Tales of a Working Actor (in progress): 09/01/2005

Friday, September 30, 2005

Picture this

Most actors I've talked to agree that the Polaroids taken in casting offices suck ass. They pretty much bring out every insecurity you've ever had about your looks and amplify them by a power of 10. The purpose of the Polaroid is to capture what you really look like as opposed to the idealized version your headshots project. Unfortunately, whereas headshots can make you look better than you actually do, Polaroids can only make you look worse, period. The shot you see to the left was taken at an audition I had yesterday. Usually, if you take a particularly bad Polaroid and want another shot at it, your pleas will be met with indifference or downright mockery from the casting assistant. Yesterday, I didn't even have to ask for another. Granted, the audition was for a Korn video, but the ass-y nature of the shot apparently wouldn't even meet the standards of a band whose most famous song is titled "Freak On a Leash." I think I'm going to start a collection of these audition-room Polaroids, just for those times when I need a good cry.

I'm sure this topic will be addressed again in the (still upcoming) Working Actor strip.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Flightpan

This past Friday my brother-in-law and I went to the movies, as we pretty much do every Friday after work. He had already expressed his interest to see Flightplan, but as we approached the marquee of the theater, I was disheartened to note that I would pretty much rather see anything other than Flightplan. Corpse Bride. Lord of War. The Constant Gardener. It was not to be, however, and so I comforted myself with thoughts of how this movie might be so bad, it'd be entertaining. This also, was not to be, as it was pretty much the turd I had forseen after catching the trailer. Speaking of which, when I saw the trailer I was like, waitaminute, the "bad guys" are actually successful in convincing Jodie's character that her daughter's dead? I mean, I know grief does crazy things to people, and the character had just lost her husband, but I don't think anyone could convince me that I had lost a daughter when I had just spent the past several days with her. I thought this must have been a lame attempt to "up the drama" in the trailer, but no, it was actually in the movie - they convince her that her daughter has been dead for a while and that Jodie's a crazy person. Also, only two people on the entire plane are in on the conspiracy which makes the whole idea even more ludicrous. Actually, ludicrous-level is reached when Jodie's character realizes that she, in fact, does have a living daughter when she sees the heart her daughter drew on the window with her finger, a few hours earlier. Whatever. Even the poster for the movie is lame and uninspired. And what drew Jodie to this part in the first place? Especially after the superior Panic Room. Is there really a huge demographic for Jodie Foster-with-daughter-in-jeopardy movies? Apparently so, as the movie took the #1 spot at the box office with $24 million in ticket sales in its first week. Good thing I'm not a studio exec 'cuz I would've grounded production of this movie before takeoff.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Meet Kim

Continuing to introduce the characters of the upcoming webcomic, Working Actor (in progress)... Of course, the characters and their likenesses are subject to change by the time the strip comes out, but this is who they are at the moment:

Kim's an old friend and ex-girlfriend of Jeff. She's not drop-dead, model-gorgeous but has that alternative, punky attitude and look that I find way more attractive. Although Jeff and Kim were together long enough to know that they aren't right for each other, there's a bit of playful jealousy whenever they're dating other people. She drinks beer, plays cards and isn't afraid of a videogame controller; she's no girly-girl.

...And that's it for Jeff's circle of friends. Next week, I'll reveal his workmates in one, big posting. I'm anxious to start posting the actual strip, so the sooner the better. None are 100% done yet, but I have several of them loosely-pencilled out. My tentative launch date for the strip (and with that comes the launch of an all-new site) is during the first week of October. Fingers are crossed.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Reunited, and it feels so good...

Monday, September 19, 2005

iPod, forgive me

Went to my niece's new place for an apartment-warming party last night, and forgot my jacket in her front closet. That wouldn't be so bad in itself, but my iPod is in the inside pocket. I sent my sister on a mission to retrieve the jacket and 'pod this morning and I haven't heard back from her and it's been hours and she's not returning my calls. Could my niece or one of her friends have found jefPod and been playing with him all night? Could they have removed him from his protective, shell case and *gasp* peeled the screen and click wheel protector from his scratch-free, shiny, white and chrome body!? Aaaaggghhh!!!

**update** Just got a call from my sister Laura Jean, saying Operation Rescue was successful and the iPod has been secured. *whew* If all goes well, she'll hand it off to my brother-in-law tonight, and he'll give it to me tomorrow at work.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Super Security Force Brigade

...and here's how they turned out. There was a bit of an evolution to each of the characters except for the Caucasian girl, really. Since the African-American guy in the middle will probably be featured in a majority of the programs, I wanted him to look a bit stronger and more confident. We needed an older person so I modified a character I had created a couple of years ago into the older lady we see here. We also needed a guy in just a straight-up business suit so the Asian guy on the left got that job. And what company couldn't use a Viking wielding a bloody war hammer?

