Ugh.
Back in LA after a fantastic trip home. The past nine days had everything: Family! Friends! Turkey! Football! Winter Lagers!
Really really enjoyed being back, as I've said it's been a while, and being away always makes coming home all the more better. Plus, I was pretty much able to "touch 'em all", from late nights of boozy fun at the Ale House to relaxing turkey-induced naps during the Cowboys game, there's nary a #SweetHomeChicago experience I missed.
That's probably why my return to LAme was all the more depressing when I got in to LAX, and to underscore my less-than-enthusiastic mood, I was faced with a very inconvenient truth once I got outside.
It was cold.
Now before anyone gets all up in arms about my going soft, I'd like to preface by saying that I spent almost six hours atop the windy rafters of Wrigley and trudged around the cul-de-sacs of Glen Ellyn for a few hours on Thanksgiving (more on that later...) in very cold weather.
But that was GOOD COLD. That was CHICAGO COLD- brisk, crisp, makes you feel like your ALIVE.
I grew up with it. I live for it. I love it.
But, I'm gonna be honest, one of the few bright points about living in LA is the stellar weather: SUNSHINE, PALM TREES, BIKINIS, ETC. Getting back to cold weather - cold for LA, that is - is pretty damn annoying. Its BAD COLD.
GOOD COLD - 28, snowing..."I'll have a delicious hot chocolate and sit by the fire" weather
BAD COLD - 55, windy, annoying..."Should I wear a jacket or not?" weather
Its stupid to complain about cold weather in Southern California but lets be honest, its stupid to HAVE cold weather in Southern California. If this region doesn't have absolutely amazing weather 24/7 it looses all its appeal. Its like if a dumb, bitchy but knockout gorgeous girl gets old or ugly - WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
So here I am back with my "mistress" and she's all cold and ugly. She better get hot again pretty fast if she wants to be worth a damn.
If not, no worries- my lifelong love and I will be reunited in just a few short weeks...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
137 Days
...is how long its been since I was last in Chicago.
And that was just a one-day firework and bbq-filled stop off from Toronto. Haven't had some serious Chi-time since June, back when the Hawks were not yet Champions, Christine O'Donnell was still flying under the radar (with a broomstick?), and people merely disliked, rather than vehemently hated, Mel Gibson.
What an insanely busy few months its been away from home.
The summer was kind of crazy as I produced that thesis film for a classmate - The Lepidoctor - which caused me to miss my usual pre-fall semester August trip home - and I had kind of hoped that the fall semester would be a more laid-back time to work on writing and plan my future a bit, with expected graduation this December.
Then came the webisode class. Taught by a first time teacher with an impressive TV and internet resume, I had expected it to be a minor workload... shooting some funny people having awkward conversations in my apartment or whatever and be done with it.
But, foolish me, when my good friend and classmate Jeff pitched me a ridiculous web series idea with a hook I couldn't refuse - a Chicago Blackhawks fan makes a deal with the devil so the Hawks can win the Cup, and his girlfriend gets taken to Hell, forcing him to team up with a exiled demon chick to get her back.
THE SIN BIN was born, and my "laid-back" semester was killed.
The Sin Bin workload has been astronomical but it has also been a tremendous amount of fun, and I can't wait to show it to everyone soon.
Now, I've been busy on projects before, but I've found myself working SO MUCH harder this semester than ever before - later nights, earlier mornings, drinking LESS? And for a while I couldn't understand why until I finally figured it out:
This sh*t counts.
This semester, almost every single thing I'm doing is tied pretty directly to my future post-film school.
Not that it wasn't before but...it wasn't. The first two years were "film school" and everything I did, from killer Cost-Mart employees to carousels to workshopping my feature script, was still pretty much a learning process. Not that those things have no applicability in the real world but if anything were to "hit" it'd be more luck than anything else.
NOW I'm getting to a point where the material I write or things I work on are being seen by real professionals in the industry. Really. Like people who can give me a break, or, better yet, a JOB. Which is all great, but also infinitely more stressful b/c everything has got to be the best. There are so many exciting potential opportunities on the horizon...almost too many, because I'm trying to do it all and do it all perfectly.
Anyway, not sharing this b/c I want to impress NOR am I looking for sympathy (which, living by the ocean, I'll know I'll NEVER get from Chi-peeps barring a tsunami or something), but really to explain why I haven't been as up on the blog as I'd like to be these past months. There's been a lot of funny stories, cool moments, and crazy thoughts about "the 310" from a "312" perspective.
So blog's been a bit sporadic these past few months...but its got a live Twitter feed now! Pretty sweet, huh? Yeah?
I've got a WHOLE thing about Twitter that I'll hopefully get to spout out about sometime.
But, AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, next semester I will not take on any big production projects and will spend as much time as possible WRITING...scripts, specs, and hopefully the more than occasional blog post.
Oh, and watch stuff. There is so much I've been meaning to watch and I'm gonna really get into it in 2011. Lots of Showtime and HBO shows. I watched more pilots this fall than an air traffic controller but have rarely had the time to catch episode #2 of anything.
So that's the plan for the next few months, by the way, finish up many things and get my scripts and reel ready for the official entry of Mark Kosin into the "real world" once USC commencement is complete. Unless I decide to go for that Creative Writing MFA...
JUST KIDDING DAD
Anyway, I'll be back in beautiful Chicago in less than 24 hours....feels so good to write that.
Hopefully I can give a bit more insight into some of the various pots cooking on the proverbial "hot stove" that is "Hollywood".
And please save me some Giorodano's and Old Style before I become any more of a California "douchebag".
Or is it too late?
And that was just a one-day firework and bbq-filled stop off from Toronto. Haven't had some serious Chi-time since June, back when the Hawks were not yet Champions, Christine O'Donnell was still flying under the radar (with a broomstick?), and people merely disliked, rather than vehemently hated, Mel Gibson.
What an insanely busy few months its been away from home.
The summer was kind of crazy as I produced that thesis film for a classmate - The Lepidoctor - which caused me to miss my usual pre-fall semester August trip home - and I had kind of hoped that the fall semester would be a more laid-back time to work on writing and plan my future a bit, with expected graduation this December.
Then came the webisode class. Taught by a first time teacher with an impressive TV and internet resume, I had expected it to be a minor workload... shooting some funny people having awkward conversations in my apartment or whatever and be done with it.
But, foolish me, when my good friend and classmate Jeff pitched me a ridiculous web series idea with a hook I couldn't refuse - a Chicago Blackhawks fan makes a deal with the devil so the Hawks can win the Cup, and his girlfriend gets taken to Hell, forcing him to team up with a exiled demon chick to get her back.
THE SIN BIN was born, and my "laid-back" semester was killed.
The Sin Bin workload has been astronomical but it has also been a tremendous amount of fun, and I can't wait to show it to everyone soon.
Now, I've been busy on projects before, but I've found myself working SO MUCH harder this semester than ever before - later nights, earlier mornings, drinking LESS? And for a while I couldn't understand why until I finally figured it out:
This sh*t counts.
This semester, almost every single thing I'm doing is tied pretty directly to my future post-film school.
Not that it wasn't before but...it wasn't. The first two years were "film school" and everything I did, from killer Cost-Mart employees to carousels to workshopping my feature script, was still pretty much a learning process. Not that those things have no applicability in the real world but if anything were to "hit" it'd be more luck than anything else.
NOW I'm getting to a point where the material I write or things I work on are being seen by real professionals in the industry. Really. Like people who can give me a break, or, better yet, a JOB. Which is all great, but also infinitely more stressful b/c everything has got to be the best. There are so many exciting potential opportunities on the horizon...almost too many, because I'm trying to do it all and do it all perfectly.
Anyway, not sharing this b/c I want to impress NOR am I looking for sympathy (which, living by the ocean, I'll know I'll NEVER get from Chi-peeps barring a tsunami or something), but really to explain why I haven't been as up on the blog as I'd like to be these past months. There's been a lot of funny stories, cool moments, and crazy thoughts about "the 310" from a "312" perspective.
So blog's been a bit sporadic these past few months...but its got a live Twitter feed now! Pretty sweet, huh? Yeah?
I've got a WHOLE thing about Twitter that I'll hopefully get to spout out about sometime.
But, AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, next semester I will not take on any big production projects and will spend as much time as possible WRITING...scripts, specs, and hopefully the more than occasional blog post.
Oh, and watch stuff. There is so much I've been meaning to watch and I'm gonna really get into it in 2011. Lots of Showtime and HBO shows. I watched more pilots this fall than an air traffic controller but have rarely had the time to catch episode #2 of anything.
So that's the plan for the next few months, by the way, finish up many things and get my scripts and reel ready for the official entry of Mark Kosin into the "real world" once USC commencement is complete. Unless I decide to go for that Creative Writing MFA...
JUST KIDDING DAD
Anyway, I'll be back in beautiful Chicago in less than 24 hours....feels so good to write that.
Hopefully I can give a bit more insight into some of the various pots cooking on the proverbial "hot stove" that is "Hollywood".
And please save me some Giorodano's and Old Style before I become any more of a California "douchebag".
Or is it too late?
Monday, November 15, 2010
BEARS WIN
This was my view for the game...
God, the ego thing is really getting out of hand, what with all the picture posting...
I guess I barely have time to write posts this week but figure that 1 picture = 1000 words (approx) so as I see it in the last two posts I've written 'bout 2,000 words.
SUCH A PROLIFIC WRITER I AM.
Anyway, am doing tons of tech work to prepare THE SIN BIN footage for editing...
Unfortunately they don not allow beer or polish sausage in the edit labs. Typical LA.
So much work this week, the image of temps in the 50s and 40s next week mixed with warm pubs and turkey the only thing keeping me going.
God, the ego thing is really getting out of hand, what with all the picture posting...
I guess I barely have time to write posts this week but figure that 1 picture = 1000 words (approx) so as I see it in the last two posts I've written 'bout 2,000 words.
SUCH A PROLIFIC WRITER I AM.
Anyway, am doing tons of tech work to prepare THE SIN BIN footage for editing...
Unfortunately they don not allow beer or polish sausage in the edit labs. Typical LA.
So much work this week, the image of temps in the 50s and 40s next week mixed with warm pubs and turkey the only thing keeping me going.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
A Little Bored in class...
....I figured out how to use my "PhotoBooth" feature on my Mac. Only took 3 years.
This is in the big boardroom at CAA in Century City.
On the shelf behind me are pizza boxes from the very delicious MULBERRY STREET PIZZA we had as a special treat tonight, courtesy of the prof. Huzzah!
Its pretty good... for New York style thin slice.
1 week until some REAL pizza.
This is in the big boardroom at CAA in Century City.
On the shelf behind me are pizza boxes from the very delicious MULBERRY STREET PIZZA we had as a special treat tonight, courtesy of the prof. Huzzah!
Its pretty good... for New York style thin slice.
1 week until some REAL pizza.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
CaliFALLnia
So, I'm about to enter my third straight year of being completely LA-bound for the entire season of fall.
LA trying to do "fall" is a very strange thing indeed- its kind of like a longtime alcoholic trying to change for the better. LA makes a legitimate effort, and you really think they may pull it off, but the reality of the situation eventually comes crashing to Earth.
Like today....its in the mid-60's, there's a "briskness" in the air, you can got to Starbucks and get a pumpkin spice latte or something, and tonight in Venice b/c of low temps, those with fireplaces will have real fires, giving that amazing 'burning fireplace' smell to the air.
I could go to bed tonight thinking "Hmmm....maybe I'll have a real fall this year. Maybe, California has really changed. Maybe... they're sober".
Then - BAM! - Saturday will roll around with its 80 degree temperatures and you'll look up from the five dead leaves that were meaninglessly raked to see a giant green-leafed palm tree. Oh no, they're falling off the wagon! By Sunday the NFL games from around the country will be coming on at 10am while a gang of vegans does Yoga in your front yard and you realize there's no fall here....there never will be.
LA will go back and forth, but when its November and you still need to bring sunscreen if you're going outside for more than 2 hours you realize fall is just a tease, a hopeless pipe dream that ends in settling for strange hybrids between regular fall and SoCal... like the Pumpkin Blaster Smoothie from Jamba Juice.
Ahhhh, but this year I may be escaping LA-LA just long enough to get a real autumnal feel. I'll be heading back to CHI for a whopping NINE DAYS during the Thanksgiving holiday. By the time I return to Cali this whole "maybe it is / maybe it isn't" fall thing will be over and the region will settle into a nice acceptance of okay, LA winter - slightly rainy and cooler but still mostly sunny state.
Less than a week and a half til the ULTIMATE true fall experience - a college football match-up at Wrigley Field. Cold weather, bare trees, scarves....my God, it will be glorious.
LA trying to do "fall" is a very strange thing indeed- its kind of like a longtime alcoholic trying to change for the better. LA makes a legitimate effort, and you really think they may pull it off, but the reality of the situation eventually comes crashing to Earth.
Like today....its in the mid-60's, there's a "briskness" in the air, you can got to Starbucks and get a pumpkin spice latte or something, and tonight in Venice b/c of low temps, those with fireplaces will have real fires, giving that amazing 'burning fireplace' smell to the air.
I could go to bed tonight thinking "Hmmm....maybe I'll have a real fall this year. Maybe, California has really changed. Maybe... they're sober".
Then - BAM! - Saturday will roll around with its 80 degree temperatures and you'll look up from the five dead leaves that were meaninglessly raked to see a giant green-leafed palm tree. Oh no, they're falling off the wagon! By Sunday the NFL games from around the country will be coming on at 10am while a gang of vegans does Yoga in your front yard and you realize there's no fall here....there never will be.
LA will go back and forth, but when its November and you still need to bring sunscreen if you're going outside for more than 2 hours you realize fall is just a tease, a hopeless pipe dream that ends in settling for strange hybrids between regular fall and SoCal... like the Pumpkin Blaster Smoothie from Jamba Juice.
Ahhhh, but this year I may be escaping LA-LA just long enough to get a real autumnal feel. I'll be heading back to CHI for a whopping NINE DAYS during the Thanksgiving holiday. By the time I return to Cali this whole "maybe it is / maybe it isn't" fall thing will be over and the region will settle into a nice acceptance of okay, LA winter - slightly rainy and cooler but still mostly sunny state.
Less than a week and a half til the ULTIMATE true fall experience - a college football match-up at Wrigley Field. Cold weather, bare trees, scarves....my God, it will be glorious.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
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