CE, Mac What?!!!

So since I've been living out in LA you come to the realization that everybody within the film industry uses Macs and having any form of a PC is like being the minority. Now I personally grew up on a PC and had no problems with them that I couldn't figure out. While attending college I also learned how to maneuver on a Mac so I knew how to use both machines but in addition Dell had a heck of a college discount on Notebooks so of course I got a PC plus my school was a PC based school (IUPUI). So when I came out to LA I figured I would be the lone rebel with his PC but also wanted to prove that having my PC could not stop me from what people on Macs could do. I'm not the average kid who doesn't know the details behind computers.

So when I first started working in office I went in with my head up and of course was given the double look when I took out my Dell but showed that I was able to do the same thing as they could. I had Microsoft Office, I had the internet, I had capabilities to print from a wireless printer...NOT, I couldn't do that one *SMH. As I continued to work in office there were certain things I couldn't do. One was trying to print from a wireless printer hooked up through a Mac (the file printed out in gibberish) two, the format of the file would appear different for example if I had a document from Excel on my PC and sent to a someone who opened it on their Mac it would be configured in a different format (font replacement, cell size changed and etc). Even though I had roadblocks in my way I still made a way to work around those problems like I said earlier I'm not the average kid but at the same time you can't change people's perceptions and judgments when they see you with that other machine that is DIFFERENT from theirs and so like anything in life when you have to change ways to better your life you change ways to better your life, ya digg?



So this Christmas I decided to invest in a Macintosh (MacBook Pro) to make my life easier in the business game and now no one will do double takes when they no longer see the Dell coming out of my computer bag. Except for the people I work with on regular they will do double takes when they see me with the Mac, lol. So yes now I can iChat and send files, yes I can hook up to wireless printers with no issues, yes I can send Microsoft Office files with out the format messing up and yes I can be in the "In Crowd" but don't get it twisted I still have the PC, that comp has been with me through thick and thin and for a 60GB Solo Core Intel 2GB Ram to keep up with these new Macs I thank it (My Dell).

Overall I would like to give a BIIIIG SHOUT OUT to my Brother from another mother, my fraternity brother, my sands, my ex roommate William (Freddy) Barnes for selling me his machine for a great deal. I promise I will take care of this Mac as if I was borrowing it from you. Thanks you sir.

Mr. Nice Guy, will he ever finish?

So I guess I have to do something called vent. Yea I know this information will be going to the public and its cool cause it's ok for everybody to see. Its currently 4:04 AM on a Sunday Morning (some people may consider it night) and as I sit here listening to Drake "Fear" I really have a lot on my mind. My entire life I've always had a nice guy mentality caring for others looking out for their well being basically having an altruism, its like embedded in my soul.

Throughout my years of life I have come to learn that having that altruism or being that nice guy in a way to being affectionate with others has always ended up in a failure. I'm not afraid to admit that I have never been in a long term relationship and I mean never. I mean I guess I can count the one I had after high school that lasted for like 2-3 months but its so funny how that one ended up. You guys want to know...it was because I was too nice of a guy, HA! I have noticed that a lot of girls that I may want to bring into my life I've been rejected by and I look back at some of those girls to see what guys they may have been with or they are with and I guess I don't get it and I just shake my head. I know that I'm not compatible for everybody but I guess what kills me is that I hear, "You know you will make a great boyfriend/fiance/husband," and they usually come from the girl I get rejected by. See for some reason I end up making a lot of "Girl Friends" as in girls that are my friends and I will admit that some of those girls that become my friends I get to know better cause we're friends and later I find that this person is actually a person I like to like on a LIKE LIKE basis, lol. In other words I like how that person is personality wise and may be attracted to them. Now some people have the mindset that pursing a friend is all bad news cause it will end the friendship and that may be true but I also believe that your companion should be your "Best Friend." That's somebody you feel comfortable with, you don't mind being real with, you don't mind sharing secrets with, that's why I pursue those people cause it just makes sense to me. It really is just common sense honestly but this is just an opinion of mine.

