WEEKEND RECAP

FRIDAY

Kayobi kindly picked us (The Troika) up at 6:00 and we sped off to the airport, going by the adage that you should arrive two hours early for a flight. I guess not many people fly on Fridays because we were checked in and through security in 10 minutes. That left us with quite a lot of time to kill. Ben found us after a while. Dom stayed put at the gate. I had a few drinks at the airport bar. Meep wasn’t feeling well, but eventually she got a beer which she couldn’t finish.

The flight was uneventful, unless you count Meep coming up with new nicknames for us. Danish, Spine and Chupacabra. I’ll leave you to guess who’s who.

Jacob picked us up and we crammed into his BMW. We got a little lost on the way to Inglewood where we were staying with Beth, an old friend of Dom’s. Beth was going out for the evening. We were too tired so we decided to tuck in for the night. Ben took the small couch, Meep, the large (not sure why) and Dom and I padded the hardwood floor with blankets. We met Beth’s sweet pit bull, Lizzie. She was uneasy at first (she’s not fond of guys), but eventually, she warmed up to all of us. We watched a little TV on Beth’s ridiculously huge wide screen HD and then tried to get some sleep. It wasn’t easy. There was a loud party going on till about 4 in the morning. On top of that, both Ben and Lizzie snore. It doesn’t help that Meep, Dom and I are 3 of the lightest sleepers in the world. In the middle of the night, Ben went upstairs to sleep in Beth’s empty bed (she invited us too), and I took Ben’s place on the couch. It was too late though. My back was already well and truly fucked from the hardwood floor. I don’t know how Dom did it.

SATURDAY

We woke up around 8 because the rest of the apartment complex was also awake. We were meant to meet Mark at his house at 10, but Jacob was late picking us up and we also stopped to get breakfast. We got there at 10:30. Mark lives right around the corner from The Viper Room and the Whiskey A-Go-Go in a nice little two-story bungalow that was once inhabited by Tom Sizemore. It’s a very cute place, tastefully decorated and comes complete with a breakfast nook. We briefly met Mark’s wife who wasn’t feeling well and seemed a bit unhappy having 6 strangers in her house on a Saturday morning. Sorry! Mark took us on a pleasant walk around West Hollywood, showing us where Sal Mineo died, where Marilyn Monroe once lived with Sally Winters, where Betty Davis once lived, among others. I find it ridiculous how NOT conducive to walking L.A. is when everyone there is supposedly into health and fitness. We got so many weird looks walking around. Furthermore, the sidewalks barely fit two people across. This is reason number 6 why I’m not in a hurry to move to L.A. I hate spending all my time riding around in cars. It feels counterproductive. I don’t know why riding the bus doesn’t. I’m just more suited to public transport, I guess.

Anyway, after our walk, we went to a veggie friendly place called the Newsroom, where I had possible the BEST vegetarian chicken yet. They were little “chicken” drumsticks smothered in BBQ sauce, laying on a pile of creamy mashed potatoes. They even went so far as to put wooden sticks in the drumsticks for authenticity’s sake. Wonderful. Now if only they can make vegetarian southern-style fried chicken, and veggie battered shrimp, I’ll want for nothing in the meat world.

Next we went to Ralph’s to get a box of band-aids for Meep, who was suffering from blisters. Ben and Dom went back in to get a bottle of water, and the rest of us were treated to some A-Class people-watching. It’s AMAZING what people in L.A. wear to the grocery store. “This is my casual, domestic errand coteur”.

We still had a couple hours before we had to be anywhere, so we went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to check out the graves of the rich of famous. I was surprised how many plots were marked for people who hadn’t died yet. There were also a few tributes to people who weren’t actually buried there. One such tribute was to Joey Ramone. The statue’s base sported quotes from Eddie Vedder, Rob Zombie, Joey’s wife, Vincent Gallo and John Frusciante.

Mark took his leave of us, and we went to Raleigh Studios where they were holding the festival. It was kind of exciting having to sign in and get a pass to enter a studio lot. We walked past several trailers, and a miniature horse before finding the theatre where we saw a feature called “Death By Engagement”. It was produced by a friend of Dom’s. The theatre itself was VERY nice. Cushy seats with high backs, and a big, beautiful screen. I imagine this is where many an important director watches dailies.

