I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I AIN'T SEEN THE SUNSHINE,
SINCE, I DON'T KNOW WHEN,
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison,
And time keeps draggin' on,
But that train keeps a-rollin',
On down to San Antone.

When I was just a baby,
My Mama told me, "Son,
Always be a good boy,
Don't ever play with guns,"
But I SHOT A MAN IN RENO,
JUST TO WATCH HIM DIE,
When I hear that whistle blowin',
I hang my head and cry.

I bet there's rich folks eatin',
In a fancy dining car,
They're probably drinkin' coffee,
And smokin' big cigars,
But I KNOW I HAD IT COMIN',
I KNOW I CAN'T BE FREE,
But those people keep a-movin',
And that's what tortures me.

Well, if they freed me from this prison,
If that railroad train was mine,
I bet I'd move out over a little,
Farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison,
That's where I want to stay,
And I'd let that lonesome whistle,
Blow my Blues away.
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues - 1958 Live

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I got laid off this last Friday, rented a car for the weekend and drove 1,010 miles, hung out in Lake Tahoe (RENO) for my mom's Bday, and got a new cell phone (323.682.2198). There was also a scandalous series of events involving an intern at Club Moviola (none of which was a cause of being laid off) as well as the good riddance of my roommate Jay.

...maybe I should start at the beginning...

'wavey picture thingy that happens when 80's tv shows have a flashback'


Previously on... "Derek's Life"
-----------------------------
Towards the end of the month I received a, now routine, call from the landlord threatening eviction. Once again Jay has bounced a check and owes the landlord big time.

But this time is different......'dunn dunn dunn'

This time Jay admits that he can't afford to keep living in our apartment (perhaps having to do with his lack of desire to work...and desire to play World of Warcraft?) and agrees that he should move out and find a replacement roommate that can afford to live with me.

So two days later he moved out (his dad was coincidentally in the area to help move him to "a friends")...yet somehow forgot to pay off his debt to the landlord OR secure a new roommate to take his position.

Consequently I was forced to pay the landlord $1300 that Jay owed, and am currently in the process of sending a law suit to Jay which is now upwards of $2600 (we negotiated a much lower price, but then he suddenly lost contact with me- leaving me without a roommate for a month since I couldn't take him off the lease for legal reasons, along with a butt-load of claim fees).
The delivery of the claim (via sheriff) is still pending.


Friday 2nd
------------
Went to see "Zodiac" at the ArcLight with AJ (my intern), Chris (ex intern) and their friend who's name I forget (I think it was Matt or Ryan...he had the thickest Boston accent I've ever heard).
It was shot entirely in digital, as well as a full digital post and projection.

Suck it film.

Then we went to Bob's Big Boy to eat greasy food...a solid 2 a.m. choice (also David Lynch's restaurant of preference).


Saturday 3rd - Sunday 4th
-----------------------------
Woke up at the ass-crack of dawn to head downtown L.A. with Don and begin shooting on a project Alex asked me to help him on.
Alex used to be an intern at Moviola, before my time. I had never worked with him before so I figured it'd be a good opportunity to get to know him better, since he's a good guy to know (a.k.a. he's got da' freelancin' hookups).
It was basically the beginning of a three week shoot for a trailer called "Mark of the Dragon."

Here's the low-down:
Alex has a friend, Christian, who is graduating from the Santa Monica College of Arts with a concentration in 3D Modeling for film. Christian is a mixed martial arts veteran with 25+ years of training.
Christian decided for a final project that he would rally together all his martial arts friends, shoot a trailer, and then have himself and 30 other colleagues design and composite 3D models into the trailer.
The concept of the trailer is that a totalitarian government has encased a city within an impenetrable wall, a wall that only opens it's gates once a year to welcome any outside "rebels." This year the rebels have been training hard, and are going to accept the invite as an opportunity to fuck shit up.
Imagine "Blade Runner" meets "Matrix" meets "Equilibrium."

I don't have any production shots from Saturday because Don was in charge of that, and Don is in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere shooting a "movie" right now.
I might put up some "Mark of the Dragon" footage on YouTube at some point, but don't expect it to happen any time soon, I'm feeling like a pretty lazy mother fucker right now and chances are I'll forget to do it later on.

Saturday night I drove down to Long Beach to hang out with Brenna. It was a good trip, but we started it out by eating massive amounts at Mi Lupita, and then drinking a lot. So the inevitable sleep over went well, but the aftermath had Derek's body hurting pretty bad. Making the early call on Sunday (day #2 for "Mark of the Dragon") a BITCH.

