Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Last Thursday I was given the spectacular (no joke) opportunity of attending a Dodgers game with seats on the baseline, about 5 rows back from 1st. Dodgers played the Mets; Dodgers beat the Mets, therefore I was told I was pleased. It was quite an exciting experience, actually. I was a little hesitant to go because baseball really isn't my sport, but one beer, two hot dogs, and some prime visibility later, it turns out baseball really IS my sport. My team, however, is still up in the air. Maybe I can sell my team loyalty on Ebay, the way everyone tells me to root for this team or that. Unfortunately, I only got a few pictures before my camera/phone died, but I will still share them anyway.

I also got the chance to go to the Hollywood Bowl this past weekend to watch "Planet earth Live!" This is a video compilation of the highlights from the famous BBC series, "Planet Earth." I saw some of the most amazing footage of uncommon animals and nature, from the mysterious and legendary snow leopard (the shots of which it took 7 months to get), to a group of cranes flying over the top of Mount Everest. The whole thing was set to the live music of the LA philharmonic, the world-renowned orchestra. It was an unbelievable experience.
The Hollywood Bowl is a giant, 17,000 seat outdoor theater nestled into the side of a Mountain, creating a unique "bowl" effect. If you're one of those people who like to go to Broadway on a trip to New York, I highly recommend LA's answer to the theater. Since I made a last-minute decision to go, I was by myself, where I happened to land in the middle of a giant group of people, lots of whom worked for the Showtime TV show "Dexter." They were all incredibly friendly and I met some very interesting folks. Never know what you're gonna run into in this crazy town.

I also took a few pictures of the general atmosphere of my office here at Herzog. As much as the people keep up the professional appearance, they can't quash the personality that pokes out of little nooks and crannies. One of my favorite things is a hidden board called the "That's what She Said" Board, which takes things heard around the office out of context and, well, you know the joke. Take a look at some stuff that jumped out at me.

Animal House

I'm living in a Zoo.

You say, "Oh haha, that Emily. always making wisecracks about her living arrangement. That girl sucks her sphincter up when the toilet paper is on wrong."

Well, I do do that, but seriously. This situation is waaay more than some silly toilet paper issue. Which, by the way, should always go around the back. It just makes more sense, because if you try to do it one-handed, and it's around the front, it just-

I digress. But back to the zoo.

I moved in with 2 other girls, Jess and Kelsey, and a guy, Conor, all of whom just graduated OU and are moving to LA permanently. Four people to a 2 bedroom, 2 bath might be squeezing a little, but hey, it's two months. I'm sleeping on an 80 dollar IKEA mattress. I can be flexible.

Then 2 other guys, fresh off the graduation wagon, also drove out here, but with no rental prospects and thus no place to live. So guess who's floor they decided to crash on?

Oh hell no.

Now I'm stepping over bodies to get to my morning coffee and sharing a bathroom with all three of the guys. Give me props, though. I haven't flipped out yet. EVEN THOUGH the hair is starting to coat the shower curtain, and I can't count the number of times I've almost fallen into the toilet because I missed the upright toilet seat. But I refuse to abdicate my throne. My hair dryer is in there.

What is entertaining is the dynamic between this mash-up of human beings. Let us briefly describe the characters in this little sitcom:

JESS
a curly-haired ginger, pseudo-bitch. (By that I mean she's actually a very nice person with a penchant for calling people Hoes and Sluts).

KELSEY
A seemingly innocent, passive-aggressive WASP.

CONOR
A hyper-active television aficionado whose favorite part of watching a TV show is to tell you the best part of an episode right before it happens.

And... the squatters, Sam and Chris. Two homeless college grads locked in a bromance.

Can you imagine the hilarity? I can't. I don't have to. I'm so lucky.

Aw, it's not as bad as I make out. This weekend, we all went to the beach in Malibu. It was really pretty and the waves were INSANE. I got taken out by a couple, turning several cartwheels before burying my face in underwater sand. I still found some in my hair during my morning shower today.

All in all, things are progressing as well as can be hoped for in the City of Angels. I'm thinking my experience is a little more Lebowski-esque than movie star, but pretty fun nonetheless.

Enjoy the pictures.