After the movie, we met Heidi Martinuzzi, a prominent figure in the horror world. We had been in correspondence for some time but had never met. (She was responsible for setting up our first ever interview!) She gave Snow Day a good review and has been very helpful with promoting our film. She’s also honest and fun. I haven’t met that many “L.A. Types” yet, but something tells me. She’s atypical. She also reminded all of us a little of Ahe. We all went to get dinner at a Mexican place called Lucy’s after the movie. It was overpriced and mediocre. Also, when I ordered a Margarita, the waiter thought I wanted a plate of guacamole. What? We did spot Eva Mendes though. Why any self-respecting Latina would eat that crappy food, I have no idea.

Heidi and her friend Zach took their leave of us after dinner. Mark made several suggestions for bars to visit. We settled on a place called The Three of Clubs. He said it was quiet and had nice booths. He hadn’t been there in several years, however. When we arrived, we walked into a silent room that was also freezing cold. We make an awkward exit about 5 minutes later, and headed to The Abbey, back by Mark’s place. The Abbey is a HUUUUUUUUGE gay bar. The place is like a maze. It was really cool when we first got there. Plenty of seating, fun music, and heat lamps outside. As it started to fill up, however, it became unpleasant. It was impossible to get a drink if you didn’t have a penis. Meep and I were blatantly ignored at the bar. We were also cock-blocked by an inconsiderate couple who decided to stay at the bar and have their drinks after they ordered them. Hello! This is where people order. There weren’t even SEATS. Mark took his leave of us early and we were joined by The Brunswicks and Beth. Because it was so difficult to get served, it was about an hour between drinks for me. That kept me awake but also very sober.

Eventually, Roxy, Meep and I had to go to the bathroom. This is the first time I’ve ever been somewhere that the line for the men’s room was longer than the line for the women’s. However, BOTH lines were RIDICULOUSLY long. There were only two stalls and the line was barely moving. It took us about 45 minutes to get in there.

Meanwhile, Meep gave up and she and Ben took a cab back to Inglewood. The rest of us drove off in search of food, apart from Jacob who stayed on to wait for friends. I had barely touched my crappy Mexican food so I was pretty hungry. As we got into the Brunswick’s car, some meatheads who had just parked asked us where we’d been hanging out. I told them “The Abbey”. “The Abbey?,” they said. “Were there a lot of GAY people there?” Rocko, quick on his feet, responded “No, it’s great. You’ll love it.”

We attempted to eat at Pink’s, but the line was long. I guess it’s an L.A. tradition to wait in that line, but we weren’t in the mood, and Dom and I erroneously thought they didn’t have veggie dogs. Instead we went to Astro Burger which DID have veggie dogs. We stuffed our faces and then called it a night.

SUNDAY

Once again, Jacob was late picking us up and once again we got lost. Lost in Beverly Hills. Cue the Fresh Prince theme song. Sorry, Mark, for being late BOTH times we were to meet you. Eventually, we found our way to (a different) Astro Burger for lunch. This place has a HUGE vegetarian menu!!! I will welcome my next trip to L.A. just to eat there again. I got a “ham” and egg sammy. Meep got a “rib” sammy. Their fries were also super delicious. I know I’m talking a lot about food, but it’s very difficult to get good fake meat in Seattle so it’s very exciting for me.

Anywhosel, off to Raleigh Studios again for our screening! We were one of 4 shorts that played, and the ONLY comedy. I kind of feel like they should have played ours last because right after the laugh riot that is Snow Day, they played a very long serious and arty “short”. It was very exciting to see our movie on that screen. It was also exciting to hear so many laughs. And in all the right places. Horror audiences get it, man. Awesome.

After the movie, we schmoozed in the parking lot. After roasting in the hot sun for a little while, Mark said goodbye to us. Thanks Mark, for spending so much time with us. I’m sorry your wife couldn’t join us.

