Thursday, September 24, 2009

Back to my vacation

Okay it wasn’t the end of the world disaster I thought it was going to be. There may have even been a few occasions where I might have actually smiled and enjoyed myself. Not to say that I haven’t had to deal with a butt load of headaches and drama from the very beginning, but most of it is what’s to be expected when you take on a project so late in the game. And it was kind of exhilarating to push myself and the people around me to get the best out of the project.

My first hurdle was dealing with the crazy time constraints. The way a shoot usually works is the director sits down with the skaters and they view footage of all the spots the scouts found and choose the ones they want to skate. Then they head out to the locations and practice some things, get the lay of the land, and shoot some b-reel for outtakes or credits. Once they are satisfied they take a day or two to let it all ameliorate then they all go back and do it for-realsies! We basically had to do all that junk in 2 day intervals and at the end of that second day pack up and start it all over in a new city. My second hurdle was my French camera crew. They all spoke piss poor English and I refuse to learn French. However one guy was fluent in Spanish and the other spoke German as well as I did, so we all became a fucking cultural amalgam of languages and exasperated gesticulations.

Anyway, we finished shooting almost a week ago and I have been stuck in post editing all this crap into something awesome. I have done all I can or will do at this point and am returning to my vacation. I am in Munich waiting for my friends from Spain to arrive for Oktoberfest. Side note: German guys are hot! I am sure this goes without saying, but I am going to be incommunicado until sometime in October after I have had a decent amount of time to recover.

Monday, September 14, 2009

More France!


A few weeks ago when I first arrived in Europe it was FUCKING cold! Like New York in November cold! I hadn’t packed for cold weather because I was under the impression that it was supposed to be relatively warm in Western Europe this time of year. We all know that I am allergic to shopping and would rather get a tooth pulled then go shopping so I did what any sane person in my situation would do. I called my friend\agent and had him pull some strings and get me some warm clothes ASAP. Long story short, I got brand new winter gear the next day never considering the strings that might have been attached to such a favor.

I arrived in Spain to great weather and awesome people that I haven’t seen in years. We hung out, drank, and partied until we passed out where we stood daily. On the 3rd day of my hedonistic adventures I received a call from my ex-friend\agent calling in the favor that I owed him. Fucking hell! If I’d known that a couple of jackets and hoodies and a few pairs of pants were going to cost me 6 more days in France I’d have told him to fuck off! Hind sight is always 20\20 isn’t it!? You better believe I am making the company spend well over their budget to put me up in fancy hotels and shipping all my private equipment from the states.

So now I am miserable and working during my vacation in FUCKING France! I am still a little fuzzy on what the overall objective is but I do know the itinerary; first Paris, then Marseilles, and then we are finishing up in Cannes. This shit is going to suck. I feel like such a ridiculous spoiled brat complaining about losing 6 days from my 5 week vacation across an entire continent, but I can’t help the way I feel! I really needed this time to rest, reflect, and recover, but now I have this whole THING to deal with.

I guess if I am truly honest with myself, the thing that bugs me more than anything else is even if I hadn’t called in that favor, I would have been asked to do this anyway and theirs a huge chance I still would have done it. It makes me wonder what my integrity and self respect is actually worth to me if I am going to keep on caving in like this every time I am asked. I did say I was done with all this shit, but it never really seems to work out that way. In the end I always come back because it’s what is easy and I am really good at it. I seriously need to go back to University and learn some new skills because I am starting to get sick of hating myself for all this hypocrisy all the time.

Actually i am just venting and this is all just me being ridiculous. It should all be disregarded as me being a crazy bipolar freak in serious need of meds.It doesn't matter, I'll probably get hit by a car anyway.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Closed on Tuesdays...