Keeping the Faith

Finally got the consistent internet I've been praying for. Took long enough, but I'm really enjoying LA in the meantime. I've done a lot of sightseeing the last two weekends, but not nearly enough beachgoing. I expect this weekend will be the weekend I finally head up to Malibu, seeing as the temp is supposed to rise into the triple digits. ZOIKS!

My internship with Herzog and Co. is really incredible. So far, I've watched Secretatiat, the new Disney movie coming out next year!

I've also seen daily footage from Pirates of the Caribbean IV, Transformers 3, and a new sci-fi movie called "I am Number Four." Think Twilight with aliens.

The company itself is really cool too. Everyone is laid back and casual, which is great because often I need to recycle my outfits to stay warm in the air-conditioning. I think I made through the first week trying to dress nicely, then dropped the facade and bundled up. Don't judge me.

I'm also learning a lot about the ins and outs of media marketing. I learned about something called a "sizzler reel," which the creative content editors (different from the theatrical editors- they mostly only make trailers) put together for the clients from Disney, Dreamworks, etc. It's made for the client's investors to get them involved in the movie, and because it's not for a general audience, often contains spoilers and special footage (that I got to see :). Today, the President of Dreamworks came in to see the "Number Four" Sizzler. I watched, Cinderella-like from my post at the copy machine, as Anna, the creative content coordinator, rushed about hiding the stuffed toys and razor scooter and telling everyone to "be on their best f***ing behavior."

I think Penelope is my favorite person at the office. She's a Brussels Griffin that belongs to Bill, the guy who got me in to Herzog. It's like a pug with a beard. She has this adorable underbite that makes her look like a cross between a barracuda and a gremlin, except that she's constantly smiling. Bill brings her into work every now and then and everyone swoons over her. With good reason.

The most excitement I've had here in LA was the earthquake about a week ago. I was sitting in Bill's office, watching a TV spot for Sorcerer's Apprentice, when the blinds started swaying. Then everything started moving, and I got slight motion sickness. I want to say it was a 5.something on the Richter Scale, but I couldn't tell you for sure.

Stay tuned for the sitcom-portion of this blog. I'm subleasing out here with five OU grads, 2 of whom are temporarily homeless. I'm sharing a bathroom with 3 guys. More on that as the story develops. Oh look, we're out of hot water.

The Adventure Began

Hi everyone! It's been a solid week without actual internet here in LA, save for my droid, so I've been a bit delayed in setting up a blog to share my adventures with friends and family. This first post I drafted when I first flew out, so it's a little outdated, but gives you an idea of my adventures thus far. Thanks, and have fun reading!

Emily

Day One: The Adventure Begins

Today I set sail (or rather, wing) for my marvelous summer of 2010 in Los Angeles. I am beginning my internship with the Herzog Company, a trailer company which makes all the trailers for Disney films. There I will learn the ins and outs of movie marketing, and hopefully some editing techniques.

Here I pause to explain my choice of major, video production. After going through the "undecided" rite of passage, I settled on media with a specific interest in film and TV. This sounds like an exciting enterprise to most everyone but the two people funding my ambitions. You can imagine the reactions when you tell your parents that, screw medicine, law, or business, you want to be the next James Cameron. They scratch their heads like chimps, smile painfully, and ask, "What's a James Camera?" This is when you know you've found your calling.

Because of my internship, I obtained a scholarship from the Alliance for Family Entertainment, an organization that helps provide family-friendly programming for advertisers like Proctor and Gamble, Wal-mart, and Coca-Cola. Last week, I was invited to a symposium at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. There i learned about the Alliance's research on American families and their TV preferences. Among other presentations, I listened to a keynote interview with Randy Jackson, music producer and American Idol judge. Another panel involved creators of tv shows like "Glee" and "The Middle" with Patricia Heaton. The fascinating conference concluded with a panel of the presidents of NBC, CBS, FOX, the CW, and ABC.

But back to today. I'm flying back to LA now to begin my internship on the 6th. I sit in my aisle seat, watching the large, African-American woman thunder down the passage with her hair in curlers and a shower cap, her screaming 2-year old tucked sideways under her arm like a bazooka, and I think to myself, "What kind of freak show is this?" I begin to assemble a list of rules for safe air travel that i have learned from my years of hard experience. I will share these rules with you now.