The good thing was that Christian's house is right down the block from me, and that's where I was meeting everyone. We took 2 cars, I hopped in Alex's, to the middle of the dessert.
Our goal for the day was to shoot a plate (locked off shot for images to be composited into) in the dessert, located near the church in "Kill Bill."


Road to the dessert...


This looks like a good spot (the futuristic city will be composited behind the mountains).


Especially with that random piece of concrete drainage pipe...how the FUCK did that get out here? (the future is FULL of concrete pipes...and milk crates)


La la la, setting up the stuff...


...stuff stuff stuff...setting up the stuff.


I decided I needed to re-take that shot of random equipment scattered in the dessert...from a LOWER angle. These things are important. Very important.


Ah! Dune people! RUN!!!


Monday 5th - Friday 9th
--------------------------
I honestly don't remember much about this week. I do remember that I went to Don's apartment a couple times to hang out since that whole group was going to be in the middle of nowhere shooting the rest of the month.

There was trivia night...we didn't do too good. But I don't remember being in the mood of caring.

On Thursday I went with Matt to see a sneak preview of "Super Bad" a coming-of-age teen movie that will be released this summer (starring George-Michael from "Arrested Development). It was 2+ hours of comedic gold. Unfortunately it was obvious that they were screening it to us so we could help them decide what parts needed to be cut out :(
I refused to help them.
Remember the phrase "McLovin'." I swear to god it's going to be the catch-phrase of the summer once this movie is out.

Oh, Quentin Tarantino rented out a dank old theater for the whole month which would be playing his private collection of 60's/70's/80's films as double or triple features EVERY night, in promotion of his (and Rodriguez's) upcoming double feature "Grindhouse."

Yes, the same one that was having a competition that we shot that trailer for ("Too Dead to Die").

So Friday night Don, Matt and I went to go see "The Van" and "Pinback Summer" at said theater. Both were 70's sexploitation films based on sexy teen summer vacations.

After that we went to Dave's apartment where he was having a little shindig. HILDA WAS THERE!!!
Hilda is Dave's lady-friend. She's fucking awesome.

See, here's the thing.
Back in the day of yore a woman's role was to cook, clean, sex up their husbands, raise the children, ANNNNNNND be outstanding hostesses to visiting company.
I feel like in this day of age women are so set on climbing the social latter, "liberating" themselves if you will, that these old fashion roles are oftentimes long forgotten.
I'm not going to get into the dispute of what a woman's role SHOULD be, but all of this was pertinent to the point I was trying to make.
It is very rare for a woman to carry a GRACEFUL social presence with her these days, one that makes her company feel at ease. Mainly, one would imagine, because they are no longer taught these etiquettes.
So the specific girls out there that possess these etiquettes naturally are easily identifiable. These are the girls that most guys will approach with a sense of chivalry, and of which girls will approach and hold a gentle non-competitive/territorial conversation.

Hilda is one of few that fall into this category, amongst others such as Emily and Carrie. (So Dave, Erik and Ron- these are what we call "keepers" ;) )


Saturday 10th
---------------
Today was day #3 for shooting "Mark of the Dragon." We actually did it at a green screen sound stage at the Santa Monica Institute of Arts.


I want my walls to be that color.


Derek's Video Village (complete with Gears of War Murse, P2 Store, and MacBook Pro).


Who let the french guy in? (notice him in the monitor under the camera...)


Sunday 11th
-------------
Pat and Courtney came today!!! We went straight from the airport to Santa Monica, ate at Cha-Cha Chicken and walked the Venice boardwalk. The latter of which resulted in some pretty mean sun burns (L.A. was showing off today, with a higher-than-usual 90 degree, absolute cloudless, day).
Then we drove the scenic route home through Mulholland Dr.:


Downtown L.A.
The light tinge above the city is the smog. This is an EXTREMELY clear day, usually you can't those skyscrapers that clear.


'makes electricy zoom-in noise'


'makes electricy zoom-in noise'


On the other side of the hills (so behind where I was standing while taking the pictures of Downtown L.A.) is where I live :)


Studio City. (see all the studios? ;) )

When we got to my apartment threw their stuff in my living room, and then we ran to eat at In-N-Out (a tourist must) and went to see "300" at the Grauman's Chinese Theater (the one with all the Hollywood star's hand and foot prints in the concrete in front of it).


