Wardrobe Fitting and Other Stuff
Had the wardrobe fitting today, and it was fun and silly, as I mostly expected it to be. The only piece of costuming they are providing is a red mesh trucker ball cap. Everything else is out of my closet. I sold a shirt to the costume lady and she cut the sleeves and I rented a singlet to her for another actor.
After the fitting, I walked to my office four blocks away and saw a client at 17:00. Nicky picked me up from work and we had Thai food take-out.
Will texted me asking what I was up to as his shift had been canceled at the hotel, so after dinner I walked over to the Church St. Cafe and joined him for coffee and fruit. Nicky decided to remain home and read and rest, ad he is still acclimating to his new job and was tired.
I sauntered up over Mint Hill to the café and met Will there, and we got to share some nice time together. Bruin is off in Philadelphia visiting his family for the next week; I’ll make sure Will doesn’t get too lonely without Bruin at home.
Will wanted to go to the gym, so I walked him to the MUNI station and we bade each other farewell, then had a nice walk back home, where I found sweet Nicky sleeping on the giant couch in the front room. I woke him gently and tucked him to bed, and am about to do the same – three long clients tomorrow.
The New Apollo Cafe
The site of the Apollo Cafe is missing is facade. The new owner plans on putting in a Mediterranean Restaurant, replacing the Mediterranean Cafe/Deli that was there. Good luck to the new owners.
Commerical Update
Friday morning, I received a call from the casting agency, letting me know that if I wanted it, I had the commercial! Hooray!
Yesterday, I spoke with the wardrobe stylist for the shoot – she wanted to know what sort of clothes I had from the trucker costume list. Apparently, buying clothes for big, tall men isn’t so easy for her, either! She may just want to buy that red plaid flannel shirt from me that I used for the audition in order to cut the sleeves from it. At least, I’d be able to buy a new shirt! She also wants to rent my wrestling singlets for another commercial shoot that casts big, burly men as wrestlers. Typical rental for costumes is 1/10 to 1/3 the replacement cost of the garment.
This morning, I spoke with the casting agent, who wanted to let me know when the wardrobe fitting would take place, as well as what day next week the shoot will be – apparently it’s next week at an Oakland truck stop.
In the Running with Strawberry Juice
When my friend, the inimitable P. A. Cooley, let me know about an opportunity for a spot on a TV Commerical, I sent in my face and body shots on a lark, not really thinking that anything’d come of it. Two days later, Teresa at the casting agency called me and asked if I’d come in for an audition. What an exciting time!
Wednesday morning, I dropped Nicky off at work, then came back home and got ready – red plaid flannel shirt, 501s with the cuffs rolled up, red wing boots, and my USS Frank Cable (AS-40) ballcap. Teresa had asked me to dress like a trucker, and that was the best I could do.
I drove down to the casting agency at 10:00, ten minutes early, found a good parking spot, and walked in, ascending the two flights of stairs to the third floor. There were two men in the waiting area: a mulleted 50-something who was complaining rather loudly when he saw me walk in, went over to read the description of the actor, looked at me, and shook his head. “I should have gotten a better agent 20 years ago!” he groused.
The other fellow was also older, had a goatee, was somewhat bearish, but had a distinct limp. Neither one of these guys fit the physical description at all – over 6’2″ and 250 pounds. I felt pretty good.
The three of us chatted for a while, and I told them I had never done anything like this before. The guy from the agency came in, and looked at the sign-in sheet. He asked who was whom, and when I didn’t say respond, I prompted my self to introduce myself. He seemed happy that I was there.
He took the other two gentlemen first, one at a time. While I was waiting my turn behind the second guy, an even taller guy came up the stairs, bearded, with long wavy hair. He didn’t look particularly trucker-ish, but he was definite competition. I told him what the assistant had said, and then it was my turn.
Went into the room, and placed my bag on a red velvet bench on the side, then walked over to the mark on the floor that was taped on. Two big umbrella reflectors were mounted in a way to shine on that mark, and he stood behind the camera, with a computer or laptop next to him where we was controlling the recording.
He wanted me to first just stand there and say my name, height and weight. Wanted me to give him my simmering rage face, pump up my chest and flex, make my neck muscles stand out, look angry, snarl. He also wanted me to assume a standing wrestling pose and move around as if I were in a junkyard facing a guard dog. All through my audition, he kept saying that he really liked what I was doing and that it looked great. When I left, I picked up my bag, asked him a quick question, and bade the by now six other guys good luck and descended the stairs.
I feel pretty good about it.
Today, I attended an introductory class to Active Myofascial Therapy – The Diamond Method. This hour and a half free class was on relieving neck pain, and served as a sales pitch for a 40 hour intensive at the beginning of next month. I did enjoy the class, but the work was so similar to what I already do, that I don’t really need to take the class in order to know how to adapt even the few techniques she showed to work with the entire body. I might take the class, or not, I don’t know yet.
