Seriously though, it was crazy but mostly in good fun. I got a kick of having this large group of women waving at me and thanking me as I drove away from nbc. How many jobs give you THAT kind of experience. I mean, hey, I may not ever get to be a teen idol, but at least I can kind of live vicariously through Kenny freakin' Chesney. I mean, sure, they came to see Leo and Chesney, but they left thinking dreamily about that really cool page who brought 'em to their seats. I keed, I keed. Or do I ... ?
But yeah, it is nuts what people in line for the show say to you. People have already offered me money on numerous occasions to move them to the front of the line. Sure, they are probably B.S. ing, but still it's pretty funny what people say. One woman today kept telling me how her husband was a policeman in LA, and if I let her backstage I'd never have to worry about the law again. Riiiiiiight. Nice woman though, if a little nutty.
My tour today was pretty cool actually. A bunch of high schoolers from Florida with teachers in tow, so they actually laughed at my jokes and thought it was cool when I told them how I ran into Mr. Belding the other day, and when I told them facts like how the Tonight Show couch costs $50,000, they were all like "Dude!" and "Shut-up!" (a compliment from teens). Plus they had all kinds of questions about colleges and stuff like that (many were thinking of BU), and that kind of stuff is A LOT easier to answer than obscure Days of Our Lives questions. So yeah definitely my favorite tour I've done so far.
RANDOM NOTE: No, Duran Duran does not say anything, negative or otherwise, about Jews in the song "Come Undone." I looked it up. Whoops, my bad.
Tommorow: Napoleon Dynamite, aka John Hedder (I think) is on the show! SWEET.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
24, 24, 24: DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN. Tony Almeda (what a great character name) returns! But he didn't say his trademark monotone "yeah." Plus he got to the place to save Jack like two minutes after Jack called him. Plus he's supposed to be in jail. Oh well. Still another sweeeet episode of 24, which, I will say now, is THE BEST SHOW CURRENTLY ON TV. The only thing I'd ask for in this season is a slightly more fleshed out terrorist plot - some villains who have a little more psychology to what they are doing. But that can come in time, along with an explanation of just what Aisha Tyler's deal is and why she is apparently evil. But this season definitely is starting out with a consistency and sense of pacing that last season didnt have until the final third of its episodes.
Arrgh, so many movies I have to see. Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Sideways, and more! Who wants to see movies with me?
Oh yeah, comment on my blog! Even if you're just some random person reading this cuz you've got nothing better to do. Hey, I don't judge.
Ok, better bone up on my skills ... you know, numchuk skills, computer hacking skills .... and get to work on my Lyger drawings (it's pretty much my favorite animal ...), because with Napoleon Dynamite coming on the show it could be, dare I say it, the best Tonight Show of all time (like anyone could even know that! Gosh!). Sorry, more lame N. Dynamite references.
I assumed as did many of my fellow nbc pages that the big draw on today's show would be Leonardo Dicaprio. But that was before I was privvy to the crazy popularity of a man by the name of Kenny Chesney. Who? Well let's just say that this guy is a country music phenomena, and the ladies freakin' love him. So basically, today was teen idol overload, and as the designated Tonight Show floorseater I spent four hours dealing with hundreds of frantic, hormonally charged women who were all in a frenzied state between fainting and shrieking at the top of their lungs. I'm telling you, it was CRAZY. The long line for the show was littered with packs of southern women who had been waiting all night to get in. They were wearing Kenny T-shirts, had Kenny Signs, and had personal gifts that they made especially for Kenny. Leonardo who? So of course these crazy women-folk decided to, um, have some fun with me and see if they could use their southern charms to try to move to the front of the line, get backstage, meet Kenny, etc. - none of which I can actually do, but yet I was bombarded with requests. By the time the line went into the studio, I had about fifty totally crazy women who were apparently on a first name basis with me, kept referring to me as their friend, and who thought it'd be fun to yell out my name everytime they saw me pass by, all the way up to the point when the show started. I wonder if Jay noticed the chaos I was being enveloped by? He definitely was amused at the, um, enthusiasm of this crowd though. The worst was after the show ended - I'm trying to help the crowd exit in an orderly fashion and suddenly I get mobs of Kenny fans coming at me and making a beeline for their country music god. So I'm yelling for people to get back, but Kenny in his great wisdom actually APPROACHES these women and SIGNS THEIR CDS's and T-SHIRTS. This of course caused mass chaos, as all the other women saw him signing stuff and RAN LIKE MAD to the stage to try to get the same from the K-man. It took three security guards and me to TRY to calm down this riot and it took a good while for things to finally settle down. And then, to top it off, as I'm leaving for my car I run into a group of women who I had talked to earlier. "Danny! Danny!" I went over and humored them, they were pretty funny after all, and hey, if they were talking to me AFTER the show then maybe they actually DID appreciate the time I took to be nice to them in line. Oh wait. "Hey, Danny, WHEN DOES KENNY COME OUT IN HIS CAR?" Oy. Seriously though, it was crazy but mostly in good fun. I got a kick of having this large group of women waving at me and thanking me as I drove away from nbc. How many jobs give you THAT kind of experience. I mean, hey, I may not ever get to be a teen idol, but at least I can kind of live vicariously through Kenny freakin' Chesney. I mean, sure, they came to see Leo and Chesney, but they left thinking dreamily about that really cool page who brought 'em to their seats. I keed, I keed. Or do I ... ?
But yeah, it is nuts what people in line for the show say to you. People have already offered me money on numerous occasions to move them to the front of the line. Sure, they are probably B.S. ing, but still it's pretty funny what people say. One woman today kept telling me how her husband was a policeman in LA, and if I let her backstage I'd never have to worry about the law again. Riiiiiiight. Nice woman though, if a little nutty.
My tour today was pretty cool actually. A bunch of high schoolers from Florida with teachers in tow, so they actually laughed at my jokes and thought it was cool when I told them how I ran into Mr. Belding the other day, and when I told them facts like how the Tonight Show couch costs $50,000, they were all like "Dude!" and "Shut-up!" (a compliment from teens). Plus they had all kinds of questions about colleges and stuff like that (many were thinking of BU), and that kind of stuff is A LOT easier to answer than obscure Days of Our Lives questions. So yeah definitely my favorite tour I've done so far.
RANDOM NOTE: No, Duran Duran does not say anything, negative or otherwise, about Jews in the song "Come Undone." I looked it up. Whoops, my bad.
Tommorow: Napoleon Dynamite, aka John Hedder (I think) is on the show! SWEET.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
24, 24, 24: DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN. Tony Almeda (what a great character name) returns! But he didn't say his trademark monotone "yeah." Plus he got to the place to save Jack like two minutes after Jack called him. Plus he's supposed to be in jail. Oh well. Still another sweeeet episode of 24, which, I will say now, is THE BEST SHOW CURRENTLY ON TV. The only thing I'd ask for in this season is a slightly more fleshed out terrorist plot - some villains who have a little more psychology to what they are doing. But that can come in time, along with an explanation of just what Aisha Tyler's deal is and why she is apparently evil. But this season definitely is starting out with a consistency and sense of pacing that last season didnt have until the final third of its episodes.
Arrgh, so many movies I have to see. Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Sideways, and more! Who wants to see movies with me?
Oh yeah, comment on my blog! Even if you're just some random person reading this cuz you've got nothing better to do. Hey, I don't judge.
Ok, better bone up on my skills ... you know, numchuk skills, computer hacking skills .... and get to work on my Lyger drawings (it's pretty much my favorite animal ...), because with Napoleon Dynamite coming on the show it could be, dare I say it, the best Tonight Show of all time (like anyone could even know that! Gosh!). Sorry, more lame N. Dynamite references.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
If It Ain't Broke ... It Will Break Eventually
Aaaaah, the weekend is over already? Welcome to the working world.
It's funny, due to the kind of random nature of the nbc page program, our hours are pretty uneven depending on the day and week. So my natural instinct is, obviously, to rejoice that, tommorow for example, I only work until 4:30 pm. And of course, my first reaction to seeing that one day I don't have to be at work until 12 pm is "sweeeeeeeet." But wait, hold the phone, I am getting paid by the hour here. Dammit, this sucks. I can't really be all that happy about getting to leave work early or start late, since doing so takes away from my cash-money flow. Oh, the internal conflicts that come with being in the real world. I better be a millionaire soon.