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Security Force Brigade

No, the characters from the Working Actor strip haven't all morphed into security guards. These are some character designs I'm doing for a training program I'm developing for my day job. I did these about a week ago and they've since undergone some major changes. I'll post the finished results tomorrow. Just wanted to show what's been taking time away from the strip and the comic.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Vegas, Baby!

Was in Vegas over the weekend and had a great time. My brother in law, Mike has an annual Vegas trip and I hadn't been in a few years. Needing to get away for a bit and having some vacation time stocked up from work, I decided to go. This year we stayed at the Flamingo, which was alright. Nothing special. There were six of us, and we spent most of our time at the pools, gambling or partying, so it didn't really matter that the rooms were kind of lackluster. Also, I brought my iPod and had made a "Vegas" playlist consisting mostly of Elvis, Frank and Dino, which made our stay in the rooms much more entertaining (gotta love the 'Pod). That picture of me was shortly after we ordered this ginormous margarita machine at Margaritaville. It was a margarita-filled contraption that looked like a huge bong and served the six of us a little less than three drinks each. There was an 80s cover band playing that night called "Fast Times" that rocked pretty hard, plus, were really funny and seemed to be having a good time playing around. Their cover of "Relax" was awesome, especially with the long belch the lead singer threw out there during the middle of the song. Classy. The highlight of the trip was when Mike rented a cabana by the pool on Sunday and we watched football, ordered drinks and ate food the whole day.

Great trip and was something I totally needed.

More pics:

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

i Pod, therefore i Rock

I received my iPod last week and have been loving it ever since. Being somewhat of a gadget freak, the iPod's one of those things I've been wanting a long time but either due to finances or more dire purchases, I decided to wait. That is, until Apple decided to consolidate their iPod / iPod Color lines and my friend (thanks, J.P.) who works at the Apple Store said he could get me a phat discount. Now it's in my hot little hands and I've been ripping my CD collection ever since. I have quite an extensive collection, and I don't know if all the music will fit, even on my 60 GB iPod. I figure I'll get the important stuff on there - Beck, U2, Aimee Mann, Liz Phair, Pizzicato 5, Prince, BNL, Nirvana, etc. - at a high bit-rate and if I start running out of room, I'll start sampling at a lower one.

I'm just amazed at how much I'm using this little wonder. I figured I'd be using it mainly as a jukebox for my home stereo system, but I've been taking it everywhere I go, pretty much. Having access to thousands of songs at work is a godsend, now I just need to get an adapter for it to work in my car and I'll be stylin'. I'm still not sure whether I should take it with me to the gym as I'm afraid too much repetitive impact might hurt the poor guy. Although I've pooh-poohed it in the past, I might just pick up a cheap iPod Shuffle for that, knowing that it'll be completely compatible with the music I've ripped through iTunes.

I still need to get some protection for it, though. I've been researching which case to get and I think I've found a decent solution. I'll probably stop at Best Buy or Fry's tonight and pick it up. Right now, it's covered in an iPod sock. Cute, but not very convenient as the sock completely covers all controls when it's on.

There are a couple of little issues I have with the 'Pod, but I'll get to those when I've played around with it some more. For now, I'm just enjoying the tunes.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Meet Teddy

Continuing to introduce the characters of the upcoming webcomic, Working Actor (in progress)... Of course, the characters and their likenesses are subject to change by the time the strip comes out, but this is who they are at the moment:

Lots of tragedy lately. Again, if you can donate to the Red Cross to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina, please do so. If only as a minor distraction, here's a new character.

This is Teddy. He's Jeff's best friend in the strip, and as such, he's an amalgam of a few of my best friends. Although Teddy has his own quirks, he's pretty much the voice of reason, and tells Jeff like it is. In other words, he doesn't like people playin' on his phone and keeps it real.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Hurricane Katrina Relief

It's been a while since I've posted. I think this is because every time I go on this site to blog, I see Becca, and then anything I could post after that seems trivial. After reading about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it has caused however, I feel I have to make some sort of plea for anybody reading this blog to donate (and encourage others to donate) to the Red Cross if you haven't already to help the tens of thousands of people whose lives this disaster has completely destroyed. The survivors need food, water, clothing, medical supplies and assistance immediately. It's hard to imagine the magnitude of this disaster, but a whole city is GONE. 80% of New Orleans is underwater. Families don't know if their loved ones are dead or alive due to communications being out, biological hazards are mounting as oil, chemicals, bacteria and decomposing bodies accumulate in the water, it's taking far too long for the government to be effective and rampant looting and lawlessness are making it harder for relief efforts to take hold. It'll take months before any rebuilding can take place and years before the city can get back to any sort of normalcy. I'm going to donate through the company I work for because they'll match my donation, dollar for dollar, so if any friends want in on that, let me know. Otherwise, please donate to the Red Cross directly. Even $5 can make a difference. You can get to the donation page by clicking on the link below:

Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief

Tales of a Working Actor (in progress)