Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Sofie

Sofie's coming to work tomorrow and she'll be wearing her Underdog costume. So friggin' cute. I'll have to take a pic.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

How To Piss Off A Star

There's a bit of tension on set...

Normally, the DP (director of photography) watches rehearsal and sets up the lights accordingly. It seems our DP has been doing it differently - he's been blocking out the action with the standin and basing his lighting on that. Well, one day SJ came to set and the DP says to the standin "why don't you show Sam what we worked out."

You can imagine Sam was not happy. A famous actor, making millions of dollars, being shown his movements by the standin (who'd been instructed by the DP). Ummmm, so not gonna happen. Sam was very clear when he said "Let me tell you how this works. I come up with the actions and you light them." Ever since then, Sam's been a bit more difficult with the DP. Luckily he's pretty good with the rest of the crew.

Also, one night everybody got together and decided to rewrite the ending. Then, they decided to shoot both endings. Then, they decided to stick to the original script. Then, they decided to go with the new ending. I'm still not sure what they got on film.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

No Job Hunt Necessary

I got my next show - G-Force for Disney. It's a Bruckheimer film and I start September 4th. Shooting starts on the 17th so there's not a lot of prep, but I have an assistant and it shouldn't be too bad.

It's down at Culver Studios so the commute will suck but the pay is good, the payroll company is ok, and it will take me to the end of the year. Then maybe I can take some time off.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

A Crappy Tuesday Morning

I went to bed shortly after 9 last night and woke up at midnight to use the bathroom. About 20 minutes later I was awakend by the light turning on. I sat up and opened my eyes, about to ask the husband what he was thinking, when I realized the person standing in the doorway wasn't the husband. There was a strange black man in my bedroom doorway and he'd turned on the light in the hall behind him - all I could see was a silhouette. I didn't scream, but I did yell "Hey". Then I yelled to the husband that there was a guy in the house. As soon as I made a noise, the guy took off. He was probably down the stairs before the husband got out of his study.

We chased him downstairs but he was gone out the back doors, which he had left wide open. We spent a few minutes collecting ourselves (at this point, Sofie decided to bark, but only once) and looking around to see if anything was missing. Not much was... about $80 in cash out of my wallet and my cd case. We didn't realize that was actually gone until later, but I knew it wasn't in sight and that bothered me. Then we stopped and realized we'd better find all the animals. Sofie was with us. She'd been in bed with me and followed us downstairs. I went up and checked under the bed and found Baxter and Quincy, but no Darby. We couldn't find her anywhere.

We searched all over the complex for her and nothing. She's not afraid of going outside and we assumed she took the chance with the open doors.

When the cops came and we told them what had happened, they said it sounded like the same guy who had been in an apartment one street up. Two guys were on their balconey when they realized someone was rifling through their living room. They asked him what he was doing and he took off... Considering there were lights on in our place, the guy was either high or has balls of steel. We're lucky he didn't have a weapon or anything. That's when we figured out the cd case was missing. The husband had stacked some library books on top of it and those books were on the floor when we ran downstairs. We figured the guy took the cash then went upstairs and got busted. On his way out he grabbed the case and dropped the books. Why else would he leave behind the husband's wallet and my digital camera?

Anyway, after the cops left we went to Kinko's with our missing cat flyer and had them printed. Then we drove around putting them up all over the neighborhood. It was about 3:30 by then. In my desperate search for Darby, I investigated every little movement - saw a raccoon. We went home and sat together for awhile, all 5 of us. The husband finally made me go to bed around 4:30. I slept with the lights on.

I got up at 8 to call into work and let them know I would be late, then took Sofie for a walk. I kept looking for Darby everywhere and nearly lost it as I passed the fliers. I went back to bed until about 10 and decided I couldn't take it anymore, that I needed to go to work and get my mind off of it, that it all seemed like a bad dream. Baxter came in and sat down by the bedside table while I sat on the edge of the bed talking to the husband. I don't remember what I was saying, but I noticed him walk past me towards the foot of the bed when my mind did a slow motion thought process where I said to myself "that should be Baxter but it has spots." I swooped down and picked it up and it was Darby! I held her out to the husband and started crying. We don't know for sure where or why she was hiding, but it was her.

