What's your excuse?

Halloween!

This year is the first year I got into the Halloween spirit...well, just a little bit. We had some parties we got invited too, and there was no way we could get away with not dressing up. One party was on Saturday, and the second one is tomorrow on the actual Halloween. Before I show you pictures of Saturday, I need to tell you that on Friday night P. and I were invited to have dinner with a very special, nice, and extraordinary lady at her house. Her house is like a museum, but one that you can actually live in. Everywhere there was art, and not just something, no, there was a Rothko, Picasso, and a Polak, just to name a few of the masterpieces of some of the most talked about artists of the previous century. It was such a awesome experience, and I'm glad we got invited back, because I haven't even seen half of what she has, and she still needs to show me her own work (by the way, she still paints herself and she is well in her 80s).

Okay, some pictures of Saturday. I think it's pretty obvious who I'm supposed to be. P. is Doogie Howser, M.D.!

MIA

There's no excuse, but whenever I've not been working the last 3 months, I've been too busy recovering from working, spending time with P., Sierra, or just running errands. That means I've been feeling guilty for not responding to emails from my best friends. I know some of my friends are reading my blog from where ever they are right now: The Netherlands, Peru, New Zealand, Asia or the USA. To all of you: thanks for staying up to date on my life by reading my blog, and sorry I've been so slow in responding or staying in touch. I still love you all, and think about you all the time. You know who you are, but especially I wanna mention Anne somewhere in Asia, Gaby, Kaline, Janine, Bob & Irma, Henkie, Lianne, and Maaike in The Netherlands, Marianne in Peru and Claudia in New Zealand. Don't be offended if I didn't mention your name:)!!!

I've missed many important events in the lives of the people I love the most, mostly because, well, I live on the other side of the world. I wanna mention one event which took place last week, October 14th 2006. Gaby graduated after 4 years and a couple extra months due to a horrible motorcycle accident in May. She decided it was time to do make a life changing decision, and to follow her dream of becoming a obstetrician instead of keeping on struggling with a BA in Tourism form the same college I graduated from and from which we know each other). She left her job, and started going back to school with 17 year old girls, just out of high school. I admire her so much for following her dream, never giving up, struggling with money to pay for school second time around, and this is where she's now: graduated, and already secured a job, no wait, not just a job, but a partnership in a clinic! Geeb, I'm so proud of you! Love you!

It is over...

No more crazy early 6am call times, no more 15 hour days, no more 9 hour days for $45, no more trying to book work for the next day, no more waiting till 7pm to know what time to work the next day, no more dealing with freaky weird people, no more shitty crafts service, no more being yelled at for nothing...

Also no more working on fun sets, no more hanging with some awesome new friends, no more weird costumes, no more working with great actors...

My work as a background actor has come to an end...at least for now. On the set of Las Vegas they don't believe me anymore when I told them on Wednesday it was my final day as a regular Casino Patron, well...can't really blame them, cause I told them the same thing when I started working for the restaurant not that long ago, but Monday October 23rd I'm starting a job that will last for a long time I hope. I need a job where I can plane stuff a little more, can have my knee surgery soon (I'm in so much f#cking pain from dancing for 14 hours at a "Rave" party yesterday), and can still go out on auditions.

It was great to do in between jobs, and I met some great people. Last year I got my SAG vouchers thanks to Chad, so I can join the Union, but it's time to move on. This week, I worked two 13 hour days on Las Vegas, one 12 hour day on The Singles Table, and yesterday 15 hours on The O.C.. I actually thought about writing about some of the actors on the shows I've worked on, but I don't wanna gossip, and just respect their way of working.

Every week on almost every set someone would ask me if anyone ever told my I look like John Travolta ( I just DON'T see it myself!), Tom Cruise, Daniel Day Lewis or Jason Patric. Yesterday was the first I ever heard this one...Will Ferrell!

I was wearing a tight Super Hero costume for the New Year's Party episode of The O.C., and I'm the biggest dork with no shame, so everybody told me I was just like Will Ferrell. At first I was insulted, cause even though I know I'm not the skinniest around, I don't think I'm as big as Will! Now I see it as a compliment, cause maybe I should focus more on comedy, being the goofy, dorky guy that I really am. Below are some picture of me on different sets, starting with yesterdays ridiculous all showing body suit! I filled "it" up with a sock, cause the suit showed everything so well, that I felt exposed and wanted to cover up my private parts. This resulted in everyone staring at my "package", and I kept on adjusting "it" which gave me even more stares. I guess I know now what women with large breast have to deal with every day:)!

I called myself The Gatorade Man!

Will Ferrell???

With Christina on the Vegas set

On the WB lot

Last year on Ghost Whisperer my scene with Dan Lauria (Mr. Arnold on the Wonder Years). This made me SAG Eligible)

Cultural Difference?

Yesterday Cory Lidle and his instructor were killed when the plane they were flying crashed into a NYC high rise apartment building. It's a tragic and sad accident, and a scary event for the people of NYC to have a plane hit a building again.

I worked all day yesterday, and I heard about someone dying in a plane crash in NYC from a crew member on set. Not until I came home around 9pm, I found out the person was a famous Baseball player whom I had never heard of. Later in the evening, I watched parts of 360 with Anderson Cooper, and of course everything was about Cory Lidle (on every channel). Anderson was talking to a "close" friend of Cory, and also mentioned that Cory's brother was on Larry king earlier in the evening...

