Feel better now? Alright, let's do a countdown of the five things that happened since I last blogged.
5. Saw Childish Gambino
When someone texts you late at night and asks if you want to go to a Childish Gambino show in Brooklyn, you don't simply say no. Prospect Park, a beautiful place in the middle of Brooklyn, hosted Childish Gambino for his second night in NYC, and I was more than willing to take a ticket from my friend.
Surrounded by hipsters and high schoolers, I went nuts to some of his classic hits like Freaks and Geeks and You See Me. Unfortunately, he didn't play the song that originally got me into his music, New Prince (Crown on the Ground).
But still an amazing concert. Also, I can't really look at him without remembering the good old days where he starred in the vulgar, at times childish, DerrickComedy.
4. Went to the Catskills
So on Friday, I travelled with a film crew up into the Catskills Mountains to film at a random house. I never really found a reason that we needed to travel so far to film there since we really didn't use the scenery, but I wasn't complaining. The Catskills are incredibly beautiful, with rolling hills of lush forest and sparkling lakes.
But beyond the beauty of the place lies the history behind it. I was standing on comedic sacred ground up here, wandering around the places where people like Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld, and Woody Allen honed their craft. This area created some of the most famous jokes in comedy history, and here I was filming a parody of Call Me Maybe. Great to see how comedy has advanced...
3. Free Movies in the Park!
New York has to be one of the greatest cities when it comes to free events. Any day during the summer, I can go to one of the many great parks and see a show or movie. Now, back home in Pittsburgh, our local theater had Monday Movie Night, and luckily, New York's Bryant Park has been able to meet my Monday Movie needs. Every Monday, Bryant Park hosts a classic film for free, ranging from Westerns to Golden Age Hollywood. This week continued to impress with The Wizard of Oz.
Watching this movie for the first time in over a decade, I started to realize why this movie stands as such a cultural phenomena even today. The music, story, and characters are all fantastic, and it holds morals and ideas that can relate to any time period.
But, there were some weird things people forget. Like how Glinda, the "good" witch, actually is a bitch. She could have saved Dorothy all the time and near death experiences if she had just mentioned the teleporting shoes in the beginning. But noooooooo, she had to let Dorothy wander around an unknown world, get captured by a hydrophobic witch, and then get high off of poppy seeds.
And don't even get me started on the disturbing performance by the Lollipop Guild. They all look like they are suffering strokes as they sing.
2. Art Directed a Shoot
When film companies can't afford to pay actual professionals for important jobs, who do they look to for free labor. Interns! And that's pretty much how this job came about when we couldn't afford to pay a real art director for pick-up shots. So, using the props we already had, I decorated a small Brooklyn bedroom into a tween's paradise, complete with stuffed animals, bright sheets, and collages of the famous pop stars of today.
For my first art directing job, I would say it doesn't look too bad. We also had to fling feathers all over the place whenever the scene called for her to destroy the room, and I quickly found out that a bag of feathers and a bag stuffed with a feathery boa look very similar. That is, until you try to throw the boa and 10 feet of cloth goes right into your actress's face. My bad.
1. July 4th Party!
So, this dingus named Alejandro decided to visit for the weekend, and we spent the majority of Saturday up in Westchester for our friend Amy's July 4th party! Before we get there, I want to point out the beauty of the Hudson River Valley.
The train ride is, in itself, a beautiful contrast to the industrialized city that I see everyday. This trip combined with the Catskills really gave me a taste of nature that I haven't seen since I was home.
But, of course, the real excitement was at the party.
Oh, what are those? Are those giant inflatable things that I will play on even though they are meant for kids 10 and under? You bet I will. So, the party was amazing! They had rides, a lake, an ice cream truck, a fully catered meal service, and even live music! The whole thing was extravagant and incredible, and seemed to not have too many limits on what we could do. At one point, Alejandro and I rode a kids ride while smoking cigars, and I don't think it got much better than that.
Cigars and ice cream. Classy.
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