She was pretty spooked and kept going back under the bed. The husband said she hadn't gone downstairs at all today (he found a pile of poop in the bathtub, which is something Darby doesn't do). I don't know what that bastard did to her to freak her out so badly.

In the end we lost $80, some cd's and several hours of sleep. We also spent $20 on fliers and will probably have to rearrange the bedroom furniture. But we are 6 again and that's about all that matters.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Revenge

The fucker who ran me off the road this morning is in for a world of hurt. I have his license number and when I find his truck, Carrie Underwood will be ashamed of the minor damage she caused in her song...

I have my list of things to do, but if anyone has a suggestion, I'm listening.

By the way, I'm fine and the car is fine.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Paychecks At Lunch

Now that we have a new paymaster, I got all my checks printed yesterday and am ready to go to set. The best part is we are on day shoots right now and I can go out at lunch and get done, then be able to go home at a decent hour. No 10pm or midnight for me, baby.

And I get to have lunch on set. Hopefully the caterers are serving something good and vaguely healthy.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Stolen From ICHC


Jealous

Heard this story from D, the production secretary:

The phone rings and when he answers it, a woman asks who is in charge of the production. D asks if he can help, what this is regarding.

The woman says she's calling for a friend whose husband works security for our show. He's acting weird and distant; leaving at odd times. The woman went on for several minutes but basically wanted to let the female members of the crew know to not flirt or have sex with any of the security guys. D tries to get her info but she claims she's calling from her husband's cell phone and won't give it. He tells her he'll pass the message along.

And he did, to the location department (who hired the security company) and everyone in the production office. Obviously not calling for a friend and we were shooting nights so the odd times may be justified. Jealous freak.

And The Winner Is...

Sofie.

It actually was a tough choice and that surprised me. But then the Vespa didn't cock it's head and jump up and down excitedly when I asked it if it wanted to go to work with me today.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Cake

Forgot to mention I made a Cookies and Cream Tunnel Cake for work today. It turned out pretty good even though I ran out of confectioner's sugar for the whipped cream filling. It's not as sweet as it's supposed to be but it balances out nicely with the Oreos and chocolate glaze.

A couple of weeks ago I made a Loaded Goat Blueberry Cheesecake. Damn good, it was.

What To Do?




I can either ride the Plum to work tomorrow or bring Sofie to work tomorrow. Damn hard choice...

Book List

I finally got my book list consolidated onto my other blog. Check out the link on the right if you care to know what I've been reading. I'm a bit behind on posting - haven't put anything down since I got back from Phx. I'll catch it up this week if the husband helps me.

Monday, July 16, 2007

What Mess?


Kwik-E-Mart

The 7-11 down the street from the husband's comic shop is a Kwik-E-Mart. I need to go by there tomorrow night on my way home.

Wednesday is "Ride Your Scooter To Work Day." I really want to, but that's the day I bring Sofie to work. There's no way I can take her on the Plum. Now, if I had a side car I'd totally strap her into it but otherwise there's no way. And don't think I haven't thought about it. If she was smaller I could put her into one of those chest packs but at 23 lbs it's not going to happen. What if she freaked out?

Messages

When I came in to work yesterday, there were 4 messages on my desk. I knew about one of them from Friday but the other 3 were new. My favorite was from the stills photographer. He had called Friday morning to ask about changing his dependents on his W4 (they were taking too much in taxes) but if it was going to be a lot of paperwork then he wasn't going to bother. Since I was there, I sent him a note and a new W4 so he could take care of it. Well, he had decided not to make the change and he called back wanting to know what to do with the form I had sent. Um, throw it away?

The other notes were about how the holiday got paid and another W4 change. I've called everyone back and dealt with all but one. We'll see how that goes because this particular crew member is not the brightest bulb.

One nice thing about working on Sunday is no one calls in and no one expects you to call them back. It's a slow, quiet day when you can get a lot done.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Sad Puppy

Almost forgot. The husband called to tell me Sofie seemed depressed today. Seemed she wanted to come to work with me. Who wouldn't with all the attention she was getting?

I Have A Question About The Holiday...