To be honest this weekend was pretty boring, yet still very tiring. I had to go rent a car, since it became pretty obvious that there is no way in hell that I'm getting my car back in the next few days. I really don't like having to bother people at work for rides, and I also am trying to find an apartment ASAP, so the car was a necessity. I am now driving a semi-ghetto Chevy Cavalier, which, strangely, I realized has a bunch of not-quite empty grocery bags in the trunk. What's in them? Don't know, haven't looked yet because my paranoid, fantasy-prone mind tells me it will be a severed hand or something. Maybe I'll just let 'em be until I return the car ...
RANDOM THOUGHT: I really like the song "Come Undone" by Duran Duran, but what's with the talk about "radio jews" in the lyrics? What is a radio jew? Duran Duran, I better not find out you're like some kind of antisemites or something.
So anyways, I looked at a few apartments as well this weekend. One seems pretty cool, not too bad a price and good location. I'd be sharing the place with another guy but would have my own large bedroom and bathroom, so it's a very good deal. I guess there's a number of interested parties so I'll see if it comes through. But I've gotta let the people at my current building know what my deal is soon, so hopefully I can get it all resolved quickly.
Oh, my packages from home finally arrived, and guess what? MY PLAYSTATION 2 IS FREAKIN' BROKEN - IT DOES NOT PLAY GAMES OR DVD'S! That really does not make me happy, as I've had a real desire the last week to wind down after work with a few rounds of Metal Gear Solid 3. I filed a complaint to UPS, so we'll see if that actually results in anything. They better buy me a new PS2, they owe me!
Also, while I'm in that kinda mood, why are the shopping centers in the LA area all completely filled 24/7? OK, I understand there's a lot of people here, but it's kind of ridiculous how you have to wait to find a parking space in like one of those dinky little strip malls with a dry cleaner and Subway as their main attractions. And the big mega shopping centers with Best Buy, Target, etc? Fugettaboutit.
Ah yes, so much drama, I know. Seriously, this week should be good at work, lots of big name guest on the Tonight Show and it should be a little less crazy now that I can drive myself and am a bit more comfortable with the different jobs we pages do. Oh yeah, so Friday Mr. 24 himself, Kiefer Sutherland was on - daaaaaaamn. Okay, so I really just like the Jack Bauer character and the show, it's not like I'm a diehard fan of the actor. But it was kind of cool just to see an actor who I've actually been watching for the last few years in person. Plus, craziness ensued during the show! They somehow forgot to fill up two front row seats, which are ON CAMERA throughout the show. Now, I don't THINK that that was in any way my fault, but again, paranoia ... But yeah, so me and another page had to run in at the start of the taping and sit in those seats. Pretty crazy. Of course it happened so fast that we didn't even think to take off our nbc uniforms. I think the cameras tried to avoid us so we wouldn't be on caught on tape. But hey, I got a front row seat. Nice.
The main person I'm actually excited to see this week is the kid from Napolean Dynamite who played Napoleon. Friggin' sweet. Gosh! It'd be cool if he was in character, ala Ali G / Borat when they appeared on Conan. That happens on Wednesday, I believe. Some other big names though this week like Cate Blanchette, Jamie Foxx, and Leonardo DiCaprio. But they just don't have the same skills like NAPOLEON DYNAMITE has. You know - nunchuk skills, computer hacking skills ... (see the movie if you don't know what I'm talking about ...).
So when do the swanky parties with bigshot celebrities start?
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
FOX SUNDAY NIGHT QUICK REVIEWS:
King of the Hill - A- Another Hank vs. the System episode, and as always it was funny stuff. What a classic show. Hank is one of those characters who has become so familiar that longtime viewers can pretty much predict how he'll react to any situation, right down to the inflection in his voice. But the character is so great that it is these familiar yet always hilarious reactions that keep us coming back week after week.
Malcolm in the Middle - A Continuing a streak of vintage Malcolm, hilarious episodes. Hal as hairdresser left me rolling in laughter, and the Malcolm in love with his car subplot was also very funny. I think the key with this show is that it is at it's best when it has an innocence to it - it portrays childhood and parenthood better than any other show. When it becomes a show about hormonal teenagers, it falters. This year they've taken a step back from all the girlfriend subplots and really benefitted from it. I don't know why this show, after initial critical praise, now seems so underrated and underappreciated.
Simpsons - B Not bad, but not great either. I mostly take away points for the fact that we've seen the main plot points (trouble in Homer and Marge's marriage, Moe trying to overcome his loneliness, changing up Moe's tavern) a thousand times already. But this episode seemed very on in it's comedic timing - lots of funny jokes and dialogue, plus the plot, though familiar, was pretty cohesive. So overall this is what, three above average Simpsons eps in a row? I'll take that.
Arrested Development - B+ Again, it's another episode where the plots are, as usual, brilliantly woven together and cleverly set up. But the jokes just don't seem as funny as they used to be. Why does Buster keep disappearing when he is consistently one of the show's funniest characters, and an easy and reliable source of humor? The George Michael and Ann subplot is kind of just dragging, as is the open marriage of Lindsay and Tobias. Maybe they need to just focus less on these ongoing subplots? I'm not sure what the answer is, but this is slowly becomong one of those shows that you realize is made by very smart and talented people, but just isn't as funny as it should be. That being said, I am only speaking in relative terms as compared to the best episodes of the series. On it's own, this is still heads and shoulders above other comedies on TV, so if you're not watching, you by all means should be.
BELATED SMALLVILLE THOUGHTS:
So we finally get a new episode this week, and it's like many of the eps this season. Very cheesy, heavy on the sex appeal, light on logic, and with only a few flashes of the old, good Smallville, usually thanks to the two Luthors and the great actors who play them.Honestly, this show should be ashamed of itself. No, this wasn't a horrible episode. But this isn't Smallville, and it certainly isn't Superman. This is now officially a show about mind control. Every other week we have someone out of their mind, being mentally controlled by another, mind-swapped, under the influence of mind altering substances, or just plain gone crazy. ENOUGH ALREADY. Superman is about good vs. evil, morality, truth, justice, etc. This show is about one of two things at this point. What psycho chick of the week will seduce Clark, or who will be mind-controlled this week. Oh yeah, I forgot - who will be this week's weekly person to see Clark use his powers and then conveniently forget and/or get knocked out cold just as he uses them? This show has sooo much potential. It has a number of promising actors, and a great mythology with which to play in. This episode had a decent plot, but it was just undermined by gratuitous sex scenes and total lack of logic (Clark is suddenly in love with a girl who tried to kill his friends? Martha Kent yells at Clark for things he did WHILE MIND-CONTROLLED?) Ugh. On the OC, I can accept this kind of stuff. But a show about Superman, even if it is before he dons the costume, should inspire me, not make me groan at it's exploitative cheesiness. C -
Back to work tommorow. Good thing my work involves working the Tonight Show and not filling out TPS reports or something.
It's funny, due to the kind of random nature of the nbc page program, our hours are pretty uneven depending on the day and week. So my natural instinct is, obviously, to rejoice that, tommorow for example, I only work until 4:30 pm. And of course, my first reaction to seeing that one day I don't have to be at work until 12 pm is "sweeeeeeeet." But wait, hold the phone, I am getting paid by the hour here. Dammit, this sucks. I can't really be all that happy about getting to leave work early or start late, since doing so takes away from my cash-money flow. Oh, the internal conflicts that come with being in the real world. I better be a millionaire soon.
To be honest this weekend was pretty boring, yet still very tiring. I had to go rent a car, since it became pretty obvious that there is no way in hell that I'm getting my car back in the next few days. I really don't like having to bother people at work for rides, and I also am trying to find an apartment ASAP, so the car was a necessity. I am now driving a semi-ghetto Chevy Cavalier, which, strangely, I realized has a bunch of not-quite empty grocery bags in the trunk. What's in them? Don't know, haven't looked yet because my paranoid, fantasy-prone mind tells me it will be a severed hand or something. Maybe I'll just let 'em be until I return the car ...
RANDOM THOUGHT: I really like the song "Come Undone" by Duran Duran, but what's with the talk about "radio jews" in the lyrics? What is a radio jew? Duran Duran, I better not find out you're like some kind of antisemites or something.
So anyways, I looked at a few apartments as well this weekend. One seems pretty cool, not too bad a price and good location. I'd be sharing the place with another guy but would have my own large bedroom and bathroom, so it's a very good deal. I guess there's a number of interested parties so I'll see if it comes through. But I've gotta let the people at my current building know what my deal is soon, so hopefully I can get it all resolved quickly.
Oh, my packages from home finally arrived, and guess what? MY PLAYSTATION 2 IS FREAKIN' BROKEN - IT DOES NOT PLAY GAMES OR DVD'S! That really does not make me happy, as I've had a real desire the last week to wind down after work with a few rounds of Metal Gear Solid 3. I filed a complaint to UPS, so we'll see if that actually results in anything. They better buy me a new PS2, they owe me!