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I'm sorry, but what??? I had to check several times if this accident really happened on Wednesday, because I was just stunned!

Why on earth would a brother and a close friend go on national television to talk about the death of a loved one??? Aren't there more important things to do, like, huh, I don't know...mourn the death of the deceased, be with the family to support each other, finding out what exactly caused the accident, make funeral arrangements... Maybe it's just me, but I do not understand this phenomenon of publicly share such a personal tragedy. Yes, it's tragic, but do you think anywhere else in the world so much attention is shown to a baseball player dying? With all do respect to Cory and his family, who I wish all the support to deal with this loss, but can we just put things in perspective please? There is a war going on on the other side of the world, and a number of total people died in this war was released: about 650,000 people so far and counting! Everyday civilians and American soldiers get killed in this war, and it seems it has become so normal, that it does not make headlines anymore, maybe a small mentioning in the newspaper on page 7 or so. And what about the killings in Darfur? The nuclear testing in North Korea?

Also, on Anderson's coverage, he discussed the number of celebrities taking on flying lessons, and the accidents that took their lives (John F. Kennedy Jr. John Denver). He made the remark if this was a wise thing to do for celebrities and if they are safe enough. How disrespectful is this to the family of Cory Lidle? In the same program covering his tragic death, and saying all thoughts and prayers are with Cory's family and loved ones, they questions if it was wise for him and others to learn how to fly???

I just don't get it, and maybe it's a cultural thing, but please tell me what makes people go on national television the day of a (famous) loved one got killed? Why is every minute of broadcasting then spend on talking about this, while there is so much else going on in the world.

The positive thing about Anderson's program was that he did have a couple of minutes devoted to the remarkable alertness and quick response of the Fire Fighters, Police and civilians of the city of New York. I'm so proud of these people responding to such disasters, putting their own lives in danger to save the lives of others. This is what matters to me.

The Brewery Artwalk

Saturday I went to the Brewery Artwalk with Vanguard, CTo + mom, JTho, and some about 6 other friends. It's an old Brewery complex near downtown that was converted to artists lofts. Check it out: Brewery Art Walk

P. and I went there 2 weeks ago, and found out about this annual event.

If you're in LA and read this on Sunday October 8th, try to go and visit The Brewery. I must say that I was only impressed with some of the art I saw, but I just loved to see the inside of these lofts! Some of them were really hidden gems. A few pictures of the complex:

And the Oscar Goes to... (according to me)

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed) or Matt Damon (The Departed)

Best Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Jack Nicholson (all: The Departed)

Best Supporting Actress: Vera Farmiga (The Departed)

Best Screenplay: William Monohan (The Departed)

Best Director: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

Best Movie: The Departed

GO SEE IT!

Credits

Check out this great spec trailer my friend Matt made! He's such a great artist!

Go to his website and click on Datura: matthewcogswell

I quit!

Last week I gave my two weeks notice at the restaurant I worked for the last month and a half. Being a Host was to much stress on my knee, so I need to look for a desk job and have surgery soon. The main reason for leaving was really the manager at the restaurant who is the manager from hell. For no apparent reason, he had it in for me, and talked down to me, yelled at me, blamed me for things not my fault, was disrespectful, treated me like a child, did not help out, and is just a horrible guy to work for. Yesterday morning I did a great job from 6am till noon, and at noon he came in, and things went to hell. He has no idea what he's doing and blames it on me, and yesterday was just the last and final drop, so after my shift I talked to the F&B director, and quite. Today I had my exit interview, and was able to calmly and professionally explain to HR why I was leaving without fulfilling my two weeks notice commitment. Yesterday the F7B Director told me I could come back to work for him after my recovery, and today the HR director told me the same. They must know that I'm not a horrible employee, and they said the would look into the manager's behavior by talking to other employees.

I know that I'm a good person, and every job I ever had, I always give my 100%, whether I really love the job or not. That's why I was pretty emotional yesterday, because even though I took action and stopped the abuse, I feel bad that for whatever reason, someone thinks I can't do the job. He might even be able to convince his boss, and that just hurts me, because it was so unfair. Come on, being a host is not brain surgery. I was perfectly able to do the job in a good way, and I got along with everyone, except him. Even the one waitress who is weird and is rude to ever one, respected me yesterday when I stood up to the dictator.

Now it's time to move on again. Luckily I had a job interview today for a large Catering company on site of one of the major museums in LA. I think it's pretty funny to have quit one day, have a job interview the next morning and on the same day have an exit interview!

I think I have a good chance on getting the job, and it would be so perfect. They know I'm an actor, and would allow some auditions if they come up and work allows it, they know I need knee surgery soon for which I only would have to miss work for about a week, and I still think I have a good chance. Keep your fingers crossed! For now, I'm back on set tomorrow to do background work for a while till i find a permanent job. Have to be at Paramount Studios at 6:30am, and might work on the same show for another two days.

I've learned a lot from this awful experience, and really hope the hotel/restaurant management will act on what I had to say so someone else will not have to go through the same things I had to go through. If not, well, then that's their problem!