The laws of the jungle- or as some may know it, the airport- are simple and severe. They are a cross between Murphy's Laws and Tijuana street customs. The first rule, and most important, is:

ALWAYS, ALWAYS PEE.

If you have the chance to do it, do it. It doesn't matter if your plane is leaving the hangar. If there is even the slightest hint of a whiff that you might have to expel some urine in the next 24 hours possibly maybe, you hit up every bathroom from the east end of Chicago O'Hare to the South terminal of LAX. You never know when you may be held hostage on a plane where the pilots refuse to take off because of some "minor malfunction" and the flight attendant insists that it is unsafe to leave your seat until you have reached 20,000 feet (even though the plane is still on the ground).

Which leads me to my second rule:

IF YOU THINK YOU'RE SAFE FROM DELAYS JUST BECAUSE YOU MADE IT INTO THE FUSILLAGE, YOU'RE WRONG. AND STUPID.

Don't be stupid.

The third rule:
MAKE SURE YOU BEAT THE REST OF YOUR BOARDING ZONE ONTO THE PLANE.

Unless you're one of those privileged people flying first class everywhere (and first to die when the plane crashes, ha ha), you have to be on your toes. Now, I know what you're thinking: But we have boarding zones! Surely that allows for some sense of decorum and order when boarding a plane that won't leave until everyone is on anyway, right?
Ha.
There is no order to boarding a plane. You would think everyone's rushing to the lifeboats as the TITANIC sinks beneath them. And the secret reason for this bedlam is:
overhead storage. If you're the last on that plane, so is your bag, and the next thing you know, it's under your seat pushing your knees up to your face. And with the airlines charging extra for check-ons these days, it is a certainty that you will have a bag. Point is, this is not the TITANIC. It is much more urgent than that.

The fourth rule:

DON'T PISS OFF THE AIRLINE HOSTS.

The flight attendants are all seemingly Stepford wives until you break one of their rules. They ask you to stop breaking that rule.
"Ma'am, the fasten seatbelt sign is on. Please return to your seat."
YOu have a very good reason for breaking said rule, i.e. a bursting bladder.
"I know, I just have to, really quick-"
"Ma'am, please. return. to. your. seat."
Return to your damn seat right $!#@ing now is what she means. And it's a federal offense to disobey her. But it's your own fault for missing that 8th bathroom you passed in Minneapolis.

During this flight, I am traveling with my mother. The flight attendant asks her if she wants anything to drink, then posing the question to me, she actually kneels down to my eye level and speaks as if she were addressing a small child. "And what would you like to drink, hun?" Pure Fargo accent. I look at her like she's sprung a third eye. Bring me a scotch, hun. Don'tchya know?

Rule Five:

IF YOU NOTICE A SCREAMING BABY IN THE AIRPORT, IT WILL BE ON YOUR FLIGHT.

Children never cause a problem unless you allow yourself to be antagonized by children. If you are waiting for your plane and one of them catches your attention (and not in a good way), you can be sure that that baby will be on the plane with you. And the more you obsess over that crying lump of flesh, the closer it will be seated next to you. Promise.

The sixth and final rule:

MAKE SURE YOU OBEY PROPER SECURITY MEASURES.

Of course you will want to pack only 2oz of liquid, wear easily removable shoes, and separate your electronics from your luggage, but many people forget the most important principle of airport security: push your own bags through the x-ray machine. make sure they reach the conveyor belt, even if that means you have to stand and wait for the bags in front of you to be scanned and re-scanned and wait- nope, just nail clippers- and scanned once more. It is very important that you do this. It is your job. It is NOT the job of the airport people standing around. Their job is to do nothing in particular and look very angry as they do it. Be sure you cooperate and push your bags through, otherwise they will make you go back after you've walked through the metal detector, push them through, and walk back through the metal detector again, while holding up the line. It's very important security stuff; you wouldn't understand.
On that note, buy Gold Bond foot powder for walking through the airport.

Readers, don't be disheartened by my spiel. Air travel is actually a very safe and fun way to get from A to B, and taking a plane usually means you're going someplace pretty cool (except South Dakota. Sorry). Just be on the lookout for situations that might inconvenience you. Or kill you.

I jest, I jest.

But seriously. Buckle up. The fasten seatbelt sign is on.