Eventually, the party broke up. Meep, Ben and I still had some time before our flight so we went shopping. Meep and I dropped some cash at Golden Apple Comics. Then we got some Thai food.

The flight home was uneventful as well, apart from the fact that Ben saw someone he knew on the plane. We can’t go anywhere without him running into someone he knows. The man is famous already.

And thus, our trip to L.A. was at an end. But Dom’s was just beginning. I’m sure we’ll have to be going back to L.A. soon and often, but it was great to come back home to Seattle. Please, god, don’t make us move to L.A.

Photos forthcoming.

September 27, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I Made Movies . Tags: weekend recap . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

WEEKEND RECAP

FRIDAY

At Dom’s behest (and with Gadzook money), Faye and I agreed to have “Plight of the Living Dead” read by a professional…um…guy who reads scripts and offers constructive criticism. The process is called “Script Coverage”, but I don’t know what you call one who covers scripts. A Coverager? Anyway, we did it, and we met with the guy on Friday to discuss his notes. Faye and I were very nervous about the whole process. What if the guy just doesn’t understand our humor? What if he doesn’t even LIKE zombie movies? Well, we got his notes ahead of time, and they were mostly positive. But there were a few things in there that made us a little defensive. It’s VERY hard to take yourself out of a script you’ve been writing for 4 years. The guy (Matt was his name) had some good suggestions, and overall, he really liked the script. He said so several times. In fact, he said that if we were to start shooting tomorrow, we would have a good, cult-status movie on our hands. But if we revised a few things, we would have a GREAT movie that may even become a sleeper hit. So that sounds pretty good, right? Well, yes. It is. But like I said, it’s really EXTREMELY hard to step back from your work. So Faye and I, at first, felt like we had just gone to a parent-teacher conference wherein the teacher tells you your child, your pride and joy, is very intelligent but is they are performing below their potential and will need some tutoring or maybe to be placed in special ed. It was extremely traumatic for us. Luckily, we HAD read his notes before meeting with him so we had some time to lick our wounds and sleep on it. By the time we met with him, we had realized that he had quite a few good ideas. So now, Faye and I will do one more draft of the script before the end of August. We spent the rest of Friday evening getting drunk with Matt. He’s a cool guy which, at least for me, made the taking of the critical medicine that much easier. Anybody who loves “Human Nature” and “Swamp Thing” is definitely coming from a similar place. Maybe that was his plan all along…
Unfortunately, I was going on an almost empty stomach. Since we started out at the Coastal Kitchen (what’s up, pricey), I decided to wait on getting a snack, thinking we would only have one drink there. We had two. And then we moved to the Canterbury where I got another drink and a half in me before any food arrived. I was very dipleased with my order of garlic bread. Sorry, dears. Stale bread that’s been lightly buttered and sprinkled with garlic salt before being burned in a toaster oven is NOT Garlic Bread. Matt was kind enough to share his fries with us, however. Regardless, the lining of the stomach with carbs was too little too late, my friend. Too little, too late.

SATURDAY

Horrible raging hangover, check. Wasting the entire morning nursing said hangover, check. While I drank glass after glass of water and waited for the pain medication to kick in, I watched Confessions of a Dangerous Mind again. Great flick. I like that Clooney fellow. I think he has quite a bit of potential. Honestly, his direction harkens back to the 60’s and 70’s when making a movie was more than just filming scenes. It was about telling a story through pictures. Some of the composition is just beautiful. My only criticism of the film (besides Drew Barrymore) is that Clooney didn’t really pick a visual motif and stick with it. He kind of looks, at times, to be experimenting. Overall, however, I’m impressed. Sam Rockwell is an incredible actor. And also one of those not terribly attractive men who can convince you to have a crush on him based on charisma alone. In light of that, who am I to argue with a film that requires Sam Rockwell to be naked for over a third of the scenes? It helps with the pain, I’ll tell you what.