As I have pursued those friends of mine by proposing the idea I have managed to remain friends with most of them and I'm glad but yet I still become frustrated to how a man who has a College Degree, was active in numerous activities, held executive positions, made Deans list for the last two years of his collegiate career, graduated as the Top Male Student from his university, made a successful move to Los Angeles, CA (a fast paced area) and has managed to make a life in pursing his career (in under a year) oh and overall is just a nice gentleman remains to be single or overlooked or just viewed as the "Nice Guy."Isn't this what women talk about...when they say all the good guys are gone...what happened to them, huh? I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and maybe it's God's way of telling me that I just need to continue the race cause he has my best interest at the end, I mean he's been too great to me so far. The saying is nice guys finish last and I believe that and that they finish last with the gold not empty handed cause good things come to those who wait but I'm just wondering when my race will come to it's last stretch and when will the Nice Guy finally finish? End of Venting Session.




I leave you with the song that was on repeat while I was writing this post.

Affion Crockett is HILARIOUS for this one!

Affion Crockett, who is he? If you're not familiar with the name I know you have seen him on TV shows /or movies. Affion has been in small roles in television shows but he became a recognizable face being a regular on Nick Cannon's Wild'n Out. Affion is well known for his on point Jay-Z impressions and has a few others up his sleeve. He has gone on to do other shows such as Nick Cannon's Short Circuitz and the Boondocks. You may remember seeing him in movies such as Universal Remote, Soul Men (RIP Bernie Mac) and the recent one to come out Dance Flick.

Affion has a sketch comedy station on youtube and you can check him out here: Affion Crockett's Youtube Page

but the post I want to show you is his recent sketch doing a parody of Run This Town by Jay-Z. Now I said he was ON POINT with his Jay-Z Impression, he goes on to do Chris Brown and Kanye West. I present to you by Affion Crockett- Hunt Chris Brown. LOL!

Jay-Z on Bill Maher

Jay-Z was on Bill Maher's show Real Time. It was a great interview. ABC should have never canceled Maher's show, that's a mistake they made.

Social Networking Detox Day 3

So this is the last day of my Social Networking Detox. I was some what productive today but I did a lot of resting because of the shoot. Today I watched the movie Watchmen, I thought it was pretty interesting and it had deep message at the end. Sacrifice for survival is what I got out of it and there were some other points too but it took me a while to catch on with who was who as far the affiliation with the Minute Men but it made sense about 30 min into it. Overall I thought it was good movie. Later I did some straightening up around my room. Organized some production notes that needed to be done and prepared some things I need to mail off for tomorrow.

The three day detox seemed to be a bit helpful because I know in the back of my head I would probably be on Facebook or Twitter instead of doing some of those other tasks. In conclusion I've noticed that the urge to be on Facebook and Twitter was there, but I also noticed that taking care of business and not being in front of a computer screen or on the phone is a great thing. I communicated with one of my other friends, Amber and got her feedback and she said she accomplished a lot of things like talking to family and shopping but she too had the urge to get on to Facebook. Another one of my friends, Bianca said she got a lot accomplished at her job. It really comes down to a control issue. You have to ask yourself can you monitor or control how long you stay on either of the two sites and if not is it a serious issue that prevents you from doing other things in your life? Is it more of a distraction then it is a tool? Just ask yourself that question. You know yourself better than anyone else and if you're not sure if you're on a social site too much just look at how many posts/comments you've made within a day. Remember Time is always of the Essence.

On that note I end my blog post with this video my cousin sent to me this earlier this morning. Enjoy! Social Networking Video (video is below as well)

Social Networking Detox Day 2

So on Day 2 I had to work. So I didn't really have that much free time but when I did instead facebookin' it up I was more social with my PA brothers and other crew members on the job. Overall the shoot went well it was a music video for an up and coming artist by the name of Kesha (pronounced Kay-sha). The song is Tik Tok, you can listen to it here: click here.

I also met a teamster (people who deal with transportation on shoots) by the name of Max. He just moved out to LA and ironically he does public stunts. He was explaining to me what he does and the latest thing he created which is called the MX-311 Water Bullet. It's pretty cool you can check out his youtube video of it here and his website is http://www.maximuswillhammer.com.

