audiofrog productions

Another year, another wonderful trip to Sunny San Diego.  This time around, I was able to reunite with my old buddies at 3pf ( 3 points of fun, this time being Manash, Azad, and myself).  I love those guys.  I also got to hang with some of the cool peeps over at Viz Media.  Shoutout to Berto, Tony, Akane, Misaki, Mitsko, and Urian.  Here is a quick recap of what happened that only the people who were there could possibly understand.

-Discovering the smallest backseat in the world

-Seeing Leonard from the Big Bang Theory at the hotel bar!

-Remembering DS9

-Con Badonk Patrol

-Tony’s inner monologue.  Bitches bitches bitches. boobs boobs boobs.  I need sex.

-Azad’s external monlogue. ( refer to tony’s inner monologue.)

-”I’ve never been in an elevator with Chevy Chase before.” – Manash the 5 year old.

-Taking over Misaki’s hotel room and then immediatly serving up 3 angry dumpers.

-Realizing that all VK fans openly support incest. T-shirt idea: Incest Fangirl #1

-Puma stone to the rescue

-and last but not least, Manash giving Tony the ride of his life.

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When Julie is about to eat, she turns into a giant.

This photo was taken from my backyard at 170mm f/5.6 on a very beautiful day, Jan 1, 2010.

Chicago, though cold, was such a beautiful city.  Tall interconnected skyscrapers, clean roads, wide sidewalks, and a train that runs above ground through a maze of skyscrapers all added to a hard-earned elegance that defines Chicago.  I was lucky enough to catch the city before and just as the snowpocalypse was coming down.  On my last day in the city, I woke up early and took the train to Millenium Park where the famous “Bean” sculpture is.

Above: the bean hides behind the trees, alone on a cold day, reflecting the empty park.

Above:  The Bean, officially named, “Cloud Gate,” is huge.  It creates a warped perspective on the city when standing up close to it.

Above:  Standing under the Bean’s dimple can create a surreal viewing experience.   Walking under it while looking up can cause minor nausea, as I learned.

One of the perks of the job is that, sometimes, you get to meet pretty cool people/actors/directors/etc.  OTHER times, you get to meet legends.

This print was done by one of Andy Warhol’s assistants who now makes a bajillion dollars a day printing things like this.

Me and Stan Lee.  This guy is 87 years old.  I saw him at a comic-con party partying it up with 20 year old models at a private table inside the club.  What a STUD!

Working in television has its perks; you know, like the occasional hollywood party, free movie screenings, expensively awesome organic craft service, instant job credibility at family gatherings, and the travel.  However, traveling for work has its ups and downs. The upside is that you get to see and experience cities and places on someone else’s dime while often gaining access no tour could ever offer.  The downside is that sometimes you often feel like you’ve never even left home because you’re working 12 hours and don’t get a chance to take a breath before being wisked back to the airport. Oh and that whole fucking thing concerning packing, checkpoints, boarding passes security, excess baggage, and over priced fast food (ever heard of the dollar menu?) God I hate the airport.

Even before I get to the airport, my stress levels are through the roof.  How much to pack? Will I go out on the town? Do I really need to bring 5 books….plus an assortment of magazines??….I really should….you know just in case I get stuck at the airport for about 18 days and I get through my huge library of movies on my laptop….mmm….but I don’t want to look like an over packer…..ill take the small suitcase…..ughhh but what if I buy stuff???…ok maybe just 4 books and 3 magazines…..OHHH I can’t forget my creative (and still 2 years brand new) moleskine notebook since who knows when that million dollar screenplay will come to me……ok what pens should I pack…… Plus, being raised in southern california prepares you for NOTHING when it comes to packing appropriate outdoor wear.  Cold weather equals a hoodie and jeans.  Hot weather equals a t shirt and shorts.  That’s the extent of my adaptive ability.

So my situation is that I got booked for a weeklong gig in chicago.  You know, Chicago; how different could it be from los angeles? We both have a ton of ppl, malls, cars, sports teams, etc. I should be good. Well, just out of curiosity, I checked weather.com for the following week.  Its pretty well known how uncomfortable us socalers get when it rains…maybe i’d need to pack an umbrella or something.  I had to buy a couple after surviving the Great LA Hurricane Tornado Monsoon of 2010.

*typing….chicago….feb 4…..enter…..* Let’s see here….lows in the….. 20 fucking degrees??? -1 celsius??? (That sounds ungodly cold.)