So around 3:00, I was still hung-over, but nursing time was over. I had to get ready to go to a short screening at the Rendezvous (for another Matt. Remember, kids. If you can’t remember the name of a male filmmaker, chances are they are called Matt, Mark or Eric). It being a beautiful day, Dom and I had planned to walk, but because of my useless ass, we didn’t get out of the house until 10 to 4, and we were supposed to be there at 4:15. Thank Christ for the Focus. We sped downtown and found a parking spot fairly easily. Matt was kind enough to show a trailer for “Snow Day” before his short, “Merlot” screened. We got out of there at 5 and had to speed back up the hill to meet the 48-Hour Film Challenge team at Linda’s. Why were we meeting? Because we WON, motherfuckers! Pretty cool. We had dinner and a few rounds there before Faye and I decided we needed to exodus. We aren’t fans of Linda’s and only showed up there because that was where the two fellows who suggested the party wanted to go. Sherrard came with us and Ryan and The Kidd went downtown “for a bit”. Needless to say, we didn’t see them again for the rest of the night. We ended up the Satellite, and I once again attempted to find some satisfying garlic bread. To no avail. This time it was some kind of basil infused tapanade over crustinis. NOT GARLIC BREAD. Kayobi and (yet another) Matt came by and later, Dom, Borgia and Cherry left Linda’s to join us.
When you start your evening at 6:00, coming him at 12:45 doesn’t seem so early. Still, I convinced myself I needed to watch a movie, so I put in Dark City. I fell asleep before Murdoch even meets Dr. Schreber.

SUNDAY

T’was a typical Sunday in many ways. I did some chores and Dom and I went to the grocery store. This time, however, we went to Trader Joe’s. We spent ABOUT the same as we would at Safeway, and we got some really healthy stuff. So we both feel pretty good about it. For lunch, we had Trader Joe’s tomato and roasted red pepper soup and grilled cheese on organic wheat bread and it was a delicious meal. If we don’t get lazy, I think we’ll really be able to pull off this whole “healthy eating” thing.

Kayobi and I have been trying to convince each other to go to one another’s yoga class for a while now. Yesterday, she finally convinced ME to go to HERS. I usually do Bikram Yoga, which is the “hot yoga”. The whole thing takes place in a room that’s heated to 106 degrees. This is meant, mainly, to make you more limber. So my first concern with Kayobi’s yoga was that I wouldn’t be able to do any of the positions without the presence of the heat. Right away, I could tell that these were two completely different schools of yoga. Besides the lack of heat, the studio also has hardwood floors. The class starts off with some meditation (instead of just the breathing at Bikram), and the teacher reads a poem. Then the teacher turns on some New Age music (no music at Bikram) and we get into the positions, which, I noticed all too well, were very hard on my knees. And not just the standing positions. The floor positions are all very knee-oriented as well. At the end of the class, we did some more meditation and the teacher read another poem. I was disappointed that I didn’t feel nearly as worked as I do at Bikram. I was sweating, but I missed that overall weary feeling that Bikram gives me. The feeling that lets me know that I just worked out every single muscle in my body. Maybe if my knees weren’t so weak, I would have gotten more out of it. But I also really like the down-to-business aspect of Bikram. The class lasts an hour and a half and we work out for the WHOLE hour and a half. At Kayobi’s place, we spent at least half an hour chanting or meditating. I can see how that would be good for some people, but I go to yoga to work out, not to meditate. I have never been able to meditate. And it’s not that Bikram isn’t spiritual. It is. But the whole “clear your mind, let your negativity go” stuff happens WHILE you’re in the positions. It’s the ultimate yoga for multitaskers. And, as my resume clearly shows, that is ME, baby!
Today I am sore in places that I shouldn’t be, like my knees and the portion of my spine that juts out at the base of my neck. In fact, I’m less sore and more bruised. I blame the hardwood floors. I don’t think I’ll be going back to that one. That’s not too say that I will never try anything else but Bikram. But I am fairly convinced that Kayobi’s place is not for me. Once again, I feel very fortunate about the circumstances under which I first tried yoga. If I hadn’t gone to the Sweat Box on that day, with that amount of energy, I might have written off all of yoga as something that “isn’t for me”. (Of course, it stands to reason that I really shouldn’t write things off so readily.) Next week, Kayobi’s going to come with me to the Sweat Box. I have a feeling she’s going to HATE it. :)
When I got back, I made dinner and Dom and I watched Dr. Who (which was SO good! It’s all I can do to keep from spending $80 on the whole season at Amazon.co.uk!) After dinner, I did some work and then popped in “Midnight Cowboy”, which I’d never seen. It made me a little sad that so few people try to make movies like that anymore. Movies in which the cinematography is just as important to the story as the script. It also struck me that there were really only two pieces of music in the film. At first, I was put off by it, but by the end, I couldn’t have seen it any other way. Music is another thing that seems to be so secondary in films today. I was struck by that when watching The Devil’s Rejects too. The soundtrack to that film is PERFECT and was obviously very carefully selected. Probably the reason music has taken a backseat in films these days is because it’s so hard to secure the rights to music. Faye and I have a couple songs written into our script and we’ve been told over and over again that we shouldn’t make reference to a particular song because it frightens off investors. But we didn’t just write in songs we happened to hear on the radio at the time or anything. We try and write scenes to Tangents songs just because we’d have more of a chance getting the rights. We chose them because those are THE songs we want there. Still, sometimes restrictions work in your favor. The music in the original Donnie Darko is perfect and a lot of those songs were compromises for Richard Kelly. I still haven’t seen the Director’s Cut to decide if he was right all along. But what he ended up with the first time worked really well.