I am not realy a big fan of France in general, so whenever I come to Paris I want to get in and out as quickly as possible. I speak 4 languages, have been to 5 continents and over 20 countries; so I feel quite confident in my opinion that France is my least favorite place in the world. My traveling buddy really wanted to see all the major tourist shit ie: The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, etc. We decided on a bus tour to catch all the odds and ends and then left Tuesday open for going to the Louvre so we could spend the ENTIRE day wandering the museum without any time constraints. For all the things I DO NOT enjoy in Paris, the Louvre is definitely not one of them.

Who knew the Louvre was closed on Tuesdays? I certainly didn’t! I stood there staring at that god awful closed sign feeling COMPLETELY defeated with the knowledge that I had to spend yet another day in this god forsaken city! I seriously felt like somebody had just punched me in the face and I wasn’t able to do anything to hide it. Seeing that I needed some serious cheering up my buddy called a guy who knew a guy and ended up turning my frown upside down with a little afternoon sesh of shredding the gnar urban jungle style!

I have been to quite a few skate parks in Paris and they mostly all suck ass! I dunno who’s fault this is, but its true and the truth hurts so back off all you French apologists! ANYWHOW, back to my point, this skate park rocked my socks. It was perfectly planned out and executed for a ride that was both challenging and fun. I had my Sector 9 with me which really just added to the whole hang 10 mood I was trying to get into to calm my nerves. Eventually the Louvre being closed turned into this happy accident that I was really pleased with. But I would just like to make it clear that I still have a very strong disdain for all things French!

I am currently waiting to get on an overnight train to Barcelona. Spain! Now that’s a country I can definitely endorse! I am all kinds of excited for my week there because Spain is just fun.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Vacation fun

Driving in England fucking sucks ass! FINE ! I can get used to driving on the wrong side of the road and shifting gears towards me instead of away from me, BUT what the shit is up with all those fucking traffic circles!? What the hell do British people have against a NORMAL GODDMAN intersection!? After two days of getting lost and almost dying in a plethora of near fatal car crashes all over the English country side, I am proud to report that I am not dead! But this has nothing to do with my proswess as a driver and everything to do with the rest of England being car ninjas with cat like reflexes and having the patience of a saint.

I am loving my traveling companion right now because of how independent he is! This trip I am feeling the need to wander the world alone and occasionally have a buddy to chat about it with. This week I am staying at a hostel while my buddy is busy hanging with friends on the other side of the city. We are meeting up at the end of the week and comparing crazy stories before we head off to our next destination and do it all over again. I just don’t have the energy to entertain my friends because I feel like that has always been my role and I am liking the solo time because it makes me feel like I don’t always have to put on a show.

Walking into my room at this hostel felt like stepping onto the set of a softcore porn shoot! As I opened the door all I saw was a flurry of naked men as they ran around the room snapping each other with their towels. Seeing me walk in did not deter them from their raucous nakedness and they kind of waved me off as they kept at it. Usually I would have just laughed this off and continued with what I was doing. However me not having had sex since June has made me a little bit of a horndog. So I kind of just stood there with a growing erection as these fit guys chased each other around the room. Once things settled down we were able to get the introductions out of the way and we ended up having a pretty decent time hanging out and having fun.

For some reason I am having the worst jetlag of my entire life. I have yet to recover from my flight and I haven’t been able to get a single night’s rest. Most days I end up taking a late afternoon nap and fucking up my sleep cycle all over again! I am extremely agitated and grumpy from not being able to acclimate myself as quickly as I normally do. I think this is the first sign of old age. Speaking of age, I have been carded at every bar I have been to in London the last 5 days! What the shit is up with that!? The drinking age is 18 and I at least look 18 if not older. But EVERY SINGLE TIME I ORDER A BEER, they want to see my ID! Seriously, its kind of embarrassing that at 23 I still can’t pass as a legal drinker in a country where 14 year olds walk into stores and purchase alcohol with no drama.

Nothing I have done on my “vacation” so far has been relaxing. This next part of my vacation should do wonders for settling my nerves. Its going to be all beaches, surfing, and lounging until I am so relaxed that I start to forget that stress even exists. Then and only then will I begin to tackle the big issues and life drama that I have been putting off all summer.