Just got back from set where I made a lot of people very happy and confused some who didn't understand how the holiday got paid. We worked overnight into the 4th of July and I had to pay double time for every hour that was past midnight. Sounds simple. Now, I've been doing this job for almost 10 years and this may be the 2nd or 3rd time I've had to do this. It's not hard, just different. And considering most of the crew doesn't understand how to pay a regular week, there's no way I'm going to be able to explain this holiday pay.

So I just start talking and use contract language and basically make them think I must know what I'm doing because I sound like I know what I'm doing. It's not that I'm trying to sucker them. I just know they're not going to be able to wrap their heads around it without visual aids and 10 or 15 minutes. I don't have that kind of time or energy...

Costume Drama

On Sunday, I got 2 box rental invoices from one of our costumers. One was for the current week and one was dated from back in May. I looked up her account and noted the May invoice had already been paid, so I marked it as such and handed it over to the 2nd who pays the invoices. He put a note on it to ask her why she had submitted it (in case she had lost the check or something and didn't think it had been paid) and sent it back to her.

She called me on Tuesday to ask about it and I told her she had sent 2 invoices. She started talking about working late on Friday into Saturday morning and not remembering doing that. That was pretty much it.

This morning, she called again to make sure I had an invoice for the current week because she didn't remember making 2 copies Saturday morning after working all night Friday... I told her I did get 2 copies, that one was for the current week and the other was from May and then I told her if she hadn't submitted an invoice for the current week, we would have told her. She said she knew that, then started talking about the invoice we sent back to her and how it had a big "paid" stamped on it and how the note attached was offensive. I cut her off and told her the 2nd sent the note and would she like to talk to him? Not waiting for an answer I put her on hold and went and got him.

He got on the phone and she just started rambling about the box rental and some store credit and getting questioned about stuff and how she's not a thief and she thinks we treat her like a thief and on and on. He stood there, barely saying anything, occasionally holding the phone away from his ear, waiting for her to stop talking. Finally she ran out of steam and he hung up. Wow.

So now we have to take all of our costume questions to the acct who will take them to the production superviser who will take them to costumes. We're not allowed to deal with them directly about anything that may be considered accusing or confrontational.

But really, if someone says "I'm not a thief" doesn't that make you suspicious? Nixon anyone?

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Monday, July 09, 2007

Manicure

Our female lead got acrylic nails and of course we had to pay for them. She went to this guy who is described on various websites as "nail guru to the stars", "world championship team member", "a clear-cut virtuoso of nail design", an "industry icon", and a "nail industry luminary".

Normally he charges $1000, but since they are friends he only charged us $500. Wait, what? $1000 for a manicure? He'd better be using polish with crushed diamonds in it.

In the end they got it down to $250, but she has to have a fill done halfway thru and that'll be another $250.

I don't like paying more than $30 for a mani-pedi...

Hawaii Job

Experienced Payroll Accountant needed - Hawaii

Experienced Series Payroll Acct needed in Honolulu on July 30 for approx 6-7 months. Good Salary, Non-Affiliate Benefits, Good Housing Allowance & Per Diem. We need a top-notch person who can work with Vista & Show-Biz Timecards.

If it wasn't starting 7/30, I would be really interested in this. It may be for Lost, but I think there are other shows shooting there this season, too. Eh, I didn't want to travel again this year anyway...

Cupcakes

On Saturday I went over to Yummy Cupcakes http://www.yummycupcakes.com/ and picked up a couple for myself and the husband. I love their cupcakes. I'm not sure if they're better than Sprinkles, but Sprinkles is over the hill and therefore too far away so YC wins by default.

The only time I had a Sprinkles cupcake was during YM&D when the costume dept got some at Christmas. I had a chocolate peppermint one that was so good I still remember it. But really, who has time to go over the hill unless there's a PA available to send?

So YC it is. At least there wasn't a line out the door this time.

Friday, July 06, 2007

A Gift From Sam

I'm pretty sure SLJ is getting the crew a gift of some sort. His assistant has called twice now to confirm the number of people on the crew and the number of actors. The only reason she'd need to know that is to order giftages... I hope it's something nice.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Done Dog Day

Sof and I are about to pack it in. She's had a long and full day of getting scratched and laying around. Not to mention the solo forays down the hall to visit people in other offices and other shows. She's been quite the hit and I'm glad I brought her in.