Nicky picked me up from the class, which was held at the Sports Basement, and we headed through the Castro, went to the Kinko’s to get his sandwich assembly instructions copied for his new job at Noah’s Bagels down on Market in the Embarcadero Center, and to Safeway to gather ingredients for dinner.
While I was in Safeway, I received a telephone call from Teresa again. I was “in the running” for the commercial and they were sending my audition to Slim Jim to make the final decision. I should hear by Tuesday at the latest.
I pan seared two small tuna steaks, and roasted asparagus, brussel sprouts and tiny yukon potatoes. I also juiced two pounds of strawberries, and half a cup each of blueberries and blackberries.
Nicky did the dishes, studied his recipes, and is now in bed while I type this. I really love that kid.
Put Up a Parking Lot, Finale
That didn’t take very long. I had a conversation with a longtime Hayes Valley resident, a gentleman waiting at the outbound 21 Hayes stop here at the parking lot. He’s not very happy, neither.
Put Up a Parking Lot
The death of the attempted Art Park is being followed by a parking lot installation. Alas…
In Which Paul Has a Weekend Adventure
Nicky picked me up from work Friday night, and we met Will and Bruin in the Castro for dinner. We ended up going to the Lower Haight to dine at the utterly incredibly Chili Cha Cha Thai Restaurant. We ordered a whole bunch of food and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. From there, we headed to Le Video so I could get a copy of John Waters’ Crybaby. It was my responsibility to put together the slide show to project onto the screen at Saturday night’s Trash Film Orgy, and I planned on rehearsing it that night, too.
But when we were having our coffee at Wicked Grounds, we found out about Sam Storick’s death, and Will became very upset. You see, he and Sam had been partners for a few years back in Arizona, and the suddenness of both Sam’s illness and death had us all unbalanced. So, Will asked me if I could take them home immediately, and I acceded, driving them over to Portola and Woodside. Nicky and I got home but I just couldn’t focus on the task at hand, so I canceled my appointments for Saturday – both because I was upset at Sam’s death, but also so I could rehearse the slide-show synchronization with the movie. Nicky was a real comfort to me.
Saturday, I put the finishing touches on the slideshow and hopped in the Zipcar, arriving in Sacramento around 6pm. I had a quick nap and dinner, then headed to the theater, where I acquired some molasses magic cookies, and ate one. Probably I should have asked how strong the cookies were, but I figured that I’m a big guy and have enough tolerance to handle whatever it throws my way.
The show went well, and the lighting looked really grand during the opening number. I rushed downstairs to take my place at the laptop and projector down by the DJ booth, so I could project the lyrics onto the screen while the movie played. The cookie was really working.
During intermission, I bought two bottles of water, and started drinking water because my mouth was feeling dry. Did some socializing with random folks at the show, and headed back to my laptop to finish the job. I was growing increasingly thirsty during the second half of the movie, but I couldn’t find my water bottles.
After the film, I found my bottles, but I couldn’t figure out how to make my arm lift the bottle to my mouth. Then I fell off my chair onto the floor of the theater, and started to panic. People were gathered around me but I couldn’t make my arms work right at all. Finally, I was able to make my arms move again, and Darin sat with me for a few minutes until I was able to get up and move around again. That was a very strange experience.
I got to Darin and Christy’s house for a little visit, then drove back at my motel around 04:00, and promptly fell asleep. Woke up at 10:30 on Sunday morning, and decided that instead of going back to San Francisco right away for Dore Alley, I would spend a couple of hours visiting my dad and younger sister and brother-in-law at their place, so I called my dad and let him know I’d be there in about an hour. Vel called me a few minutes later, and I suggested that we might want to get breakfast. So we had a plan.
Vel and Paco on the River
A quick shower, then a short drive to their place, and I had a lovely visit with them. A couple of their friends showed up, too, and we had a good afternoon hanging out. Jim suggested that we go out on the river in their new boat, and I thought that was a splendid idea, so we got up and headed out to Discovery Park for the boat launch ramp, and spend a couple of hours cruising up and down the Sacramento River.
Headed back to San Francisco somewhere around 21:30 and called Nicky up to see where he was. We met at Nation’s Giant Burger in El Cerrito for a quick dinner of wild salmon burgers, fries, and pie. Since I was feeling both good and unsettled I decided to stay with him in El Cerrito for the night and return the car in the morning. My noon appointment had already asked to reschedule, so I wasn’t worried about having to get up too early to drive in the morning commute traffic, and had a pleasant night’s sleep and good morning with Nicholas.
The zipcar was returned with a few minutes to spare, and I walked back home, did some laundry, and napped in preparation for my afternoon clients.