Monday 12th
--------------
After work Pat, Courtney and I went to Zeke's BBQ and then attempted to find the La Brea Tar Pits...but to no avail.
Dinosaurs: 1
Us: 0

Actually, the tar pits formed way after the Dinosaurs went extinct, so all the bones in them are from the post ice-age era.


Tuesday 13th
--------------
Took Caroline to the airport, she's going to Hawaii for a vacation. Because...she has a rough life. With all her walking dogs and "writing" ;)

After work Par, Courtney and I went to the La Brea Tar Pits. FUCK YOU MOTHA' FUCKAZ! We found yo' ass this time!!!
Dinosaurs: -1,000,00,000
Us: awesome.


And this is what a pit of tar looks like. They just bubble randomly...all day. Every day.


Tar Pit: 1
Mammoth: fucked.
(which is probably for the better, he was gettin' pretty close to the road)


Millions of years ago mammal were bigger...and apparently spent their days scratching their crotches.
This species in particular would up evolving into a pitcher for the New York Yankees...


I told Pat that way back in time the Earth was filled with HUGE beaver. He got excited...and then realized I was talking about animals.
He was cited sniffing the face of a giant beaver and commenting, "It smelled different back then too."


And then they became new best friends, eventually leading to Pat putting the giant beaver in his Myspace top ten.


This is an indoor/outdoor garden inside the La Brea Tar Pit Museum.


I was kind of hoping Uma Thurman was going to jump me. (Batman/Poison Ivy reference)


Holy fucking badass. This is what I want in the entrance of my driveway when I grow up. Or maybe on top of my wedding cake...

Afterwards I tried to take them to this kick-ass toy store, but it was closed before we got there :( Why do comic book-esque stores always close so early? Jeeze people, some of us have jobs. (Soon to be ironic...)
So we went to Pink's and got hot dogs ("Lord of the Rings Dogs" to be exact, they had onion rings and bbq sauce on them) then went home and played Worms on the Xbox360.


Wednesday 14th
-----------------
Pat and Courtney leave. Derek cries himself to sleep.


Thursday 15th
---------------
After work it was time to shoot Day #6 of "Mark of the Dragon" (I missed days 4 and 5 because of Pat and Court).


Friday 16th
------------
Shot the 7th and final day of "Mark of the Dragon"


Me on top of a roof, getting that "perfect shot." (It just occurred to me that every goddamn shoot I've been on I've tried to convince people to get an angle from a roof)


A blurry picture of me on ma' dolly...being attacked by a zombie?


I wasn't going to put this picture up...but I look like I'm about to gut some mother fucker. So I figured I'd share it.


That's Alex behind me, we're getting ready to do a "28 Days Later"-esque, shadow-on-the-wall-while-running, shot.
(HAHAHA! Alex likes to do it from behind!!!)


Greased fucking Lightning.


That's Christian standing in front of us sayin' "Whoa, you guys are too fast! We just can't keep up!"
(Notice his arm is about the thickness of my torso...)(This was the only shoot I've ever been on that EVERY actor could beat the living shit out of me, even the girls)


There was a running joke throughout the whole shoot that the future was full of milk crates. Mainly because we kept using them to hold stuff up, or as props in shots to make them more interesting.
So Alex walked up to me with a shit-eating grin and says, "When you go outside see if you can find the thing I dedicated to you."
So I walk out and there's a fucking milk crate attached to a stand in front of a light. Alex says, "It's a Derek-lora!"
See, a cuckalora is a slang grip term for something places in front of a light to give it texture. So if you combine my name...and...yeah, you probably got it by now huh?


The only thing better than a Derek-lora, is THREE Derek-loras!!! (and a very unenthusiastic Derek)


In the future there are lots of women attacked by men donning gas masks. My money is on the chick with the "Blade" props in her hands.


'shrug'
It seemed like a pretty picture?

After the shoot I went to In-N-Out and waited in the drive-thru for almost 40 minutes. It was so fucking worth it. Nothing compares to a long-ass day of work, doing a long shoot, and eating In-N-Out and beer at 3 a.m.


Saturday 17th
---------------
Woke up bright and early to go to the beach with Brenna. (Jay was supposed to pay me back at this point, so this was the beginning of Lawsuit: Impending Doom)
After bumming around in my room on our respective computers, we grabbed some Jamba Juice (actually it was Robeks, but you don't know the difference) and drove to Venice Beach.

I bought this Alien sculpture (entirely constructed out of welded junk yard parts) I've been wanting for almost a year. I mean...it was outrageously expensive, but I figured where else am I going to find something like this? And I'll have it my whole life, so it seemed worth it. Hell, it fits my room...