I realized I don't have much to blog about on this show because no one is doing anything crazy. There's no drama to relate. It's very nice and I hope it lasts...

I do hope they get the A/C fixed soon. I'll be bringing in the fan tomorrow since I won't be weighed down with dog supplies. I don't have a lot of real work to do but I'm hoping to get a start on stuff for next week and go to set at call so it's not so friggin' late when I get home. That totally sucked last week getting home after midnight. So we'll see what I can do when I don't have to keep an eye on the pup.

Sofie At Work

I brought Sofie into the office today because I was pretty much done on Tuesday. She's kind of bored now, just lying on the floor behind M, but it's been a good day for her. Everybody up and down the hall, even from other shows, thinks she's just adorable. She's had her butt scratched so many times you'd think it'd fall off.

Andrew's mom in Transpo gave her some treats and Sofie stops by that office every time we pass hoping for more. I'm going to need to stop by the store and get some since she likes them so much.

I do wish she was a bit more shy. She tends to get up and wander off by herself and then I have to track her down. But I think she likes it here.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Day Off!

I am outta here for the holiday. We all have tomorrow off and since I have to work Friday to pay everybody, I get a 6th day. The A/C doesn't work very well in this building but it's supposed to be fixed on Thursday. I need to try and remember to bring in a fan or something.

Happy 4th of July!

Bring Sofie

Husband, bring Sofie down to the office. Andrew the Transpo dog is here today...

One Of Us

Sped, if you decide to get a Vespa let me come shopping with you. They are the best! I love mine and don't know why I don't ride it more often. Of course, I won't take it on the freeway since the top speed is only 60, but there are plenty of surface streets in LA! I do know it can get kind of hot in the summer because I also won't ride without a jacket. I know it's not much protection, but it's better than bare skin in case I wipe out. And there's helmet hair... but I really do love it. And your commute is so close it would be perfect for you. Ooh, I'm so excited for you.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Rare Monday Free Time

It's supposed to get over 100 this week. Our corner office facing the afternoon sun is a sauna. I hate being all sweaty/sticky at work. Sitting on a Pilates ball ain't helping.

It seems this show may turn out to be fairly nice after all. The crew is small enough that if I can get everyone to turn in their paperwork by Sunday I can get thru it all on Sunday. The problem lies in the cards that come in on Monday (and Tuesday and Wednesday...) When I get late stuff it throws everything off and I never seem to catch up. Most of today has been pretty stress-free. Of course, I have a small stack of cards that are waiting for resolutions so tomorrow will be hectic with the adjustments. But still, nothing like last week.

The auditor is here and I'm hoping to get thru my paperwork sooner rather than later. I came in early this morning and got the filing caught up, so it should be good. I'm hoping to have as good a reputation with Sony as I do with Universal. Makes the job hunting easier. Actually, my friend A just sent me an IM to see if I was interested in something. No details yet but it would start right after this one. I thought I'd take some time off, at least a week, but if the offer is good...

Margarita

I don't know if I posted this recipe from the day we started drinking at work at noon...

6 oz Corona
6 oz (1/2 can) frozen limeade
8 oz tequila

Throw it all in a blender, add ice and away you go!

courtesy of Stevie L (my boss from Used Guys)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Another Working Sunday

I just finished going thru all of the start paperwork. There's a couple dozen, not too bad. My stack of timecards isn't too thick and I hope it's as clean as last week. We've got Wednesday off since the 4th of July is a union holiday and payday won't be until Friday. I get Wednesday and Saturday off and get paid for a 6th day on Friday. Nice.

I rode the Plum into work this morning. It definitely takes longer going surface streets, but I tried Riverside today and it's the fastest route. I'll have to see how it is during the week with traffic. It's a nice enough ride but still not the same as just cruising around.

I have to find my shuffle. Lost again... I'm streaming the local pop station which will be annoying once they start repeating. But it's better than silence.

Alright, enough timed killed - have to get back to work.