Also, while I'm in that kinda mood, why are the shopping centers in the LA area all completely filled 24/7? OK, I understand there's a lot of people here, but it's kind of ridiculous how you have to wait to find a parking space in like one of those dinky little strip malls with a dry cleaner and Subway as their main attractions. And the big mega shopping centers with Best Buy, Target, etc? Fugettaboutit.
Ah yes, so much drama, I know. Seriously, this week should be good at work, lots of big name guest on the Tonight Show and it should be a little less crazy now that I can drive myself and am a bit more comfortable with the different jobs we pages do. Oh yeah, so Friday Mr. 24 himself, Kiefer Sutherland was on - daaaaaaamn. Okay, so I really just like the Jack Bauer character and the show, it's not like I'm a diehard fan of the actor. But it was kind of cool just to see an actor who I've actually been watching for the last few years in person. Plus, craziness ensued during the show! They somehow forgot to fill up two front row seats, which are ON CAMERA throughout the show. Now, I don't THINK that that was in any way my fault, but again, paranoia ... But yeah, so me and another page had to run in at the start of the taping and sit in those seats. Pretty crazy. Of course it happened so fast that we didn't even think to take off our nbc uniforms. I think the cameras tried to avoid us so we wouldn't be on caught on tape. But hey, I got a front row seat. Nice.
The main person I'm actually excited to see this week is the kid from Napolean Dynamite who played Napoleon. Friggin' sweet. Gosh! It'd be cool if he was in character, ala Ali G / Borat when they appeared on Conan. That happens on Wednesday, I believe. Some other big names though this week like Cate Blanchette, Jamie Foxx, and Leonardo DiCaprio. But they just don't have the same skills like NAPOLEON DYNAMITE has. You know - nunchuk skills, computer hacking skills ... (see the movie if you don't know what I'm talking about ...).
So when do the swanky parties with bigshot celebrities start?
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
FOX SUNDAY NIGHT QUICK REVIEWS:
King of the Hill - A- Another Hank vs. the System episode, and as always it was funny stuff. What a classic show. Hank is one of those characters who has become so familiar that longtime viewers can pretty much predict how he'll react to any situation, right down to the inflection in his voice. But the character is so great that it is these familiar yet always hilarious reactions that keep us coming back week after week.
Malcolm in the Middle - A Continuing a streak of vintage Malcolm, hilarious episodes. Hal as hairdresser left me rolling in laughter, and the Malcolm in love with his car subplot was also very funny. I think the key with this show is that it is at it's best when it has an innocence to it - it portrays childhood and parenthood better than any other show. When it becomes a show about hormonal teenagers, it falters. This year they've taken a step back from all the girlfriend subplots and really benefitted from it. I don't know why this show, after initial critical praise, now seems so underrated and underappreciated.
Simpsons - B Not bad, but not great either. I mostly take away points for the fact that we've seen the main plot points (trouble in Homer and Marge's marriage, Moe trying to overcome his loneliness, changing up Moe's tavern) a thousand times already. But this episode seemed very on in it's comedic timing - lots of funny jokes and dialogue, plus the plot, though familiar, was pretty cohesive. So overall this is what, three above average Simpsons eps in a row? I'll take that.
Arrested Development - B+ Again, it's another episode where the plots are, as usual, brilliantly woven together and cleverly set up. But the jokes just don't seem as funny as they used to be. Why does Buster keep disappearing when he is consistently one of the show's funniest characters, and an easy and reliable source of humor? The George Michael and Ann subplot is kind of just dragging, as is the open marriage of Lindsay and Tobias. Maybe they need to just focus less on these ongoing subplots? I'm not sure what the answer is, but this is slowly becomong one of those shows that you realize is made by very smart and talented people, but just isn't as funny as it should be. That being said, I am only speaking in relative terms as compared to the best episodes of the series. On it's own, this is still heads and shoulders above other comedies on TV, so if you're not watching, you by all means should be.
BELATED SMALLVILLE THOUGHTS:
So we finally get a new episode this week, and it's like many of the eps this season. Very cheesy, heavy on the sex appeal, light on logic, and with only a few flashes of the old, good Smallville, usually thanks to the two Luthors and the great actors who play them.Honestly, this show should be ashamed of itself. No, this wasn't a horrible episode. But this isn't Smallville, and it certainly isn't Superman. This is now officially a show about mind control. Every other week we have someone out of their mind, being mentally controlled by another, mind-swapped, under the influence of mind altering substances, or just plain gone crazy. ENOUGH ALREADY. Superman is about good vs. evil, morality, truth, justice, etc. This show is about one of two things at this point. What psycho chick of the week will seduce Clark, or who will be mind-controlled this week. Oh yeah, I forgot - who will be this week's weekly person to see Clark use his powers and then conveniently forget and/or get knocked out cold just as he uses them? This show has sooo much potential. It has a number of promising actors, and a great mythology with which to play in. This episode had a decent plot, but it was just undermined by gratuitous sex scenes and total lack of logic (Clark is suddenly in love with a girl who tried to kill his friends? Martha Kent yells at Clark for things he did WHILE MIND-CONTROLLED?) Ugh. On the OC, I can accept this kind of stuff. But a show about Superman, even if it is before he dons the costume, should inspire me, not make me groan at it's exploitative cheesiness. C -
Back to work tommorow. Good thing my work involves working the Tonight Show and not filling out TPS reports or something.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Seeing Red (and Mr. Belding!)
Today's title is brought to you by the band Unwritten Law, who played Leno tonight. I met the parents of the lead singer and told them that I saw the band play a few years back in Hartford at the 104-fest, right after they had their big breakthrough hit ... Seeing Red.
So my car ... ugh. This morning I'm getting ready for my big day today -- first day giving solo tours and working the Tonight Show by my lonesome, and the jerk from the dealership calls and matter of factly states that my car needs to be sent off to a shop to repair an engine valve, it won't be back for a week and a half, and it will cost $1,700, not covered by my warranty despite the fact that I just got the car less than two weeks ago. Riiiiiiiight .... there was no way I could even process that at that moment, so I basically asked if I could call back later. Luckily my dad was able to talk to the guy and I don't know how, but he somehow managed to convince them to cover the cost of the repair (as well they should!!!) and to try to have it ready by Monday (still highly skeptical 'bout that happening). So I may rent a car for the weekend, not sure yet. But I reaaally need to look for apartments, so having a car would help with that.
Okay, so my first tour went pretty well today. Only four people in the group, and they were kind of mellow, so I kind of rambled on for a while and took a full hour and a half to give the tour. But I think I did a pretty solid job. But get this - I'm walking the group past Jay Leno's car on the tour, and some guy walks by, makes some friendly comment to our group which I can't quite recall, and waves and walks away. I look up and see that some guy is not just some guy but MR. BELDING FROM SAVED BY THE BELL, aka Dennis Haskens. Why he was at the NBC Studios I don't know. But there he was, clear as day. Of course, the older folks on my tour were like what, who? But they could see my excitement as that icon of my childhood got me giddier than I would have been for any big pop star.
Then it turns out that the motorcycle-signer on the Tonight Show was none other than Cosmo Kramer himself, Michael Richards. Sweeeeeeet. I was reeeally tempted to forego the usual page-as-buckingham palace-guard-routine and start bowing in honor of this comic deity of Seinfeld fame, but restrained myself ... barely. Almost as good was yesterday's surprise appearance by Rocky, yep, Slyvester Stallone. That was very cool as well. Today also featured Caron Butler, who I guess I kind of like as he went to UCONN, but also a part of me hates since he is a Laker. But his story was very moving and it was pretty weird to see an athlete like Caron start to tear up while talking about his rough early years. I came away very impressed with the guy.
More animals today too. Carson regular Joan Embry brought along a sloth (I think, or some variation), an aardvark (!) and a CHEETAH (!!). Nice.
I also enjoyed seeing Chris Matthews on the show yesterday. He seems like a class act and I think he's one of the few bright spots in the messy, ugly world of cable talk-news.
Some good developments: I have my full page uniform. No more worrying about that. Also, my shower is totally fixed, finally.
After talking with doctors, nutritionists, and readign an article in the latest issue of NEwsweek, I have determined this sad truth: NO FOOD IS GOOD FOR YOU. EVERYTHING YOU EAT DAMAGES YOU. Fruit = too much sugar. Milk = doesn't do a body quite so good. Bread = no good for counting carbs. Basically all you can bet on is vegetables, and then yer misiing out on vitamin C and calcium. Nutrition is ridiculous.
Why are there like 5 fire trucks passing my apartment per hour lately?