Right now she sits perched on top of Chester's cage. I was going to put her IN his cage...but...yeah...'whisper' Chester likes to MOUNT things.


Grrr! Arrg!


Strike a pose.


Close-up of arm.


Close-up from behind (it's sideways).


Close-up of leg.


The signed and numbered Giger print Brenna got me. <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZaCaBgJkdBZAnDTOOPOYAobYfxrnjW7KWrzjtL7IVXbII98jk0VuZFRzsecTadMSm0k9ORcUER98c8bIleSGN7t2SQ5v2RYoLGUigG5xjo_YIpaYR5KGRRjmRBTk8CH5BoD0xw/s1600-h/P1000146.JPG">
A framed poster of "Birth Machine" that Caroline gave me. :)



Another framed poster from Caroline, "Anima Mia."

So after buying the Alien it was time to go home because Brenna had a date to get ready for (haha....annnnnnd that was kind of weird to type, in case you don't know why- click on any post from about a year ago).

Actually, there was a point in my car where Brenna's date called her and she was TERRIFIED that I was going to shout things into her phone and embarrass her.
It took a lot for me not too ;)


Hey Brenna, remember when I promised I wouldn't post this picture? Those were the days.


Me refusing to have my picture taken without looking like a cripple.


Feel the wrath of my T-Rex arms!


Fine, one serious picture. That's it. (Ugh! If I shaved I'd look like I was 15 years old)


Old Skool style Taco Bell?

We also had some deep conversations that inevitably lead to tears. Mainly, I'm happy I can be friends with her again. Despite doing some pretty shitty things, she's definitely going to be one of those people I'll always hold close.
To say the least, there is no else I know that is so genuinely unconditionally supportive. I don't know if she holds the social graces mentioned previously ;), but the lucky duder who someday marries her will never walk through life feeling alone.
She wins the Companion award, that's for sure.


Sunday 18th
-------------
I have no recollection of this day. I think I watched "Little Miss Sunshine." Hehe...that was such a cute movie. I love the son in it...he is how I feel every day of my life.


Monday 19th
--------------
Picked up Caroline at the airport.


Tuesday 20th - Wednesday 21st
---------------------------------
My parents are being threatened to move out of the house they are renting. It's a "55 year-old and over" community, but my parents were told that my dad (53) was close enough. Apparently this is no longer the case.
So now my dad's job is in jeopardy, as well as his dwelling.

I can kinda relate, with the whole "you're going to be evicted" feeling I kept going through when Jay bounced checks. It's not very fun.

So I decided, with my mom's Birthday taking place this weekend, that I would rent a car and surprise them both to celebrate/cheer them up :)


Thursday 22nd
----------------
Today was a strange day at work. AJ and I had left for half the day and when we returned things were...awry.

Apparently Aaron (the guy I work alongside) had a client renting from him who was interested in buying a ton of tape stock, so he referred them to Laura (tape stock sales-woman) whom would ultimately make commission off of the tape sales.
Well the owner's son, Randy, caught wind of this and decided that he would take the client's order himself, causing Laura to lose out on her commission.
So now Laura is all pissed off and she comes into the room I work in and pulls me aside. She says something along the lines of, "Derek, your a nice kid and I like you, so I just want to give you a heads up that you should look for a job soon. Like, VERY soon."

A couple hours later, at the end of the day, she calls me on my phone and says, "It looks like you'll be hearing about your job tomorrow."

I asked Aaron if he knew anything of the sorts, his response was "No one's told me." Then he shrugged it off like it was nothing and walked away.
He blushed really hard when I asked him...something I figured was not a coincidence (it pays to know how to read body language people!).

So of course I talk to a couple people about this (including my wisdom-filled parents) and the general agreement is that this woman, Laura, is probably enraged and going over the edge a little bit. But I KNOW, after the way they got rid of Don and some other employees, that zero notice/indication of being laid off is not unlike the Moviola way.


Friday 23rd
-------------
I walked to Enterprise to pick up my rental car, then drove to Moviola with one thing in mind: hunt down Mostin (the company President) and figure out what the hell Laura was talking about.

But Mostin wasn't to be found. Nor was Randy...a situation that typically occurs when someone is going to get fired (since they are both to spineless to go through with it themselves).