At this point, I’m rambling. Sorry about that. Boredom is a bitch.

August 15, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I Made Movies . Tags: weekend recap . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

WEEKEND RECAP

FRIDAY

It was our friend Pam’s 30th birthday, and a lovely evening for an outdoor party. The Troika stopped first at Safeway to get some booze and some gifty-type stuff for the birthday girl. Faye found the weirdest birthday card ever. I will attempt to describe it. On the front is a cartoon dog in the middle of the woods, wildly sniffing the trunk of a tree. Inside the card it says “Whoa! Major dude here!” and then “Happy Birthday”. It was so weird that Faye HAD to get it. The meaning of the card became a topic of conversation throughout the evening. Eventually, we agreed that it must have something to do with the urine. The dog smelled the urine of a “major dude” who had peed on the tree. This was, we suppose, meant to imply that the recipient of the card was a major dude as well. But the whole phrasing was so bizarre. And what the hell does it have to do with birthdays? Who knows. Anywhosel, we wandered up to 27th Ave, which I’m not sure can be considered Capital Hill anymore. It’s definitely one of those strange “suburban” feeling parts of the city where everything is quiet and there’s plenty of parking. The party took place in their fenced in backyard. There was a BBQ going and some hilarious decorations which were very tailored to the birthday girl. There were also a stack of pictures of Pam’s head, on which you were meant to draw the body. That was fun. Later, the piece de résistance…wrestling in whipped topping! Pam had been saying for weeks that all she wanted for her birthday was to have her male friends wrestle in a kiddie pool filled with some sort of dessert item whilst wearing Mexican wrestler masks. And so she had it! Little did we know, Pam had planned to wrestle too. And she became the ultimate whipped topping champion! T’was a site to behold, let me tell you. Faye took some pictures which I will post links to when they are uploaded. But I have a feeling the photos won’t capture of magic of being there, mere inches away from being splattered with cool whip. The funniest part had to be when Pam won her third match. She stood up and said “I can’t see! Somebody please lick my eyes!” And TWO people obliged.

The Troika bailed around 10:00 because the party was headed to the I.D. for some karaoke and we weren’t in the mood. Dom went home, and Faye and I stopped in to the gay bar behind Chop Suey for a quick one. We definitely have to go back there soon. For one thing, they had THE best music. All the 80’s hits you know and love without any of the embarrassing stuff! The bartender was dressed in short-shorts, a reflective vest and a construction hat, and every once in a while, he’d bust a move on his way to serve a drink. Everywhere, people were dancing and just having a great time. No one was trying to impress anyone else. They were just there to party. Why can’t “straight” bars be like that? Why does everyone at Linda’s have to act so cool? And why can’t there be more Loverboy on the juke box?
While Faye and I drank our PBRs, we were approached by a very tall, very drunk man with long-ish curly gray hair and himler glasses. I had my hair up in the two small buns and he said that he had to come over because my hair kept coming toward him. He then launched into a monologue about how he never got hit on when he had short hair, but with his long hair, he does. Every once in a while, he would stop and look at my buns again and say “They’re coming toward me!”
Faye and I were supposed to meet the Nimble folks (I think…the drunky had set it at that point), so we took off ended up going to Bill’s, where they were going to meet us. We thought. But they didn’t. Faye and I drank alone, which was perfectly fine, and enjoyed the always wonderful music and food as served by Lily Taylor. Borgia joined us just in time to eat our leftovers and head home.