My normal anxiety about traveling justifiably goes up to threat level: red.

Can normal humans not named bear grylls survive in weather like that?  This has got to be some sort of mistake…so I called my buddy james who’s from this so-called windy city.

*calling* Yo james, your from the chi-town (I didn’t really say that)……is it really that cold over there????….uh huh……really….thermal underwear???? Wtf is that???…..layers?..like the app?…ok thanks for the tip…….*click*

Long story less long (god this is long), I searched my house for long johns without success.  That’s when my mom chimed in and suggested I borrow them from grandpa…he has plenty she said.  Oh what a great idea mom…lemme borrow grandmas adult onesie too.

I ended up calling target, walmart, and kohls.  Apparently, thermal under garments are a specialty item only sold for one week during christmas so people can pretend play cold.  I guess my gramps must’ve bought out their whole stock. In the end, I finally found a few pairs at the local Big 5 sporting goods store.

That’s the exciting conclusion to this life wasting blog entry! Well, I also discovered that I love thermal undies and feel like wearing them all the time now.

Sorry

Kevin

The Desert Lioness, calm, calculated,  surveys her kingdom…

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The Lioness strikes fear into those who do not pay tribute to her rule…

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The Lioness hunts down those who disobey her and eats them.  SLURP!

I took this photo a month ago in Silverlake, on Sunset Blvd.  My friend, Victor, had recently arrived from Sao Paolo and I was showing him around the neighborhood that he would soon call home.  You see, my friend Taina was leaving town for a couple of months and needed a subletter for her place.  Coincidentally, my buddy Victor was arriving from Brazil shortly and needed a place to rent.  When Taina handed over the keys to her place in Silverlake, CA, I knew it would be the perfect place for Victor to begin his LA Story.

Sadly, that first day Victor moved into his new apartment, he was a broken man.  He missed home, could barely speak English, and didn’t know more than 3 people in Los Angeles.  While we were eating at Pho Cafe (his first time trying Pho), the thought of living alone for the next 6 months away from everything he knew, really hit him, and he broke down in tears, right there, in the middle of the restaurant.  I didn’t know what to do except to reassure him that he’d be alright and that this time away would be one of the greatest adventures in his life.  Although I felt bad for him at the moment and I had no idea what he was going through, I knew that he would break out of his funk and eventually appreciate his situation.  After we finished up lunch, I took him to the grocery mega store known as Ralph’s, to pick up some supplies for the week.  It was quite an experience trying to figure out what he wanted and needed.  I kept trying to get him to go for the Banquet TV Dinners (10 for 10!!!), a staple of my college days, but he just gave me a dirty look.  He was more interested in weird stuff like brown rice, salads, cereal, and ground beef (only old ppl buy ground beef).  I guess Brazilians are a bit more versed in proper nutrition than most Americans are (me).  Aside from the odd food choices (no chips??), I could tell that the trip to the supermarket lifted Victor’s spirits a bit and that he would survive that lonely first night.

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A month went by, the holidays came and went, and a new job began for me at the beginning of the new year.  Aside from brief chats online, I hadn’t seen or spoken to Victor since that first day.  The holidays are always busy, ya know?  Between christmas, new year’s, my birthday, who has time to do anything?  Plus, it’s hard to get out from the vacuum of home when you’ve got great friends/gf only miles away…            Whatever the excuse was, I guess I felt kind of bad for not checking up on him more often.  I almost felt a bit responsible for his stay here since I had arranged the whole apartment thing.  I began to worry about how he was adapting to his new surroundings and if he had met any new friends.  I hope he had.  I gave him a call.

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Turns out he’s doing better than ever now!  He’s met a ton of people in his area and around LA who he can call friends.  He’s 3 weeks into a free English course and speaking volumes better than when we first met up.  Most impressively, he’s somehow finagled an interview with the Lee Strasburg School of Acting!  You’ve got to ask him about that story, it’s right out of a Hollywood movie.

It’s almost February now and Taina will be coming back from her trip soon.  Victor will have to look for a new place to live in a couple weeks, but this time, he’ll be much more prepared to make a change.  In fact, I’d fancy to say that he’s probably LOOKING FORWARD to moving out of Silverlake and continue his journey somewhere else.

I wish I had a photo of Happy Victor, but I didn’t think about that the last time we hung out.  Damn it.