At around 2 in the afternoon Aaron pulled me into an empty office and asked me to sit down. Basically he said, "So yeah, Laura kind of let the cat out of the bag early, but we have to let you go."
This is the only part in the conversation/experience that I was absolutely floored. See, I would expect a no-notice lay-off like this from Moviola. I would also expect them to force Aaron into doing it. What I DIDN'T expect, was that Aaron knew it was going to happen and he didn't give me a heads up.
I understand from a management position you wouldn't typically let a worker know such a thing, mainly because then they'd become a security risk. But JESUS.
I expected more from Aaron.

THE FOLLOWING ISN'T VERY ENTERTAINING, IF YOU NEED TO GET BACK TO WORK OR GO EAT LUNCH YOU WOULDN'T BE MISSING ANYTHING.

So he started feeding me a bunch of bullshit about how I seemed pretty apathetic towards the job the past couple months (of course he KNEW I was looking for a job elsewhere), that I was making lots of little mistakes, that I was over-using my cellphone, etc.
I let it go for about 30 sec. before I said something along the lines of "Cut the shit, if any of these things were problems you should have spoke up about them and I would have made changes."
We both knew Moviola was a sinking ship, Randy made the rash decision that cutting me would save some short-term costs, and that was the ONLY reason they were letting me go. I have a sneaking suspicion that they will attempt to have an Avid Tech perform my job, as well as the Avid job. They have a tendancy to cut costs by combining many positions into one as well ;)

So I asked Aaron flat-out, bullshit aside, for some constructive criticism. That the decision they made was obviously final, and it was pointless to dwell on bullshit excuses for needing to get rid of me. Just let me walk away knowing what I should seriously improve on.
He had a couple words of wisdom, but it seemed generally that they were things that were more due to my age and disposition towards the company...things I don't have too much control over. Well, that and that he thinks I should work on my salesman skills...
Hahahahaha.....oy. He knows me just as well as any other good friend...so that one actually had me laughing.

I walked around the building to say goodbye to people. It was a Friday evening, so unfortunately I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone I wanted too. But I got the bigs ones out of the way, Kamila, Monique and last of course was Aaron.
When I went to say goodbye to him he was kind of hanging his head low, and wouldn't look me in the eye. He seemed genuinely sad.
I asked him to step out into the hallway, and told him there were no hard feelings. That I understood how the company works in these situations, and that if I hold any resentment that it is all towards Mike and Randy. I thanked him for teaching me quite a bit over the last year, and that I was thankful to be forced to move onto better things (not in a sarcastic way). He seemed to brighten up quite a bit, which was good.


Saturday 24th - Sunday 25th
------------------------------
Friday night at 10:30 p.m. I begin my epic drive to Lake Tahoe, NV. It took approximately 7 hours and 500 miles.
I listened to almost the entire audio book of "Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone" the whole way there (a series that I've never read or seen the movies), fueled by Rockstar energy drinks, fudge pop-tarts, brownies, mountain dew, and a bag of skittles.
I got to my parents housing community at around 5 a.m. and decided to sleep in the car, at a rest stop, for a couple hours before I'd wake them up.

At around 7:30ish I knocked on their door and covered the peep hole with my hand. I could hear my mom saying, "I can't see out it...should I open it?" before she opened the door.
Slowly she peeked it open.
"OH MY GOD!.................Derek!........you didn't have to do this!"

The tears were rolling.

So we ran errands all day, put up some ceiling fans, I activated the SidekickII that Matt pawned off to me (since I had to turn in my Moviola phone), and then we went to eat at the awesome sports bar called BJ's.
They had really good pizza, and house brewed beer. :)

My mom had to fly to Syracuse early Sunday morning, So I spent half the day chillin' with my dad and BBQ-ing.
Mmmmmm meat.

I listened to the rest of Harry Potter on my way home (I decided I'm going to make it a tradition to listen to the entire Harry Potter series every time I make this drive), followed by a few hours of Henry Rollins stand up :)
I love that guy. I know he lives somewhere in L.A., someday I WILL hang out with him. And we will bitch about EVERYTHING.


Side Notes:
-----------
I watched "Jesus Camp" at some given point. Goddamn that's one disturbing documentary. You should check it out if you want to be horrified by religion...

I forget what night it was, but I randomly decided to stay up until 2 a.m. to make my own BBQ sauce. Let the meAting begin!!!


The Bible.


Some alchemists spend their time trying to turn lead into gold. What a waste.


No pieces of my fingers yet!


MMMMMmmmmmmm sautéed THINGS....


The final product. (I'll let you know how it came out once I try it)

Well jeeze...I guess that's about it :) Hopefully now that I'm unemployed I'll be keeping up with the blogging a little better!