SATURDAY

Dom and I were supposed to meet a fellow local filmmaker whom I’d been emailing back and forth with for several months at the Canterbury for breakfast. We waited for half an hour and then ordered. 45 minutes after the scheduled meeting time, he called and said that he couldn’t get over there because of Seafair (goddamn you Seafair!) and we rescheduled for the next day. Dom and I got in the focus (with new windshield) and caught the ferry to Vashon to hang with the family. We picked his dad (Phil) up at the waterfront where he had been partaking in a ham radio contest (he’s WAY into ham), and we drove back to the house. Phil had to go to the ferry dock to pick up Dom’s half brother and family. While they were gone, Dom cleaned his car and I finished “Eleanor Rigby” by Douglas Coupland. (Damn you, Coupland! I can’t get through one of your books without blubbering at some point!). The sun this year must not be that strong (or close or something) because I’ve somehow managed to not only NOT get burned, but to actually procure a little color! Not that anyone besides me would notice. I still look like death warmed over. But I have an honest to god TAN LINE! Take that, Irish genes!
An hour and a half later, Phil and the family arrived with steaks, corn-on-the-cob and pumpkin pie. I make some bakes potatoes for my main course. My potato didn’t turn out so well, but the corn and pie were AMAZING. After dinner, Dom’s brother Eric, his daughter Sarah, me, Phil and the doggies went for a walk in the woods. The doggies were Phil’s beagle, Kirby and Eric’s poodle, Tommy. Tommy was apparently not used to so much exercise, so there were a few moments when he looked a little wiped, but it’s impossible to wear Kirby out. It was a wonderful walk. It’s not often that a city girl like me finds herself surrounded by trees as far as the eye can see. Very peaceful. When we got back to the house, we had a leisurely chat and showed “Snow Day” to the family. They said they liked it and bought a copy. (Of course, what kind of a family would say they DIDN’T like it?)
Dom and I caught the 10:20 ferry back to Seattle and I was so bushed (from doing what?!) that I actually fell asleep on the way home.

SUNDAY

Dom and I made a second attempt to meet our filmmaker friend at the Canterbury. This time it worked! We had a nice breakfast and chat about…filmmaking, and then parted ways. Later, I went to yoga and had THE hardest class I have ever had. I have never been so close to vomiting, and actually had to go to the bathroom in the middle of class to splash some cold water on my face. They say that it’s not uncommon to feel nauseous during Bikram yoga, but since I’d never been effected that way before (and have been doing it for over a year now), I thought I was immune. Not so. And how awful! I attribute it to a few things: not going as regularly as I had been the heat outside and PMS. It seemed like a lot of people were having hard classes, so I think the heat outside had a lot to do with it. I realized how lucky I was that the first time I went to yoga, I was having a good day. I was full of energy and feeling very strong. If this had not been the case, I doubt I would have kept going. Imagine if yesterday had been my first day! Ugh. Though that’s a lesson to be learned, isn’t it? I wonder how many things in life I’ve deemed “impossible” or “not for me” simply because the first time I tried them, the conditions were wrong or my heart wasn’t in it. How can I remember this lesson in the future?
Yoga wiped me out, and I had a nice, quiet evening at home in front of the television (including the new Dr. Who with Christopher Eccleston! It’s being broadcast by CBC! SO GOOD! Must remember to watch every week! Love Canada!)

August 8, 2005
Categories: Dear Diary, I Made Movies . Tags: weekend recap . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment