June 2008 - Posts

In a trance we're alive, 10 feet off of the ground...
30 June 08 11:39 PM | Lin_See | 1 comment(s)

 Well, it's been awhile since last I updated.

Not a whole lot to report.  I'm starting to get really really homesick.  The weather out here is starting to get to me.  I don't care what anybody says, 365 days of nothing but sunshine and 70 degrees weather is just as capable of making someone crazy as is 60 straight days of rain.

Let's see...

We went to the beach this past weekend.  This time we opted for Venice Beach:

Venice beach is home to Muscle Beach (picture 1) and a lot of little shops, mostly touristy (picture 2).  This weekend they were also having some kind of Eco-fest so there were a TON of people there.

Yes, she's holding a baby alligator.  There wasa guy there with a giant snake too.  I don't think you have to guess why I didn't take a picture of that.

It was fun, I swam in the ocean and that was a lot of fun.  It was just warm enough.  But I have had about as much of the beach as I want.  Too much sand and too many people.  At least at the public beaches like Venice.  El Matador is okay because it wasn't as crowded.  Oh, and Venice also has these faux canals, because apparently it thinks it's Italian or something.

They looked kind of cute, but I doubt they they are anything like Venice, Italy.  Venice is a neat area, but it's super crowded with apartment buildings and there is NOWHERE to park, even if you live there.  

Yesterday, Sunday, Brianna and I got to do something really cool.  Thania, one of the EP's  on Eureka is a member of the League of Hollywood Women Writer's -- well she's on the Executive board of it.  She asked me if I could help out with a fundraising event this past weekend and of course I agreed to.  I also got Brianna to come along with me.  We helped check people in and pass out flyers for the next event.  

The fundraiser was for New Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen and we got to meet her and shake hands with her, that was really cool.  We also got to "mingle" with a lot of Hollywood writers -- we met writer's for Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Law and Order: SVU, and tons of others! We also met Justine Bateman.  That was pretty awesome because when she came to check in I wasn't paying attention.  Suddenly I turned around to check the next person in and I'm like a foot away from Justine Bateman -- Mallory from Family Ties! 

It was a really neat experience, though I am afraid I didn't really use it to my benefit as well as I could have.  That's one thing they REALLY don't teach you in college -- How to network and mingle.  All of these people were mingling and I assume most of them didn't really know each other, but I had NO IDEA what to say to anyone.  It doesn't really matter though because the BIG lesson I learned from that event is that NO ONE in Hollywood is interested in FINISHING a conversation with anyone else.  People are constantly turning away in mid-conversation to answer the phone or talk to someone else, presumably more important.  It's really really annoying because it's so freaking rude!!

But the thing is, people aren't rude about it...everyone is SO nice out here.  Too nice.  So even though they do these really rude things, you never really feel like you've been insulted until later when you start to think about it and realize that in REAL LIFE you would never get away with that kind of behavior. 

I am in BIZARRO-LAND.

Anyway...

I felt bad for not taking many pictures lately so I took some random ones at work today:

 

I took those while driving the golf cart to get lunch at City Walk.  They aren't very good and really don't mean much unless you know what you're looking at.  Mostly it's just the path on the backlot between City Walk and Post, which is in the Verna Fields building across from the commissary.

Today was especially uneventful, but a crew from a show called 'Tube Tales' came to shoot an interview with Jaime.

That's not Jaime in the chair, he wasn't there yet when I took this, that's one of the crew members sitting in so they could get the light and framing just right.

Yeah, so not much really going on.  It's pretty much the same routine each week, only now I'm starting to count them down.  Only four weeks left after this one is over.  And this one is a short one on account of the holiday.  We don't really have any plans for the weekend yet, but I'm hoping we can go spend a night down in San Diego.  I really really really want to go down there.  Maybe I'll go by myself if no one else wants to.

MILES TODAY: 15 approx.

GAS TO DATE: still around $400

SONG FOR THE DAY:  'Lift (with love we will survive)' by Flickerstick

You'll never see the end of the road while you're traveling with me...
24 June 08 09:45 PM | Lin_See | 2 comment(s)

Tomorrow makes 3 whole months since Mickey died. And I just saw a dog on t.v. that looked just like him. 

I miss him.

I really haven't taken any pictures lately.  We haven't gone anywhere or done anything that warrants taking pictures.  And I just feel awkward taking pictures at work.

But we did go to CityWalk Sunday night.

We went to see 'Get Smart.'  When I was a kid I used to watch that show ALL the time.  It was on Nick at Nite back when Nick at Nite actually played good shows and not JUST Fresh Prince. I think Nick at Nite has kind of become like MTV...it was good when I was a kid, now it sucks.  I blame everyone born after 1985.

I always wanted to be 99.  Well, her and Mary Richards. And I always wanted a shoe phone.  I still want a shoe phone. 

Okay, so in the movie Anne Hathaway plays 99.  She was good in it, and the whole movie was great.  There was a fantastic cameo by Bill Murray.  BUT I don't think Anne Hathaway was the greatest choice for 99.  For one, she WAY too young to be playing Steve Carrell's love interest.  But at the same time I don't think there is any actress that wouldn't be too young for that that would have been good for the part.

My choice for 99 would have definitely been Rory Gilmore...

I think she looks a lot more like Barbara Feldon than Anne Hathaway does.  And I think she would have been funnier as 99.  I don't remember 99 being quite so serious as Anne Hathaway played it.  Oh well, I really liked the movie anyway.

(p.s. Dad, go visit Brianna's blog  to see pictures of Rory and Lorelai's house, Luke's Diner, and Miss Patty's -- she works there!)

Anyway, I spent most of today out at the pool.  It's been really good swimming weather.  So far I haven't convinced anyone to come play in the pool with me, but it's still fun and of course I got a little sunburned. 

On the internship front, the days are getting longer as there are more things to do.  It's a lot of fun.  But it's funny how once you work on something like a t.v. show, it totally changes the way you watch that show.  Now I know things and so when I watch Eureka (season premiere is July 29th!) I will see it a lot differently.  It's still fun though.  Tomorrow evening we are having a "Below the Line" outing.  I think we are all going to CityWalk after work.  It should be fun.

Now I'm just really tired.

I went to Target today and got the entire series 'Firefly' for $18. 

 

Target here is very weird, it's like 3 stories big and you have to park in a parking garage and the sign for the store is almost impossible to see from the street.  But luckily, even in L.A. Target prices are pretty reasonable! 

Think good thoughts about Mickey tomorrow...and maybe next time I update I'll have some more exciting news and some photos!

MILES TODAY : 15ish

GAS TOTAL SO FAR: $400ish

SONG FOR MICKEY : 'Don't Dream it's Over' - Crowded House (one of his faves!) =) 

Filed under: L.A., Internship, Mickey, Get Smart

Destined to seek, destined to know...
21 June 08 02:29 AM | Lin_See | 1 comment(s)

Today was a 12 hour day.

I never thought I would have a job where I would be willing to work 12 hours a day.  Now, granted, this isn't so much a job in that I don't get paid, but the fact that I DON'T get paid and am still willing to work 12 hour days says something.  I don't know exactly what that is.  Maybe that I am crazy.  I don't know.

I definitely think that if I do end up working out here at some point then I will have to completely forgo the thought of ever having any kind of life. Ha.  I don't know how those guys do it.  They work pretty much 24/7.

Anyway.

I spent a lot of today in the writer's room.  Not much was going on, but I did get to listen in to a Notes call.  That's where the studio gives the writers notes about their script.  It's kind of like a critique session.  Sort of.  It was interesting.

I think the most interesting part was just listening to the studio exec. talk.  Before today I kind of always pictured studio and network execs as "suits."  Suits who really were only interested in the bottom line, even if that means sacrificing the story.  But listening today I got a completely different picture.  Sure, the bottom line is definitely at the forefront of the conversation as are other practical production elements.  But as I was listening to the comments the exec was making and his explanations for his notes and how his thought process worked in coming up with those notes, I realized this was a guy who definitely has a clue.  He understands how to tell a story and his comments, while not always popular with the guys, at least were based in a desire to really make the story great.

So that was enlightening.  It makes me less scared and apprehensive about the possibility of applying for the NBC Associates program and essentially becoming one of these guys.  

I also learned a little bit about how the "industry" is structured.  I mean I had a pretty good idea about it all, but until you are a part of it, I think it's easy to confuse the process.  So since we had lots of time today, I just started asking questions.  I'm sure it got pretty annoying, but I kind of think that if there are things I don't know, I should ask since that's kind of the point of this whole internship.

So, maybe it's pretty self-explanatory, but here is what I got.  The writer's are at the "production" level, as is the actual production up in Vancouver.  From there up it goes Studio, then Network. Because the show is produced by NBCUniversal, essentially the network pays the studio (itself) to produce the show.  This kind of seems to make the idea of having a network level AND a studio level seem redundant.  But where they split is the point where the show goes into syndication, or the DVD's go in sale.  All of those things are released by and owned by the studio.

It's still very confusing in my head, but whatever.  Also, the network is split into two "departments"  there is a network exec. in charge of production and then network execs who are creative execs.  The creative execs are basically involved in the writing and creation process.  They also schedule meetings and make deals with talent.  Whereas the production side, while  still involved in the creation process, is more involved things like budget and production issues.  They are also the ones who, in the end, actually MAKE the deals with the talent, directors, etc.  Those are people who the creative execs bring in and talk to and then from there if they want to make a deal with them, they go to the production side and the details are worked out.

Wow, that probably makes no sense, but since this blog is SUPPOSED to be about my internship, I figured I should probably post something that is relevant to my classmates and such who are interested in this.  And since I had to sign a confidentiality agreement, there's not always a lot I can talk about, but I'm pretty sure this structure and process is similar across studios and really isn't a big secret so I can share it.

Now you know.

On a completely unrelated note I had my first Pinkberry today.

 

It looked a little like this:

I had a coffee flavored one with strawberries and chocolate chips.  I was completely unfamiliar with pinkberry and after the guys explained to me what it was I was a little scared to try it.

Basically it's frozen yogurt, only NOT frozen ice cream yogurt, it's actual YOGURT. So it's like really really really cold Danon.  It comes in three flavors -- plain, coffee, and green tea. And you can get a ton of different toppings like Cap'n Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Puffs, Chocolate Chips, and tons of fruit.

So I tried it.

It was AMAZING!

I think I could stay in L.A. just for the Pinkberry...

and of course...

the Henry's...(ha ha Dad!!!!) 

Filed under: L.A., Writer's Room, Internship, PinkBerry

Melting...
19 June 08 06:16 PM | Lin_See | with no comments

 I haven't taken any pictures recently so that's what you get...the cutest baby panda ever.

Scadoosh.

It's soooo hot here in the room.  The air conditioner is on, but it's so hot outside that I don't think the air conditioner is doing much.

Apparently, tornadoes are wreaking havoc back home.  Bummer.

Nothing much to report right now.  I'm elbow deep in my rewrite. We haven't been doing any touristy things, Matt and Brianna were gone last weekend and will be gone again this weekend.  So mostly just hanging out in the room watching t.v. and napping a lot.

The internship is still going really well.  Every day I learn something new.  I'm getting good experience in the room and good advice from everyone there.  It's a good time. 

I can't believe I've been gone almost a month.  That's weird.  I am really starting to miss my apartment.  I am also starting to miss knowing where things are and not getting lost everytime I get in my car.

 Oh well.

It's too hot.  This is all I can do right now.  Ugh.  I HATE hot weather.
 

Underline Everything...I'm a professional in my beloved white shirt...
16 June 08 02:06 AM | Lin_See | with no comments

All in all a pretty lazy weekend here in sunny L.A.

I spent most of it with Stargate SG-1, but I also spent a lot of time doing homework.  I wrote up my first intern journal -- ugh why did I ever agree to do a research paper each week AND a GIANT research paper at the end of the summer?  What was I thinking?  Oh well.  I also finished up my rewrite plan.  Can I just say, I am not a fan of writing beat sheets.  Although it is much easier to write a beat sheet for a script that is already written than it would be for one that is not yet written.

 
That was most of yesterday.

Oh yeah I also read a book yesterday (I guess I was more productive than I thought).

This is the book I read:

Most people know I am a huge fan of Chuck Klosterman.  I realize he has a bit of a credibility issue and a lot of people think he is little more than just another narcissistic hipster with a book deal.  But I am a fan.  Mostly because he acknowledges his own narcissism.  He recognizes the absurdity of the fact that he has a book deal.  And most of all because he has an uncanny ability to put into words the things we all think, but can't say, and he does it through a variety of pop culture references and musical analogies.

Anyway, 'Killing Yourself to Live' is all about Klosterman's cross country road trip back in 2003.  He went to a variety of places where famous musicians had died -- he went to Graceland, he went to Seattle, he went to Alabama where Ronnie Van Zant died and a bunch of other random places and he did all for Spin magazine, back when he still worked there.  It sounds morbid, but it really isn't because death really isn't what the book is about.  It's more about love and life and growing up.  Anyway, I read it this weekend and I enjoyed it.

Today Luke and Ann and I went down to Sunset Blvd.

Ed at 'Eureka' told me about this massive record store down there that I just had to go and see for myself.  It was amazing!

That's it there.  It was MASSIVE.  It will take me months and years to ever get through all the records they have.  Today, in an effort not to bore Ann and Luke to death I settled for the latest The National album on vinyl - 'Boxer.'  The only thing that sucks is that I can't listen to it until I get home because that's where my record player is.  Bummer.

Then we grabbed a quick bite to eat and sat outside and watched people walk by.  We drove around a little after that because it was the Sunset Strip and you kind of have to.  We drove by the Real World house from the most recent season, they aren't shooting anymore so it's just an ugly building now.  But it is the building where 'I Love Lucy' used to film.  That's kind of interesting.

Then we drove down past the Viper Room and Whiskey A Go Go -- considering that I had just finished the Klosterman book, driving past the Viper Room seemed a little more momentous than it probably should be. (It's where River Phoenix died)

Then we drove around a little through Beverly Hills and finally I saw GREEN grass and trees (everything out here is mostly just brown now).  Beverly Hills is beautiful, but I think Bel Air is even better.

That's one of the entrances to Bel Air, they are all gated so our attempts to find the Fresh Prince were thwarted.  Oh well, I finally saw the pretty pretty parts of L.A. so that was nice.

Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet weekend. Matt and Brianna are in Vegas until tomorrow so the room has seemed pretty spacious.  It's good to take time outs from each other every now and then...but I will be glad when they get back.

It's getting late, I'm watching the Deadliest Catch, one of my favorite shows and thinking I should probably get to bed soon since I have to work in the morning.  So more later...

MILES TODAY = 20 aprox.

TOTAL GAS COST = to date approx. $375 (gas is $4.69 out here now)

SONG FOR THE DAY =  Squalor Victoria by the National

Filed under: L.A., Internship, Sunset Blvd., Beverly Hills

We can be heroes...
14 June 08 11:56 PM | Lin_See | with no comments

Ummm...Bill Moyers is my hero...click the picture and watch the video to learn why...

 

I like watching the puddles gather rain...
14 June 08 12:19 AM | Lin_See | with no comments

 

Tim Russert died today.  It's very sad, he, like Bill Moyers was one of the few journalists out there who still maintained his credibility.  Meet the Press was a Sunday morning staple for me, especially this past spring.  Sad day.

Now on to more random awesomeness...

I found out today that my critique partner for Rewrite this summer dropped the class.  Bummer.  Especially since I already wrote up my critique of his work.  Oh well, it's a crappy deal, but I'll just have to do the best I can.  I secretly suspect my script sucks, but then again, isn't that the point of the class.  Writing is rewriting right?  

The good thing is, I already know what I want to write about for my next script and I think it's a better idea so this will be good practice for getting the process down.

Also, I have to write up my first internship journal.  Ugh.  I spent a lot of the day today researching possible Comm. Theories that I can use.  Ugh.  Can I just say how much I HATE communication theory.  Media theory -- I get.  I understand it and find it interesting.  Comm. Theory -- I don't get.  It's boring and dry and is rarely employed to study situations that I find interesting.

The rest of the day I spent in the writer's room.  I got to listen in to a content call for an upcoming episode.  That was an interesting experience.  A content call (I think that's what it's called...) is basically when the whole production from writer's to set decorators get together and go through a script.  They discussed it scene by scene and broke down special needs and what the final look and feel of each scene was supposed to be.  It got boring at times because the producers and other members of the production would get off track and go into detail about specific sets and whatnot, but it was really interesting.  

Very few people were in the office today so that also meant that there was plenty of time to answer my questions.  I got some good insight into how the process is different on Eureka because of the fact that they actually shoot in Vancouver as opposed to other shows that shoot and are written right here in L.A.

I also got some good advice in general about my future and all from Ed and John.  Those two are some of the nicest people I've met, they are so willing to offer up advice and opinions and so forth.  They treat the interns like real people and it's great.  In fact, it's not just Ed and John, it's everyone.  They are all so helpful and nice and take an interest in us.

I am thoroughly intimidated by Charlie though I must say.  He's one of the smartest people I've met.  But he's super nice and he does take an interest in the interns when he has time.  He's also one of the busiest people I've ever met.  But I guess that's just the life of a showrunner.

Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day.  I discovered that I absolutely SUCK at XBox, Halo in particular.  Yeah, we played a little Halo at the end of the day.  At least John was nice about beating me though, he did let me get some shots in.  I just suck at it.  I can live with that.

Even more random.  I just have to say, I am really tired of people making me feel inadequate because I happen to hate the fact that the weather here is ALWAYS THE SAME.  IT NEVER RAINS.  I'm sorry, it bugs me.  I LIKE rain.  I realize it's flooding at home and all, but I'm so sick of all the freaking sunny days.  And I don't think I should have to apologize for it and I'm tired of people making me feel like I'm a total freak because of it.  Sorry people, I need rainy days and variable weather.  I do like the lack of humidity because the heat is a little more bearable, but as far as I'm concerned any heat is no good.  I would much rather it be 50 degrees every day.  It's just so uncomfortable to be hot all the time.  And I am ALWAYS hot.  

Grrrrr....so leave me alone, I like rain. 

Filed under: L.A., Writer's Room, Rain

You are far and away my most imaginary friend...
11 June 08 11:35 PM | Lin_See | 1 comment(s)

Yes, it has been several days since last I posted.  I'm sure your lives have suffered greatly from my absence. 

All I can say about that is blame  Diana...and maybe Dusty a little bit.  It's their fault for getting me hooked on Stargate SG-1:

And yes, that is MacGuyver.

I've been teasing Dusty for 3 years about his "man crush" on MacGuyver, but now I guess I have to eat my words because 8 episodes into season 1 and I am totally hooked.  It is sucking up all of my time.  And there are about A MILLION seasons, so I may never see the light of day again.

Other than that, not much to report these days.  I've been spending a lot of time in the writer's room which is amazing.  I secretly suspect they like the other intern better than me and that's a little annoying, but I'm sure it's just my own imagination and paranoia, whatever.  We get to move back to the trailer tomorrow so things should get back to normal soon.

Tonight we went to a taping of the Jimmy Kimmel show.  It was fun.  We saw Mike Myers and Kathy Griffin there and they were both funny.  The guy who was supposed to be the audience warmer upper was completely obnoxious and annoying and we ended up sitting there for like 2 and a half hours.  But it was far more entertaining than Craig Kilborn was in '99 and even more fun than Letterman was in '95(? '96?).  Anyway, it was a fun time and I got to experience my first L.A. parking garage (it goes DOWN not up) and my first parking "validation."  I also discovered that I can take Ventura Blvd. all the way from where we are staying to Lankershim and the gate I have to go through to get on the lot.  That means I don't have to take the freeway, so that's cool, though I don't know how much time it will really save me, I may try it out Friday morning. We'll see.

Okay, yeah I am out of things to say and Colonel O'Neill, the Goa'ulds, and SG-1 await.

 
In the meantime, here are some pictures from our trip down the street to the Galleria.

Random Question - Why does Hugh Hefner ALWAYS wear a stupid robe?  I mean does the man own normal clothes?  Sorry, Brianna is watching 'The Girls Next Door' on E! and that show just makes me wonder...those people are just STRANGE.

Klosterman Quote for the Day:

"Every summer Hollywood movie studios convince millions of people to see blockbuster movies they know they're going to hate. Everyday, shows like 'Access Hollywood' force 2 million housewives to ask themselves, 'Who really cares who Lindsay Lohan is dating?'  And you know what the answer to that question is? Almost no one. There are very few Americans who care who Lindsay Lohan is dating but it's information they need. This is because those people care about something else entirely: they're worried about the possibility of everyone else understanding something that they're missing." 

Filed under: L.A., Internship, Galleria, Jimmy Kimmel, Klosterman

Everyone Likes to Dance to a Happy Song...
07 June 08 10:20 PM | Lin_See | 2 comment(s)

I am exhausted.  California wears me out.

Cool thing just happened though -- we are watching the SciFi channel here in the room and I saw a promo for a Eureka sweepstakes with Degree. Go here for more:

http://www.scifi.com/eureka/madeineureka/

I guess since I saw that commercial on I can say that Eureka has teamed up with Degree (for men I think) this season.  I won't say anything else because I don't want to cross any confidentiality lines here.  Anyway it's kind of cool because I get to witness how they deal with the "partnership" from a writer's standpoint and since that's my area of interest and the focus of my seminar paper, it's extra interesting to me.

As far as the fire aftermath goes, here are some more pics I stole from http://eurekaunscripted.tumblr.com I need to give credit where credit is due, but I'm not sure who exactly took these pictures -- Eric is the one who posted them though so that's who we'll credit here. 

 

If you want more info about the writers and the aftermath of the fire go to that site and read all about it!!! You can even see pictures of the temporary workspace we will be in until Tuesday probably.

On the internship front, things are still going really well.  I still love it, I love the writers and producers even more because they have taken the time to actually talk to me and show interest in my existence and my learning process so that's absolutely amazing.  I know they are busy (I see it on an almost daily basis) so it means a lot that they take the time out of their day to show interest in me, the lowly intern.  I hope I am making a good impression on them, I guess as long as I get out of the summer without them hating me or thinking I'm a moron, I'll call that a success.  

Yesterday was a particularly uneventful day, at least for me.  I spent most of the day reading a script for my rewrite class.  I think I need to learn to be more vocal, or at least more brave at my internship because I learned later in the day that it would have been totally cool for me to have been in the writer's room all day instead of in the lobby trying to entertain myself and still be productive.  But I'm still not totally sure of the lines and where I can cross.  I'm sure as I get more comfortable in my surroundings and get to know everyone a little more I'll figure out when and what lines I can cross.  I was particularly paranoid yesterday because there wasn't a lot to do and I didn't want to look like I was slacking off, but there's only so much I can do. 

Anyway, last night we went to the Sherman Oaks Galleria.  It's basically a mall.  I took some pictures, but I haven't uploaded them yet.  I'll post them some other time.  The only cool thing about the Galleria really is the fact that it's where the mall parts of 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' were shot, only back then the mall didn't look anything at all like it does now because apparently there was a fire and when they rebuilt, they made it into an open air mall.  That's your Wikipedia fact of the day.

Today, we went to the beach.

It was fantastic.

We went to El Matador.  It's beautiful there.  We drove through Malibu on the PCH to get there and it was really pretty.  Malibu wasn't as pretty as I had pictured it, but it was still pretty.  We drove right by Cher's beach house, but we were going to fast to take any pictures.

It's really high up and really scenic.  We had to walk down a HUGE hill and a bunch of stairs just to get to the beach itself.

But it was so worth it, the beach was beautiful.

There were lots of rocks at this beach.  It reminded me of the beach at the beginning of 'Grease.'

We were going to explore the caves and rocks but I fell off of one and hurt my leg.

That's the one we were going to go through and that BIG rock is the one I fell off of.

And that's what it did to my leg.  Plus it took off about half of my big toenail.  Yuk.  It hurts, but I'll live.  Anyway, we just went back and made a little camp at the other end of the beach and played.

That other guy that isn't Matt is Zack, he's Brianna's friend who lives out here and he's the one who drove us out to the beach.

Yep, see I really was there today!

And of course we wrote in the sand, because that's what you do...

We also saw lots of dolphins jumping in the water but we never could time it just right to get a picture.  They were really close to us though and we saw a lot of sea gulls dive into the water for food and come back up.  They also tried to attack our bag of chips.

All in all it was an awesome day.  We think we will go back to the beach tomorrow, but we'll probably go to a closer one.  There are apparently some decent ones just north of Santa Monica. The beach is my new favorite place right now.  But it sure wears me out. We really didn't do anything that physically hard but I am really really tired.  Oh well.  

TOTAL MILES TODAY: 0

TOTAL GAS: Still around $350/$400 for the whole trip

TODAY'S THEME SONG: 'Pork and Beans' by Weezer 

You got what you want, you can hardly stand it though...
05 June 08 10:34 PM | Lin_See | with no comments

I'm sorry, I realize it's been two days since my last post.  I'm lazy.  I also haven't taken any pictures in the last two days.  I did however steal these pictures from eurekaunscripted.tumblr.com.  That's the Eureka writer's blog.

These are pictures of the aftermath of the fire taken from just outside the Eureka writer's trailer.  You can see the damage, but you can't smell it.  We've been smelling it all week.  Well, Tuesday anyway.  Yesterday we moved to temporary office space on the lot where we'll be until next week.  They are apparently cleaning our parking lot this evening so at least we won't be wading through ash and burnt video tape tomorrow morning.  I get to drive the golf cart shuttle which is fun.  I have to say, driving the golf cart around the lot is probably one of my most favorite things at the moment.  That's right, I'm so very easily amused.

Oh yeah, here are those pictures: 

Anyway, Tuesday was pretty miserable in the trailer.  When we came in that morning there was a thin layer of ash over almost everything.  The smell was horrendous and by the end of the day we were all suffering in some way.  Thania had a giant headache, Nick and Eric were dealing with runny noses and watery eyes, and I think John was suffering from it all, he looked like he had been crying all day, and his eyes were watering, I think he ended up leaving early.  I had a headache by the end of it and my throat was swollen and sore.  Thank goodness we moved yesterday.

The really cool thing about this week was that I got to spend quite a bit of time observing the writer's room.  It was a lot of fun and I wish I could just spend all of my time listening to them break stories and work through notes they get on stories from network and the studio.  It's very interesting and all of the writers and producers are really nice about letting us observe and they always take time to stop every now and then and address us interns, even if it is just to tease us about how "interesting" it is to be in a real writer's room.  I think they take for granted that it really is interesting, at least to someone like me who has never experienced anything like it before.

Anyway, the internship is going really well.  I think I'm making a decent impression, they don't seem to hate me so that's good.  We had our internship orientation Tuesday and Katie (the other intern) and I both left that feeling like we got the best deal of all the 230 interns at NBC this summer.  Most of the other interns showed up in ties, slacks, skirts, and very formal dress.  We were both wearing jeans.  There was a lot of talk about how some of the interns aren't really interacting with the people in the departments they are interning in and Katie and I both looked at each other and agreed that we are very lucky.  We get face time on a daily basis with the Exec. Producers and all of the writer's.  They know us by name and take time out each day to at least say hi to us even if it is a really busy day.

Yesterday there wasn't really a ton of stuff to do, the internet was down and we spent a good portion of the afternoon playing Hangman, Name that Tune, and I sat in the writer's room for about the last two hours of the day.  So all is well on the internship front.

As for L.A....

L.A. is apparently a vortex of time suckage.  I feel like out here there are really only about 20 hours in a day.  It's always 9 or 10 at night before I realize the entire day has gone. Days don't seem as long out here and that's really throwing me for a loop.  I keep going back and forth on how I feel about this town.  It's a strange place and so big.  Everything seems to be happening so fast and I always thought L.A. was way more laid back, but it doesn't feel like it.  I still have yet to meet anyone out here (with the exception of Katie) who is actually from here and yet I still get funny looks when people find out I'm from Missouri.  Yesterday I spent most of my lunchtime telling them what it's like to be in a tornado.  They couldn't believe the sky actually does turn green.  That was a weird experience.  They also were pretty surprised when I told them that humidity basically makes it feel like you're swimming outside and it's something we deal with on an everyday basis from about March to October.  

I think I'm kind of in culture shock.

I don't know if L.A. is a place I really want to be.  I'm torn though, because this internship really solidifies the fact that I DO want to work in TV/Film.  I want to produce and write.  I just don't want to live in L.A. and it worries me because I think I won't be able to do what I want to do if I don't live out here.  And I go back and forth everyday about whether I could live here or not.  Some days I think I could, others I think I couldn't.

Part of it is the fact that right now, L.A. doesn't actually feel like a place.  I don't see how people have normal lives here.  Where are the homes?  Where are the suburbs?  And I never thought I would say this, but I was really excited tonight to see a strip mall.  It made me feel like home.  This is insane.  I need to find some parts of L.A. that don't feel so impossible to navigate and live in.  I don't understand where all the places I've heard described to me are, where all the pretty areas and cute bungalows I've read about and seen on t.v. are. And there is the problem.  I've read and watched so many various depictions of this city that I had a completely different picture in my mind of what it would be like.

 I need to get over those depictions and start accepting reality a little more.  I don't know, I just hope by the end of the summer I have a better idea of how I feel and of how to go about doing what I want to do.  I had a long talk the other day at my internship about what my next career moves could be and I am not satisfied at all.  I don't know what to do next to achieve the things I want.  This internship is great and all, but I need a better idea of the right direction to go after this.  I don't want to be a page at NBC, and I don't know if I want to try the associate program.  I want to go to Vancouver and work on a set, or I want to be in a writer's room as an assistant or something.  I don't really want to do anything else.

Sigh.

I guess I still have about 8 weeks to figure some of this out.

One other thing I realized today is that I'm a little homesick and now it seems when I do get home I may not have any friends waiting as they are all moving away.

It dawned on me this morning that Dave is moving to Florida before I get back, Kelly and Lindsey will be in Milwaukee by then, Ashley and Andrew will be in Ohio, Annie is already in Arkansas, and Brittany could very well be in STL....

That's so depressing, what will I do? I won't have anyone to play with anymore. And what's even worse is that I've seen most of those people for the last time and I didn't even realize it...sad sad sad, I will miss them all so much....you guys better keep in touch!!!!!

TOTAL MILES TODAY: 0 (all I did today was eat and sleep)

TOTAL GAS MONEY SO FAR: Still around $350.00

TODAY'S THEME SONG: It's Not Going to Stop by Aimee Mann
 

Filed under: L.A., Fire, Internship, Career, NBC

Me, I figure as each breath goes by, I only own my mind...
02 June 08 08:58 PM | Lin_See | with no comments

The post-premiere Sunday evening activities were tame in comparison to the morning.  Ann came over and met up with us for dinner down at the pizza place. It's nice to have yet another friendly face from home around.  She's living about 2 miles from Beverly Hills in a really nice apartment complex with 4 random stranger roommates.  She seems to like it okay, but I don't think it's the kind of situation I would enjoy.  I think she's probably a little more independent about all this than I am though.

We spent the rest of the evening watching the MTV Movie Awards and playing Guitar Hero.  A game at which I totally suck.  I finally made it through 'Mother' and then got brave and tried 'Evenflow.'  Not. Even. Close.

Matt is really good at it and Luke is way better at it than I am.  Brianna spent the evening writing script coverage of what appears to be one of the worst scripts ever written.

At any rate, she finished the coverage and found out this morning that she got the internship for 2 days a week, which is FANTASTIC news.

Today we attempted to go to the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson at CBS, Ann came along for that adventure too:

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get in so no show for us.  But since CBS is right next the Farmer's Market we headed over there for a late lunch.  Farmer's Market is a neat place and it's nice to say we've been there, but it's not really a place I think I would want to spend a lot of time at.  I do want to check out The Grove at some point though, it's right behind the Farmer's Market.

We ate there and the food was okay, I got about as close to cashew chicken as I think I will get out here in California:

It was some kind of Orange Chicken and it wasn't that great, but I guess I can't complain.  I mean we did invent cashew chicken in SpringPatch so I can't expect anything to even come close to it.  And I couldn't for the life of me find crab rangoon. Grrrr...

It was a pretty good day, but I really just want to take a nap.  I had my first REAL encounter with L.A. traffic today, but I think most of it was just the fact that CBS is in a place that I thought was really hard to get to.  And when we left I got totally lost trying to find Vine St. again, I never did find it.  We ended up really far away from where we needed to be, way past Melrose and in a part of town that I don't think was very safe.  But we did manage to get back on the 101 just in time for Rush Hour.  My nerves were really shot by the time we got back.  I did not like driving in that part of town with a car full of people at. all.  It was way too much for me.

As you've probably guessed, no I did not work at my internship today.  Why?

Well, in case you had your head buried in the sand for the last 24 hours, you know that the Universal Studios backlot was on fire for a large portion of the day yesterday.  And yes, the fire was very close to where I work.  So, yesterday, Scott called and told me not to go in today as everyone would be working from home.  Bummer for me because, yes, I'm crazy, I like the work...but it's all good because I get to go in tomorrow morning.  We have temporary space to work, but I suspect most of my job tomorrow will include cleaning up the trailer and getting it back up and going so the writers and producers can be back working in it by the afternoon or Wednesday morning.  That's fine with me, I get to work and that's what I'm here for after all!!! I guess that probably sounds ridiculous but I am really having an awesome time  out here and it's mostly because of the internship.  I mean all of the other things are amazing too, but I have to admit that Los Angeles is not what I would consider my dream place of residence.  I don't think I want to live here for a long-term permanent basis (by this I mean no longer than 10 years, if even that long).  It's too...cluttered and difficult.  It's a high maintenance city and I know there are tons and tons of beautiful places out here, but I have yet to really see them. Now, if I could somehow figure out a way to snag a gig in Vancouver...well, I just might never return!

TOTAL MILES TODAY: 35

TOTAL GAS COST: $400 -that's total overall trip, today I paid $4.27/gallon

TODAY'S THEME SONG:  'I Am Mine' - Pearl Jam

Oh yah, go read Brianna's blog about her internship here:

http://coalserver.missouristate.edu/blogs/thunderroadpictures/default.aspx

And Luke's:

http://coalserver.missouristate.edu/blogs/workingonacontinent/default.aspx 

Filed under: L.A., CBS, Traffic, The Grove, Farmer's Market

Seth Rogen Stood Me Up...
01 June 08 02:21 PM | Lin_See | 4 comment(s)

We'll get to Seth Rogen in a minute...

Yesterday we did Santa Monica.  I'd been there before, but it was a really fun day. We walked the pier and played skee-ball and we saw some interesting characters there:

 

This guy was particularly insane:

 

We were a little worried about our parking situation because we parked at a McDonald's for free and weren't sure if they would ticket or tow us if we stayed too long, so we basically made the round of the pier and headed back to the car.  We were going to ride the Ferris Wheel but ended up not, because it was $5 a person to ride, and we weren't into spending any money...

Then we headed down to the 3rd Street Promenade.  I love the 3rd Street Promenade, sight of the infamous Matt Damon non-sighting of '99. 

 

There's an Apple store....mmmmm.....

 

It's like an outdoor mall and there are CRAZY street performers.  We saw the king of the dance:

Then we ate some pasta, which made both Brianna and I sick.  And headed back to the hotel.

We finally did some grocery shopping, we found a Ralph's down the street and bought some groceries.  It was cool because they let us use our Dillon's Plus  Cards there and I saved $5. Hey, that's a gallon of gas...also, the grocery stores here are tiny.  Not so much tiny in the sense that they don't have much, but tiny in the sense that the aisles are basically only big enough for one person.  That's a problem on Saturday afternoon when apparently everyone in Sherman Oaks goes grocery shopping. But we survived.

We were planning on just staying in and watching movies last night, but Brianna's friend Zack called and wanted to hang out so we met him in Venice at a place called the Whaler Bar and Grill.  Venice was pretty interesting, it was a cute little trendy/hip spot full of nightlife.  We had no trouble finding the place, but we had an impossible time finding a place to park.  We ended up parking about a mile away.  We went down the pier and saw a bum catch a shark and gut it....that was pretty interesting...

Then we walked on the beach for awhile which was cool, but it was night so we couldn't really see anything and I was kind of freaking out because I couldn't find my phone.  Turns out, after we walked 2 blocks out of our way to get back to the car, my phone was in the seat the whole time.

Today we got up super early (7:45 AM) and drove down to Hollywood Blvd.  for the premiere of 'Kung Fu Panda.'  It was premiering at Grauman's Chinese Theater and the stars were set to begin arriving at 9:30 AM. We got there about 8:45 AM.  Having never been to a premiere before we weren't sure where the best place to stand would be.  But we ended up settling on a spot just ahead of the press pool.  We were right up against the barricade. So we waited.

 

And then....this is what we saw.... 

The panda showed:

 

The cast of Ace of Cakes (but I thought that bald guy was Dave Attel at first)

 

Wayne Brady and his daughter:

Maria Bello:

Lucy Liu:

Jeffrey Katzenberg:

Michael Clarke Duncan:

 

DUSTIN HOFFMAN!!!!!

 

 

JACK BLACK!!!!!!!!!!

So yeah, the premiere was a fun experience.  I can only imagine what it must be like when there is a HUGE movie premiering...maybe we'll find out later in the summer, I am determined to go to the X-Files premiere to see David Duchovny....

But I am bummed out that my boyfriend Seth Rogen was a no-show on this red carpet, aside from Jack Black, he's the one I really really wanted to see, though it was pretty awesome to see Dustin Hoffman...he's a tiny tiny man.

In other news...it appears that my internship is on fire....well, really Universal studios is on fire.  We saw the huge plume of smoke.  Apparently, the part of the backlot that is the downtown set from Back to the Future and that is currently used for the Ghost Whisperer is on fire.  That is about 8 feet from the trailer I work in.  I don't think this will have a negative impact on my internship, but it will be interesting to go in tomorrow in the aftermath of this.  I'll let you know how it goes.

 

TOTAL GAS COST: Still approx. $350, though I need to fill up today

 TOTAL MILES DRIVEN TODAY: About 20 give or take

TODAY'S THEME SONG: Kung Fu Fighting 

 

Filed under: Jack Black, Kung Fu Panda, Premiere, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Santa Monica, Pier, Dustin Hoffman