At Western Star Dancers
Rich Reel Calls for WSD Plus Class
Since Foggy City Dancers is dark this month, Steve Huggins and I decided to attend Western Star Dancers’ Plus Class, which has had to move to Thursday nights due to City budget cuts forcing the closure of their City-owned facility on Mondays.I had a great time dancing and it was nice to not have to set up or break down or make announcements for a change.
During the class, I had to excuse myself to make a phone call to a friend of a client who was interested in learning more about my experiences with Groupon and HomeRun. That was the last third of the class, but I didn’t mind, since I’m just an Angel anyway. We talked about their staff, their process, how well the payments worked, how many people didn’t redeem their Groupon vouchers, and more. I gave him a few thoughts on what he is trying to sell and how he might best offer it to the sites.
Afterward, Steve and I went to his place to go over the FCD books, and I helped him set up this new website for Detroit Blocks Clubs, a community initiative to help get Detroit back on its feet.
A Lovely Gift
One of my clients gave me this lovely container made of recycled Vietnamese magazines! It’s amazing!
James Taylor and Carole King
On Sunday, a friend of mine asked me if I’d accompany him to last night’s Troubadour Reunion Tour concert of James Taylor and Carole King at the Oakland Arena. That a great decision to accept!
So, I headed to my office Monday afternoon to see my first client, but she didn’t show up. I checked my text messages and realized that I had forgotten to move the appointment like she requested, so I sat there in my office wondering why she wasn’t showing up.
On the other hand, my African Violet is blooming and happy!
Once I figured out that I had forgotten to reschedule her like she had asked, I left my office and wandered around for a little while, then hit up Little Delhi for some pre-concert dinner. My friend and I were not going to be able to meet for dinner ahead of time, so I went to my favorite downtown restaurant and had some yummy goodness.
Veggia Malai Kofta and Veggie Korma over rice at Little Delhi
Their Vegetarian dishes are really wonderful – I had Mala Kofta and Korma over rice, as well as onion kulcha and a sweet lassi. There is one waiter there who I think is an absolute dreamboat, and he is very friendly and solicitous – perhaps a little bit too much so, if you get my drift. Definitely sponge-worthy.
But it was getting time to head over to Oakland for the concert, so I paid my bill, gathered up the leftovers, and headed into the Apple Store for a quick purchase of a combination car charger/wall plug power adapter for my phone. The iPod power adapter in my office doesn’t work with the phone – it’s a third generation iPod that’s six years old. Poor thing.
The battery in my phone was getting a bit low, so I gave it a quick 30 minute charge to help me get through the night, then headed down to BART.
While I was waiting for my friend, who was riding the train up from Milbrae station, I found an open utility panel at the end of the station that had AC outlets, so I sat down there and continued charging my phone, while texting him to let him know I was on the station platform already.
When his train arrived, he texted me and I texted back that I was at the end of the platform, and stood up so he could see me over the crowd. We embraced a greeting right as the Dublin/Pleasanton train was pulling in to the station, so I lead us to the train and found a couple of seats, and we started talking, comparing our iPhone apps, and sitting close together. What a cuddly cubby he is!
Taylor/King stage pre-show
The train deposited us at Coliseum station and we disembarked with all the baseball fans and concertgoers and commuters, where all moved in an orderly fashion toward the exit and the pedestrian bridge. Bernardo said that his folks would be at the other side of the bridge waiting for us with the tickets. Quick introductions were made and we walked around the stadium to the arena and got in line, until an employee asked us where our seats were. She pointed us to the upstairs line, which was moving much more quickly, and we got settled into our seats in section 108 row 5. The seats were just about perfect! Just the right distance and height for my tastes.
The show started and the band came on the lovely rotating stage, with the original Troubadour bandmembers, and a music director/keyboardist, and three back-up singers, one of whom also played the violin.
What followed was three hours of amazing songs and wonderful playing by the band, lead in segments by either Taylor or King. What was funny was I didn’t realize just how many James Taylor songs I knew, buried back in the recesses of my brain. I knew Carole King was a prolific songwriter who was responsible for countless hit songs for herself, Taylor and others, but even then, the depth and breadth of the songs that flowed from the stage was almost frightening in its scope.
Circular LED display above Taylor/King stage
The stage lighting was beautiful, with a large, circular LED display panel above the stage, as well as large projection screens above that for the people higher up to see the concert.
Everything about the show was well-executed and a delight, from the spectacular audio quality, subtle lighting, chemistry between Taylor and King and the rest of the band.
Here’s a short snippet of the concert, the last song of the evening. I should have recorded the whole thing, but I was enjoying the show too much to think about it.
Don't Cry - James Taylor and Carole King - Live - Oakland, CA 2010-07-19 [2:56m]: Play in Popup | Download