(Even More) RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Veeeery belated FOX SUNDAY NIGHT thoughts: finally watched the tape. King of the Hill - very funny episode. Hank out of his element is always comedy gold. Malcolm - also very funny, a nice "origin" of Lois' matriarchal mania, and finally had a funny and important role for Francis. Also, Reese's diving-board subplot was classic Malcolm. Arrested Development - Finally - a great episode! Maybe even best of season? The return of Lucille II, along with a bigger emphasis on Buster and Tobias, reminded me why this show is so good. They set up some great subplots with George Senior as anonymous Hollywood script-reader and the strange Gob/Lucille Austero romance.
The OC - Another good episode, though this one felt almost too geeky. As much as I appreciate the Seth Cohen character, they can go way overboard sometimes in making him some kind of emo freak who has NOTHING on his mind except himself, his girl problems, and his need to talk about comic books ALL THE TIME. Yes, he likes comics, WE GET IT. I just feel like this was originally a really different, brilliant character, but he's now become kind of a self-parody. It makes any dramatic scene involving Seth just seem out of place. Now, they are really going to tease out this Alex-MArissa thing, huh? Those canny writers know what they are doing. And did I call mom Kirsten as alcoholic or what? Some telling camera shots really foreshadowed that subplot tonight. I think the center of the show is really becoming Ryan-Lindsay though. They actually have a pretty believable relationship. Imagine that.
Well, gotta go get my laundry and then GET SOME SLEEP. Holla back, playa.
So my car ... ugh. This morning I'm getting ready for my big day today -- first day giving solo tours and working the Tonight Show by my lonesome, and the jerk from the dealership calls and matter of factly states that my car needs to be sent off to a shop to repair an engine valve, it won't be back for a week and a half, and it will cost $1,700, not covered by my warranty despite the fact that I just got the car less than two weeks ago. Riiiiiiiight .... there was no way I could even process that at that moment, so I basically asked if I could call back later. Luckily my dad was able to talk to the guy and I don't know how, but he somehow managed to convince them to cover the cost of the repair (as well they should!!!) and to try to have it ready by Monday (still highly skeptical 'bout that happening). So I may rent a car for the weekend, not sure yet. But I reaaally need to look for apartments, so having a car would help with that.
Okay, so my first tour went pretty well today. Only four people in the group, and they were kind of mellow, so I kind of rambled on for a while and took a full hour and a half to give the tour. But I think I did a pretty solid job. But get this - I'm walking the group past Jay Leno's car on the tour, and some guy walks by, makes some friendly comment to our group which I can't quite recall, and waves and walks away. I look up and see that some guy is not just some guy but MR. BELDING FROM SAVED BY THE BELL, aka Dennis Haskens. Why he was at the NBC Studios I don't know. But there he was, clear as day. Of course, the older folks on my tour were like what, who? But they could see my excitement as that icon of my childhood got me giddier than I would have been for any big pop star.
Then it turns out that the motorcycle-signer on the Tonight Show was none other than Cosmo Kramer himself, Michael Richards. Sweeeeeeet. I was reeeally tempted to forego the usual page-as-buckingham palace-guard-routine and start bowing in honor of this comic deity of Seinfeld fame, but restrained myself ... barely. Almost as good was yesterday's surprise appearance by Rocky, yep, Slyvester Stallone. That was very cool as well. Today also featured Caron Butler, who I guess I kind of like as he went to UCONN, but also a part of me hates since he is a Laker. But his story was very moving and it was pretty weird to see an athlete like Caron start to tear up while talking about his rough early years. I came away very impressed with the guy.
More animals today too. Carson regular Joan Embry brought along a sloth (I think, or some variation), an aardvark (!) and a CHEETAH (!!). Nice.
I also enjoyed seeing Chris Matthews on the show yesterday. He seems like a class act and I think he's one of the few bright spots in the messy, ugly world of cable talk-news.
Some good developments: I have my full page uniform. No more worrying about that. Also, my shower is totally fixed, finally.
After talking with doctors, nutritionists, and readign an article in the latest issue of NEwsweek, I have determined this sad truth: NO FOOD IS GOOD FOR YOU. EVERYTHING YOU EAT DAMAGES YOU. Fruit = too much sugar. Milk = doesn't do a body quite so good. Bread = no good for counting carbs. Basically all you can bet on is vegetables, and then yer misiing out on vitamin C and calcium. Nutrition is ridiculous.
Why are there like 5 fire trucks passing my apartment per hour lately?
(Even More) RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- Veeeery belated FOX SUNDAY NIGHT thoughts: finally watched the tape. King of the Hill - very funny episode. Hank out of his element is always comedy gold. Malcolm - also very funny, a nice "origin" of Lois' matriarchal mania, and finally had a funny and important role for Francis. Also, Reese's diving-board subplot was classic Malcolm. Arrested Development - Finally - a great episode! Maybe even best of season? The return of Lucille II, along with a bigger emphasis on Buster and Tobias, reminded me why this show is so good. They set up some great subplots with George Senior as anonymous Hollywood script-reader and the strange Gob/Lucille Austero romance.
The OC - Another good episode, though this one felt almost too geeky. As much as I appreciate the Seth Cohen character, they can go way overboard sometimes in making him some kind of emo freak who has NOTHING on his mind except himself, his girl problems, and his need to talk about comic books ALL THE TIME. Yes, he likes comics, WE GET IT. I just feel like this was originally a really different, brilliant character, but he's now become kind of a self-parody. It makes any dramatic scene involving Seth just seem out of place. Now, they are really going to tease out this Alex-MArissa thing, huh? Those canny writers know what they are doing. And did I call mom Kirsten as alcoholic or what? Some telling camera shots really foreshadowed that subplot tonight. I think the center of the show is really becoming Ryan-Lindsay though. They actually have a pretty believable relationship. Imagine that.
Well, gotta go get my laundry and then GET SOME SLEEP. Holla back, playa.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
In the Presence of Greatness
First of all, I have to vent a little. A few problems, all related to getting settled here in Californ-Eye-Eh, are currently really annoying me and dammit all I am going to tell you about them. So, in no particular order:
1.) Dammit, my car is being repaired. It was supposed to be that I'd bring it in this morning and pick it up this evening for touch ups and repairs. But NOOOO, of course I get dropped off after work at the dealership (by fellow new NBC page Tracy, who was extremely nice to help me out with transportation!), only to find out that my car HAS NOT EVEN BEEN LOOKED AT YET! Sonova, they weren't planning on telling me about this? I TOLD them to call if anything got held up. AND ... they assured me that it'd be no problem to give me a ride back to my apt from the dealership if I needed. So Tracy drops me off, I talk to the guy there ("Uh ... yeah, your car, uh, yeah we didn't really get to it today ..."), and I'm freakin' stranded. Poor Tracy had to turn around and pick me up again. See, this week the car has been flashing the "Service Engine Soon" light on the dash while the engine is running, and I wanted this checked. But nope, apparently DOING MORE THAN ONE THING PER DAY IS TOO MUCH for my good friends at the dealership. Of course, it didn't occur to me until after I finally got home that ...
2.) Dammit, my NBC page uniform! The two blazers I had are at the cleaners and were supposed to be picked up today. Not gonna happen. And then, I try on the pants that I finally got today to complete the uniform, and they are WAAAAAAY too long. So those are going to have to be shortened, and I need the whole uniform ready by THURSDAY. I better have my car by tommorow evening, so I can run to the cleaners, and they had better be able to shorten those pants ASAP by Thursday morning. Dayum. But, at least I finally can stop worrying about ...
3.) Dammit, my shower is still messed up! So the same inept plumber dudes come by at like 9 pm last night with the brilliant solution of using a variant of DRAINO to fix up the drainage system. Well, it seems to be working okay, except that the stuff they used caused my apt to smell REALLY BADLY the whole night. But then, as the plumber pointed out to me LAST NIGHT, yet DID NOTHING TO FIX, the fawcett is loose and is causing little water streams to spray out at crazy angles when the shower is on, which is bad. CAN THEY PLEASE JUST FIX THE FREAKIN SHOWER ALREADY? But hey, it's okay because soon I'm going to be ...
4.) Dammit, I cannot find an apartment. So I am already almost to the midway point for the month I'm staying at this place, and I can't find anything on Craig's List or other sites, don't have potential roommates, and I NEED an apartment ASAP. Of course, I found a place that sounded good over the weekend, go to visit the place, only to find out they were only showing it from 1 to 3 pm. And apparently the residents don't exist at any other time, because they weren't answering calls or emails or doorbell rings. Will someone from BU please move to LA and get an apt with me?
Okay ... now that that is settled ...
It's been a VERY cool few days at NBC. That coolness does kind of stem from a very sad event though, the passing of the king of late night TV, Johnny Carson. While his late night gig was sadly pretty much before my time, I can see and respect the talent of this man in all the clips I see and tributes I hear. He hosted the Tonight Show for THIRTY YEARS, 1962 to 1992, and his humor, style, and class is all just as obvious looking at his career and work today as it was back then. Leno, Letterman, Conan, and all other late night hosts owe a HUGE debt to Johnny, and there will never be another like him. That being said, Monday's Tonight Show was simply amazing to be a part of. Originally scheduled was aTABLOID STAR, Paris Hilton. What we got instead were true, bonafide LEGENDS. Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart, and Don Rickles graced the show with their presences, and it was really a sight to behold. Sure, some of the ditzy teenagers in line were disappointed that their pornstar/heiress/TV flav of the month was replaced with a bunch of old dudes, but for everyone else it was a great show - one that celebrated a kind of comedy that you don't see much anymore, the kind practiced by the likes of Rickles, Newhart, and of course Carson. They were true characters. They had a larger than life mystique. They were from the old school of comedy -- and yet their appeal, amazingly, was universal. While today you see comedians who appeal to specific demographics, these guys, Johnny especially, were American icons. They reached an extremely large, broad audience, and made all kinds of people laugh in a time when the nation was bitterly divided, as Jay pointed out in his opening essay. As a fan of comedy, it was a very momorable and special show to be a part of.
Today there was another humbling experience, as a group of marines attended the show (featuring Dennis Miller as guest), just before they begin a tour of duty in Iraq. To see these extremely young looking guys (most probably younger than myself) laughing and having a good time, just days before they put their lives on the line in a foreign country, was really amazing. For a while I was scared they weren;t going to get into the show, because they were in the back of the line and had a large group, but luckily they did and had a great time. At the end of the show many stopped and said thank you to me (I got them into the line and gave them their tickets), as if I did anything so great that deserved a thank you. All I could really say was that we really appreciate what they do, and wished them good luck. I was just feeling guilty that these guys almost didn't get into the show and yet we had rows of obnoxious high-schoolers and plenty of stuck-up LA types who got in no problem. There really should be some kind of NBC policy towards the troops that helps get them into shows, but I guess I'm not in a position to change corporate policy at this point.
Our training is almost at an end, and I think most of us newbies at NBC are feeling more confidant that we can do the tours, Tonight Show stuff, etc in the coming weeks. If I could just get my uniform all set ...
Oh yeah, Sunday provided a MUCH NEEDED fun diversion from all dis craziness. Fellow Northeast - to - LA transplant Paul Lurie was nice enough to put me on the guest list to a party that he won via a drawing. The shindig took place at Howl At The Moon, a local dueling piano bar in the Universal Studios CityWalk pavilion (to which I get free parking as an NBC-Universal Employee -- sweeeeeet, cuz it usually costs like $10 ...). Basically it's the LA equivalent of Boston's own Jake Ivory's. Now the slightly annoying thing about these kinds of places is that it's very difficult to carry on a conversation with the pianos constantly a-dueling. But nonetheless I was able to meet some cool people (and some pretty crazy people - I guess that's par for the course in LA when yer in the showbiz), and it was great to get out for a bit on the weekend. Of course staying out late Sunday screwed up my sleep schedule for the next few days, but hey, I've still got some of that ol' college willpower in me ... at least I hope I do. Well, I felt sapped of all willpower when I had to wake up at 6 am this morning to bring my car in before work at 8:30 ... but then again I have NEVER been a morning person.
One thing I'm realizing is that the working man has precious little free time during the week. I get home, eat dinner, watch some TV, and I'm done. It sucks. I have time for like one phone call a day, which of late has been my parents calling every five seconds, so I just haven't been able to talk to everyone like I'd like to. And I have got to cut back on IM and whatnot. I get home, start chatting to ppl, next thing I know it's 8:30 pm and I'm starving and haven't eaten and have a million other things to do. Things should calm down a bit in the coming weeks though, as out NBC schedule gets a bit lighter (not good in terms of getting payed though, and you know I gots to get paid).
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- taped the FOX Sunday night lineup and still haven't watched yet. I think only King of the Hill, Malcolm, and Arrested were new though.
- SWEEEEEEEEET episode of 24 on Monday! That first ten minutes was simply KICKASS AWESOME. Honestly, no other TV show even comes close when it comes to staging action sequences. At the first commercial break, I called my brother in Boston, screamed "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!" and hung up. Intense. The Arab son vs. his kra-zay father story is kinda cool, but I hope they throw in some twists to keep it from being too predictable. Right now it looks like it's gonna be Mother gats mad at husband, Husband kills repentant Mother, Son tracks down over-the-edge Father and ultimately goes all patricidal on his old man, thus saving the day. And then ... SPOILERS ...
... Aisha Tyler is EVIL? Sure, we knew she was bitchy, but full-out, terrorist-lovin' evil? Nah, I don't buy it, it's too obvious. I call her as a double agent. And ya gotta love the Sec. of Defense character. Reminds me of a politically-motivated Hannibal from the A-Team. But this show is really carried by Kiefer Sutherland, who seriously deserves and EMMY for his intense, consistent acting on this show.
- I'm watching Real World now and it's killin' me. I don't know why I am watching this buncha idiots being mind-numbingly stupid 24/7, but this show is just so darn addicting, despite seemingly lowering the bar for its cast members each and every season. Oh Landon and Shavonda, why deny your love, you two crazy kids? Oh wait, they aren't denying it anymore as of tonight. Who would have guessed?
- It's hilarious - before every Tonight Show they pick a mix of twenty-somethings and senior citizens to get up on the stage and dance for the crowd. Aside from there always being one atrociously bad white-girl dancer each time, you can ALWAYS count on some old grandma getting up there and shaking it like it's 1949, but EVERY TIME, they will for some inexplicable reason, start to DO A STRIPTEASE for the crowd. Every freakin' time. Today a large older woman wearing a sweater got ready to dance, and I said to another page, "I GUARANTEE this woman will remove that sweater while dancing as if she were a 70 year old stripper." and SHE DID, like clockwork. What is with these people? They must have like years of repressed desires in them, accumulated from years of sitting and watching TV and being innundated with pop cultural images of young woman prancing around and being singers / strippers / divas. So now, when the spotlight is finally on THEM, they think that it is their right, nay, their solemn DUTY, to start a-strippin' right there at the Tonight Show. That being said, it is pretty hilarious.
- Alright, more to come soon from sunny Burbank. So long Ladies and Germs, and goodnight Johnny Carson.
1.) Dammit, my car is being repaired. It was supposed to be that I'd bring it in this morning and pick it up this evening for touch ups and repairs. But NOOOO, of course I get dropped off after work at the dealership (by fellow new NBC page Tracy, who was extremely nice to help me out with transportation!), only to find out that my car HAS NOT EVEN BEEN LOOKED AT YET! Sonova, they weren't planning on telling me about this? I TOLD them to call if anything got held up. AND ... they assured me that it'd be no problem to give me a ride back to my apt from the dealership if I needed. So Tracy drops me off, I talk to the guy there ("Uh ... yeah, your car, uh, yeah we didn't really get to it today ..."), and I'm freakin' stranded. Poor Tracy had to turn around and pick me up again. See, this week the car has been flashing the "Service Engine Soon" light on the dash while the engine is running, and I wanted this checked. But nope, apparently DOING MORE THAN ONE THING PER DAY IS TOO MUCH for my good friends at the dealership. Of course, it didn't occur to me until after I finally got home that ...
2.) Dammit, my NBC page uniform! The two blazers I had are at the cleaners and were supposed to be picked up today. Not gonna happen. And then, I try on the pants that I finally got today to complete the uniform, and they are WAAAAAAY too long. So those are going to have to be shortened, and I need the whole uniform ready by THURSDAY. I better have my car by tommorow evening, so I can run to the cleaners, and they had better be able to shorten those pants ASAP by Thursday morning. Dayum. But, at least I finally can stop worrying about ...
3.) Dammit, my shower is still messed up! So the same inept plumber dudes come by at like 9 pm last night with the brilliant solution of using a variant of DRAINO to fix up the drainage system. Well, it seems to be working okay, except that the stuff they used caused my apt to smell REALLY BADLY the whole night. But then, as the plumber pointed out to me LAST NIGHT, yet DID NOTHING TO FIX, the fawcett is loose and is causing little water streams to spray out at crazy angles when the shower is on, which is bad. CAN THEY PLEASE JUST FIX THE FREAKIN SHOWER ALREADY? But hey, it's okay because soon I'm going to be ...
4.) Dammit, I cannot find an apartment. So I am already almost to the midway point for the month I'm staying at this place, and I can't find anything on Craig's List or other sites, don't have potential roommates, and I NEED an apartment ASAP. Of course, I found a place that sounded good over the weekend, go to visit the place, only to find out they were only showing it from 1 to 3 pm. And apparently the residents don't exist at any other time, because they weren't answering calls or emails or doorbell rings. Will someone from BU please move to LA and get an apt with me?
Okay ... now that that is settled ...
It's been a VERY cool few days at NBC. That coolness does kind of stem from a very sad event though, the passing of the king of late night TV, Johnny Carson. While his late night gig was sadly pretty much before my time, I can see and respect the talent of this man in all the clips I see and tributes I hear. He hosted the Tonight Show for THIRTY YEARS, 1962 to 1992, and his humor, style, and class is all just as obvious looking at his career and work today as it was back then. Leno, Letterman, Conan, and all other late night hosts owe a HUGE debt to Johnny, and there will never be another like him. That being said, Monday's Tonight Show was simply amazing to be a part of. Originally scheduled was aTABLOID STAR, Paris Hilton. What we got instead were true, bonafide LEGENDS. Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart, and Don Rickles graced the show with their presences, and it was really a sight to behold. Sure, some of the ditzy teenagers in line were disappointed that their pornstar/heiress/TV flav of the month was replaced with a bunch of old dudes, but for everyone else it was a great show - one that celebrated a kind of comedy that you don't see much anymore, the kind practiced by the likes of Rickles, Newhart, and of course Carson. They were true characters. They had a larger than life mystique. They were from the old school of comedy -- and yet their appeal, amazingly, was universal. While today you see comedians who appeal to specific demographics, these guys, Johnny especially, were American icons. They reached an extremely large, broad audience, and made all kinds of people laugh in a time when the nation was bitterly divided, as Jay pointed out in his opening essay. As a fan of comedy, it was a very momorable and special show to be a part of.
Today there was another humbling experience, as a group of marines attended the show (featuring Dennis Miller as guest), just before they begin a tour of duty in Iraq. To see these extremely young looking guys (most probably younger than myself) laughing and having a good time, just days before they put their lives on the line in a foreign country, was really amazing. For a while I was scared they weren;t going to get into the show, because they were in the back of the line and had a large group, but luckily they did and had a great time. At the end of the show many stopped and said thank you to me (I got them into the line and gave them their tickets), as if I did anything so great that deserved a thank you. All I could really say was that we really appreciate what they do, and wished them good luck. I was just feeling guilty that these guys almost didn't get into the show and yet we had rows of obnoxious high-schoolers and plenty of stuck-up LA types who got in no problem. There really should be some kind of NBC policy towards the troops that helps get them into shows, but I guess I'm not in a position to change corporate policy at this point.
Our training is almost at an end, and I think most of us newbies at NBC are feeling more confidant that we can do the tours, Tonight Show stuff, etc in the coming weeks. If I could just get my uniform all set ...
Oh yeah, Sunday provided a MUCH NEEDED fun diversion from all dis craziness. Fellow Northeast - to - LA transplant Paul Lurie was nice enough to put me on the guest list to a party that he won via a drawing. The shindig took place at Howl At The Moon, a local dueling piano bar in the Universal Studios CityWalk pavilion (to which I get free parking as an NBC-Universal Employee -- sweeeeeet, cuz it usually costs like $10 ...). Basically it's the LA equivalent of Boston's own Jake Ivory's. Now the slightly annoying thing about these kinds of places is that it's very difficult to carry on a conversation with the pianos constantly a-dueling. But nonetheless I was able to meet some cool people (and some pretty crazy people - I guess that's par for the course in LA when yer in the showbiz), and it was great to get out for a bit on the weekend. Of course staying out late Sunday screwed up my sleep schedule for the next few days, but hey, I've still got some of that ol' college willpower in me ... at least I hope I do. Well, I felt sapped of all willpower when I had to wake up at 6 am this morning to bring my car in before work at 8:30 ... but then again I have NEVER been a morning person.
One thing I'm realizing is that the working man has precious little free time during the week. I get home, eat dinner, watch some TV, and I'm done. It sucks. I have time for like one phone call a day, which of late has been my parents calling every five seconds, so I just haven't been able to talk to everyone like I'd like to. And I have got to cut back on IM and whatnot. I get home, start chatting to ppl, next thing I know it's 8:30 pm and I'm starving and haven't eaten and have a million other things to do. Things should calm down a bit in the coming weeks though, as out NBC schedule gets a bit lighter (not good in terms of getting payed though, and you know I gots to get paid).
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- taped the FOX Sunday night lineup and still haven't watched yet. I think only King of the Hill, Malcolm, and Arrested were new though.
- SWEEEEEEEEET episode of 24 on Monday! That first ten minutes was simply KICKASS AWESOME. Honestly, no other TV show even comes close when it comes to staging action sequences. At the first commercial break, I called my brother in Boston, screamed "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!" and hung up. Intense. The Arab son vs. his kra-zay father story is kinda cool, but I hope they throw in some twists to keep it from being too predictable. Right now it looks like it's gonna be Mother gats mad at husband, Husband kills repentant Mother, Son tracks down over-the-edge Father and ultimately goes all patricidal on his old man, thus saving the day. And then ... SPOILERS ...
... Aisha Tyler is EVIL? Sure, we knew she was bitchy, but full-out, terrorist-lovin' evil? Nah, I don't buy it, it's too obvious. I call her as a double agent. And ya gotta love the Sec. of Defense character. Reminds me of a politically-motivated Hannibal from the A-Team. But this show is really carried by Kiefer Sutherland, who seriously deserves and EMMY for his intense, consistent acting on this show.
- I'm watching Real World now and it's killin' me. I don't know why I am watching this buncha idiots being mind-numbingly stupid 24/7, but this show is just so darn addicting, despite seemingly lowering the bar for its cast members each and every season. Oh Landon and Shavonda, why deny your love, you two crazy kids? Oh wait, they aren't denying it anymore as of tonight. Who would have guessed?
- It's hilarious - before every Tonight Show they pick a mix of twenty-somethings and senior citizens to get up on the stage and dance for the crowd. Aside from there always being one atrociously bad white-girl dancer each time, you can ALWAYS count on some old grandma getting up there and shaking it like it's 1949, but EVERY TIME, they will for some inexplicable reason, start to DO A STRIPTEASE for the crowd. Every freakin' time. Today a large older woman wearing a sweater got ready to dance, and I said to another page, "I GUARANTEE this woman will remove that sweater while dancing as if she were a 70 year old stripper." and SHE DID, like clockwork. What is with these people? They must have like years of repressed desires in them, accumulated from years of sitting and watching TV and being innundated with pop cultural images of young woman prancing around and being singers / strippers / divas. So now, when the spotlight is finally on THEM, they think that it is their right, nay, their solemn DUTY, to start a-strippin' right there at the Tonight Show. That being said, it is pretty hilarious.
- Alright, more to come soon from sunny Burbank. So long Ladies and Germs, and goodnight Johnny Carson.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Live From LaLa Land
So after months of being in a state that has NOT A ONE modern rock radio station, I am all psyched to be in a place that is home to the "world famous" K-Rock, and I have to say I'm kinda dissapointed with it. I mean I've heard that same song by The Killers about 5 million times in the last week. I will say that good ol' WCCC in CT has a pretty unique style and playlist that you don't find elsewhere. Sure, they play waaay too much nu-metal type stuff, but they just don't really give a crap about being trendy or whatever, which is cool. You can always rely on them for a good Metallica song. Here, all the DJ's sound like Ryan Seacrest wannabees, and there is this weird, fake vibe that all the stations seem to have. Just a small observation from the West side. But hey, at least I finally get to hear some NEW rock music for a change.
It's been a looong week but overall I have been enjoying it. Most everyone I've met at NBC has been extremely nice, for one thing, so that's definitely helped. But this is definitely not the type of job where you can zone out or stay holed up in a shell. You're constantly on the move and dealing with people, so it is mentally pretty exhausting. Next week we start doing more stuff on our own, no more shadowing other pages. They are kind of throwing us new pages to the wolves, but hopefully it won't be too bad and people cut us some slack as we learn the ropes. Finally cracked open my Page and Studio Tour manuals today - should probably read through those before Monday.
I really do enjoy just talking to and meeting random people at the Tonight Show. I guess my dad having been a politician really instilled in me the value of being a man of the people. It's fascinating to hear the stories of people in line for the show - they just come from all over the country and world, just to be in the audience. I hope that I don't get so jaded that I stop treating them like people.
But I think I'm really going to be relying on my teaching and camp-counselor-ing experience at this job. If you can handle a group of third graders (and what groups I have had) then you can probably handle just about any kind of group. When I think of the kids I've had to deal with at Camp Shalom alone ... well, I still have nightmares about Terrell.
The Tonight Show on Friday was pretty sweet - Steve Irwin the Croc Hunter (CRIKEY!) was there with crocodiles, snakes, and A CAMEL in tow. Standing backstage with us pages was a team of doctors ready in case something went wrong. Cool! Also, news anchor Brian Williams was there (and he made an unsettling joke about the humor in him describing the "swinging balls" of the inauguration -- wait, Brian Williams is some kind of pervert? That's just wrong ... but then if Marv Albert of all people can be so freaky, anyone can I guess. Not to say anything bad about Brian Williams, but there is something off about those robotic news anchor types, ya know?). But yeah, the Croc Hunter was pretty awesome to see live, almost as cool as SNOOP DOGG a few days earlier.
I am so bad with directions. I swear I live 5 minutes from NBC right now yet constantly miss the turn to my street. It's like this weirdly angled turn that is very easy to miss, at least for me.
It is kind of weird how most of the other new pages are from right here in California. Nobody to commiserate with about moving across the country and not knowing how to get anywhere. Speaking of which, looks like the potential apt sharing with the other two pages has fallen through, so it's back to looking for a one bedroom for now.
See, I leave Boston and the northeast and all of a sudden there's snowstorms, terrorist threats, and who knows what other craziness is goin' on.
Looks like the shower in my apt is finally fixed, so I now longer have to live in two rooms simultaneously. It was nice to come back to my room today at 3 pm and find like five dudes sitting on the couch eating lunch. So I left quickly and took my snappy NBC-issue sport coats to the NBC-approved dry cleaners to be altered / cleaned. I hate how I'm still at the point where going anywhere requires a visit to Mapquest.
This coming week on The Tonight Show we've got Paris Hilton (note to self: check out the green room that day ...), Kiefer Sutherland (24! 24! 24!), and .... OZZY OSBOURNE!!! But dammit, he's only a guest, not performing. Dammit I would love to see him play while he still kind of can (never been to Ozzfest to see hime before). The audience guy from the Tonight Show was asking us who our dream band / guest would be. I think a re-united orginal Guns N' Roses lineup would definitely be up there. Aerosmith of course would be sweet. Getting more and more into fantasy I would love to be able to see a long broken up band like Led Zepellin play, or a pre-tragedy performance by Queen or Nirvana. As far as a guest goes, I really couldn't say. For pure comedy, I think the best I saw on Conan was Sascha Baron Cohen in character as Borat from Da Ali G Show. I was cracking up the entire time. I'd love to see a legitimately brilliant comedian / creator like Ricky Gervais, for example. Someone offbeat like a Gilbert Godfried would probably be really cool. Of course, there are a lot of stars I could care less about but it'd just be interesting to see them in person (just so I could say I caught a glimpse of Britney Spears or whatever).
Well, next week should be a trip. Hopefully I'll finally settle into more of a groove here and feel more comfortable. I'm telling you though, IBA: The Movie is money. Believe that, playa.
It's been a looong week but overall I have been enjoying it. Most everyone I've met at NBC has been extremely nice, for one thing, so that's definitely helped. But this is definitely not the type of job where you can zone out or stay holed up in a shell. You're constantly on the move and dealing with people, so it is mentally pretty exhausting. Next week we start doing more stuff on our own, no more shadowing other pages. They are kind of throwing us new pages to the wolves, but hopefully it won't be too bad and people cut us some slack as we learn the ropes. Finally cracked open my Page and Studio Tour manuals today - should probably read through those before Monday.
I really do enjoy just talking to and meeting random people at the Tonight Show. I guess my dad having been a politician really instilled in me the value of being a man of the people. It's fascinating to hear the stories of people in line for the show - they just come from all over the country and world, just to be in the audience. I hope that I don't get so jaded that I stop treating them like people.
But I think I'm really going to be relying on my teaching and camp-counselor-ing experience at this job. If you can handle a group of third graders (and what groups I have had) then you can probably handle just about any kind of group. When I think of the kids I've had to deal with at Camp Shalom alone ... well, I still have nightmares about Terrell.
The Tonight Show on Friday was pretty sweet - Steve Irwin the Croc Hunter (CRIKEY!) was there with crocodiles, snakes, and A CAMEL in tow. Standing backstage with us pages was a team of doctors ready in case something went wrong. Cool! Also, news anchor Brian Williams was there (and he made an unsettling joke about the humor in him describing the "swinging balls" of the inauguration -- wait, Brian Williams is some kind of pervert? That's just wrong ... but then if Marv Albert of all people can be so freaky, anyone can I guess. Not to say anything bad about Brian Williams, but there is something off about those robotic news anchor types, ya know?). But yeah, the Croc Hunter was pretty awesome to see live, almost as cool as SNOOP DOGG a few days earlier.
I am so bad with directions. I swear I live 5 minutes from NBC right now yet constantly miss the turn to my street. It's like this weirdly angled turn that is very easy to miss, at least for me.
It is kind of weird how most of the other new pages are from right here in California. Nobody to commiserate with about moving across the country and not knowing how to get anywhere. Speaking of which, looks like the potential apt sharing with the other two pages has fallen through, so it's back to looking for a one bedroom for now.
See, I leave Boston and the northeast and all of a sudden there's snowstorms, terrorist threats, and who knows what other craziness is goin' on.
Looks like the shower in my apt is finally fixed, so I now longer have to live in two rooms simultaneously. It was nice to come back to my room today at 3 pm and find like five dudes sitting on the couch eating lunch. So I left quickly and took my snappy NBC-issue sport coats to the NBC-approved dry cleaners to be altered / cleaned. I hate how I'm still at the point where going anywhere requires a visit to Mapquest.
This coming week on The Tonight Show we've got Paris Hilton (note to self: check out the green room that day ...), Kiefer Sutherland (24! 24! 24!), and .... OZZY OSBOURNE!!! But dammit, he's only a guest, not performing. Dammit I would love to see him play while he still kind of can (never been to Ozzfest to see hime before). The audience guy from the Tonight Show was asking us who our dream band / guest would be. I think a re-united orginal Guns N' Roses lineup would definitely be up there. Aerosmith of course would be sweet. Getting more and more into fantasy I would love to be able to see a long broken up band like Led Zepellin play, or a pre-tragedy performance by Queen or Nirvana. As far as a guest goes, I really couldn't say. For pure comedy, I think the best I saw on Conan was Sascha Baron Cohen in character as Borat from Da Ali G Show. I was cracking up the entire time. I'd love to see a legitimately brilliant comedian / creator like Ricky Gervais, for example. Someone offbeat like a Gilbert Godfried would probably be really cool. Of course, there are a lot of stars I could care less about but it'd just be interesting to see them in person (just so I could say I caught a glimpse of Britney Spears or whatever).
Well, next week should be a trip. Hopefully I'll finally settle into more of a groove here and feel more comfortable. I'm telling you though, IBA: The Movie is money. Believe that, playa.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Only Two Days In and Already I See Kenny G - What More Is There?
Wow, I am freakin' exhausted. I guess that's to be expected after making the transition from sitting on the couch all day to working 9 to 6 pm after moving across the country, in the land of the worst traffic ever, complete with a 3 hour time difference. So please, forgive me if this post is slightly rambling or severely incoherent.
It's been A LOT to take in. I've been inundated with so many rules, forms, information, directions, and people that my head is on the verge of exploding (as was evidenced by the massive headache I had from about 7 to 8 pm today). But yeah, basically in my first two days at the nbc page program there's been some informational meetings, as well as a lot of following other pages around and observing / helping them as part of our on the job training.
The other new pages and I ahve shadowed more experienced pages as they gave tours of the nbc studios, and also as they do various tasks involved in seating and organizing and monitoring the audience at the Tonight Show. Working the show is probably the coolest but also most tiring thing I've done so far -- it's awesome to see the show in person, for one thing. No, Leno is nowhere near as funny or clever as Conan, but his production is HUGE. He's got an awesome set, A-list guests, and a sweeet house band (never realized how much they completely rock before). The audience is very big (about 300 ppl), and the set is very nice and looks very high-budget. In only two days, I've seen Samuel L. Jackson, Tara Reid (and her two freakishly oversized new friends ...), Sheryl Crow, Matt LeBlanc, and yes ... the MAN, the MYTH, the LEGEND ... yep, today I saw KENNY G himself. Oh maaaan, I remember driving on car trips with my parents when my brother and I would just be BEGGING for them to change the radio station so we no longer had to listen to those neverending saxaphone ear-torturing "songs." And there he was today, playing Outkast's "I Like The Way You Move," with old-school funk band Earth Wind and Fire, classic flowing mane and all. Trippy. But it is all kind of stressful and hectic. There's so much going on during the show that there's just a lot to manage at once, and it never calms down. Still, we get to see the show, so that's pretty sweet. And tommorow -- Snoop Dogg -- nice.
The tours of the studio don't seem too hard to do, but for some reason I can't establish any sense of direction yet at nbc. Like I just have not gotten a grasp yet of how to get around the large complex. Hopefully that part I can learn soon.
And then we have to eventually start wearing snappy NBC page uniforms -blue blazers, grey slacks, and ugly-azz yellow and brown ties. I was surpriesed to find today that the supply of uniforms was in quite shabby shape. The only pairs of pants they had in my size were totally ripped to shred on the legs, the jacket I got is missing a button, and my tie is all frayed on the back. Um, okay, good thing they pay for repairs and alterations.
It definitely seems like a diverse mix of personalities in the program. For the most part the people seem very ambitious and confident in themselves, so I can see there being some intense competition when assignments start coming up that multiple pages are gunning for. I just hope I can get something I want and not have to compete with too many people to get it.
Overall it's been two loooooooong days so far. But it's been exciting and I think things will get easier as I get into the routine. But then again, it's possible that after seeing KENNY F'N G, it can only be downhill from here. Or not.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- LOST --- great episode tonight!!! That RULED - best episode since the early, now-classic Locke ep. The backstory of Michael and his son was very well done and emotional, and the tension / respect between Michael and Locke was handled quite well. The revelation about Michael's son's strange "abilities" was very interesting, as it really offers new insights as to what's happening on the island. Dis the kid unwittingly cause the plain crash via his apparent mental powers? Or, could EVERYONE on the island have some kind of metahuman cognitive ability (ie Locke willing the use of his legs back, Charlie willing his guitar back, Jack willing his dead father back to life, the kid willing the polar bear from his comic book to exist)? Verryy interrresting ... and then on top of all that, sweeeet twist, cliffhanger ending - Claire's back, sans baby? Wazzupwitdat? Very, very good ep, that brought back a lot of my slightly waning faith in this show.
- Well, as of tommorow it's official - four more years of Bush in office. I think it's clear at this point that Kerry was not the ideal man to win the hearts and minds of America, but still, I have little faith that much good will be accomplished in the next four years nationally and internationally. What can we expect? Continued, unending conflict in Iraq with minimal international support. Lack of resources available to deal with impending crises in Iran, North Korea, and elsewhere. Little progress in Israel without America's full attention or support. Continued poor cultural relations with the rest of the world. Continued concessions to big drug, oil, and other corporations at the expense of the middle class. Stalled progress in moving away from foreign oil dependence. Lack of funding for important scientific research such as stem cell work. Continued influence of the Christian Right over domestic policy at the expense of equality, civil rights, freedom of speech, and the essential element of separation of church and state. Appointment of supreme court justices who will try to revoke decisions like Roe V. Wade and will bring set us back 50 years. Continued positions for cabinet members like Donald Rumsdeld, Condaleeza Rice, and others who have been proven to mislead the public and miscalculate in their critical decisions. The continued reign of a president who is simply not open-minded, intelligent, or intellectually curious enough to lead us into a better future. So yeah, four more years ... woo-hoo.
- Did I mention I saw KENNY G, live? Bwahahahahahahaha.
- OK, time to go collapse in my bed and wake up at 7 am to do it all again tommorow. Who knew that having a job allows one so little free time?
It's been A LOT to take in. I've been inundated with so many rules, forms, information, directions, and people that my head is on the verge of exploding (as was evidenced by the massive headache I had from about 7 to 8 pm today). But yeah, basically in my first two days at the nbc page program there's been some informational meetings, as well as a lot of following other pages around and observing / helping them as part of our on the job training.
The other new pages and I ahve shadowed more experienced pages as they gave tours of the nbc studios, and also as they do various tasks involved in seating and organizing and monitoring the audience at the Tonight Show. Working the show is probably the coolest but also most tiring thing I've done so far -- it's awesome to see the show in person, for one thing. No, Leno is nowhere near as funny or clever as Conan, but his production is HUGE. He's got an awesome set, A-list guests, and a sweeet house band (never realized how much they completely rock before). The audience is very big (about 300 ppl), and the set is very nice and looks very high-budget. In only two days, I've seen Samuel L. Jackson, Tara Reid (and her two freakishly oversized new friends ...), Sheryl Crow, Matt LeBlanc, and yes ... the MAN, the MYTH, the LEGEND ... yep, today I saw KENNY G himself. Oh maaaan, I remember driving on car trips with my parents when my brother and I would just be BEGGING for them to change the radio station so we no longer had to listen to those neverending saxaphone ear-torturing "songs." And there he was today, playing Outkast's "I Like The Way You Move," with old-school funk band Earth Wind and Fire, classic flowing mane and all. Trippy. But it is all kind of stressful and hectic. There's so much going on during the show that there's just a lot to manage at once, and it never calms down. Still, we get to see the show, so that's pretty sweet. And tommorow -- Snoop Dogg -- nice.
The tours of the studio don't seem too hard to do, but for some reason I can't establish any sense of direction yet at nbc. Like I just have not gotten a grasp yet of how to get around the large complex. Hopefully that part I can learn soon.
And then we have to eventually start wearing snappy NBC page uniforms -blue blazers, grey slacks, and ugly-azz yellow and brown ties. I was surpriesed to find today that the supply of uniforms was in quite shabby shape. The only pairs of pants they had in my size were totally ripped to shred on the legs, the jacket I got is missing a button, and my tie is all frayed on the back. Um, okay, good thing they pay for repairs and alterations.
It definitely seems like a diverse mix of personalities in the program. For the most part the people seem very ambitious and confident in themselves, so I can see there being some intense competition when assignments start coming up that multiple pages are gunning for. I just hope I can get something I want and not have to compete with too many people to get it.
Overall it's been two loooooooong days so far. But it's been exciting and I think things will get easier as I get into the routine. But then again, it's possible that after seeing KENNY F'N G, it can only be downhill from here. Or not.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- LOST --- great episode tonight!!! That RULED - best episode since the early, now-classic Locke ep. The backstory of Michael and his son was very well done and emotional, and the tension / respect between Michael and Locke was handled quite well. The revelation about Michael's son's strange "abilities" was very interesting, as it really offers new insights as to what's happening on the island. Dis the kid unwittingly cause the plain crash via his apparent mental powers? Or, could EVERYONE on the island have some kind of metahuman cognitive ability (ie Locke willing the use of his legs back, Charlie willing his guitar back, Jack willing his dead father back to life, the kid willing the polar bear from his comic book to exist)? Verryy interrresting ... and then on top of all that, sweeeet twist, cliffhanger ending - Claire's back, sans baby? Wazzupwitdat? Very, very good ep, that brought back a lot of my slightly waning faith in this show.
- Well, as of tommorow it's official - four more years of Bush in office. I think it's clear at this point that Kerry was not the ideal man to win the hearts and minds of America, but still, I have little faith that much good will be accomplished in the next four years nationally and internationally. What can we expect? Continued, unending conflict in Iraq with minimal international support. Lack of resources available to deal with impending crises in Iran, North Korea, and elsewhere. Little progress in Israel without America's full attention or support. Continued poor cultural relations with the rest of the world. Continued concessions to big drug, oil, and other corporations at the expense of the middle class. Stalled progress in moving away from foreign oil dependence. Lack of funding for important scientific research such as stem cell work. Continued influence of the Christian Right over domestic policy at the expense of equality, civil rights, freedom of speech, and the essential element of separation of church and state. Appointment of supreme court justices who will try to revoke decisions like Roe V. Wade and will bring set us back 50 years. Continued positions for cabinet members like Donald Rumsdeld, Condaleeza Rice, and others who have been proven to mislead the public and miscalculate in their critical decisions. The continued reign of a president who is simply not open-minded, intelligent, or intellectually curious enough to lead us into a better future. So yeah, four more years ... woo-hoo.
- Did I mention I saw KENNY G, live? Bwahahahahahahaha.
- OK, time to go collapse in my bed and wake up at 7 am to do it all again tommorow. Who knew that having a job allows one so little free time?
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