Social Networking Detox Day 1

So if you don't know, I 've have decided to do a little experiment by doing a little detox. I have asked some of my friends to participate in this experiment as well. The detox is to let go of the Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for 3 days and to record what you did throughout the 3 days.

I noticed that I spent a lot of my FREE time check my facebook page or twitter page, updating my statuses or posting things for hours at time. Yea it was my FREE time, but I felt like I could have been more productive doing other things. So that's the story behind it.

Today, on Day 1 I actually got caught up on some new music by searching some new mixtapes that were posted today but I wasn't to fond of them. I did some reading online and found out Bow Wow just got signed to Cash Money which I though was interesting and I finally got up and washed whatever dirty clothes I had but the majority of my day was editing this 2011 animation video that I'm creating for my fraternity. I've been working on this thing for about 2 days off and on but today I really took my time to focus on it. I keep changing my mind on how I want to format it as far the layout but it's slowly coming. I might post the 30 sec rough draft I have of it. Until then I continue my Detox Day 2 tomorrow. I'm scheduled for a 6:30 AM call time so I have to get to bed. PEACE!

Work is still coming in...

So I've have been blessed and work has been coming in on a regular and I'm grateful for that cause it seems like it can be tough in this industry during these economic times and all it takes is one wrong move for you to be kicked to the curb. So since my first project, which was Jada, I've been working with more music videos and I've had one commercial spot experience and worked on a short film. I've had the chance to work with Ray Kay, Diane Martel, Don & Jon, Dave Myers and Stephan & Phillipe for directors. It's been a cool experience learning the industry and meeting new people out here and what they're trying to do. The talent/artists that I've met have been really cool as well. I have to say the coolest and no offense to the others would be the Paradiso Girls. They are really down to earth women and are very talented so I wish them the best with their career, they're cool peeps in my book and I got their album when it comes out. Amerie is really down to earth too and I don't care what anybody says she has an amazing voice, those who think other wise please clean out your ears.

So these are the other videos I've worked on as a PA:
Esmee Outta Here
Space Cowboy Falling Down (oh he's really really cool/nice)
Rich Girl He Aint With Me Now
Paradiso Girls Patron Tequila
Kristinia DeBarge Goodbye
Irinia (Russian Pop Artist I didn't get the name of the song)
Microspot Commercial
Amerie Why R U
For this one I'm just going to name the song you figure out the artist: Radar
K Citizen (short film)

I'm hoping work continues to flow in for bill purposes, lol, but I like what I do. I like the industry and I promise you I will continue to grow and master this industry cause I don't plan to be a PA forever. Oh and the music industry is next in due time just waiting for the right opportunity.

The In-N-Out Experince

So you know I'm from the Midwest, if you didn't know I represent Indianapolis, aka Nappyville, aka the Circle City, aka the Cross Roads of America, LOL, I'm trying to act like DJ Drama in that one. So anyway we don't have restaurants that exist out here on the west coast. Like El Pollo Loco or Del Taco but there is one restaurant I would like to mention that has a crowd everynight and I mean everynight from Sunday to Sunday and that is In-N-Out. So I had my first experience when I was working on a job and I thought it was aight, but I was told by one of my co-workers, Alex, that I have to eat it when it's hot. So I went for it one random night and it was FIRE (Really Good)!!! I have to say hands down I would choose that over McDonalds, Burger King and whatever else it's not just because there food is FIRE, but their prices are reasonable. Now I have a picture of a menu on here that isn't up to date, the double double is actually $2.99 and the cheeseburger is $1.99 and etc. Overall I think it is a great restaurant and their menu just doesn't stop there they also have a secret menu which you can check out here http://ebestagent.com/in-n-out-burger-secret-menu/. I promise if they were to put at least one In-N-Out in Indy it would be poppin just like it is out here. Unfortunately they only exist in Cali, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Maybe if we write a petition we can get it out in the Midwest, anybody with me? LOL, well talking about this kind of makes me want head there and make a run, dang!

In a new crib...

So since I last blogged I was staying with Fam, now I'm out on my own with a roommate. I met my roommate through a friend who was looking to move up to LA from Orange. She's cool peeps and we ended up finding a place in the LaBrea area at Park La Brea. The place is cool there are "Hidden Fees" as I like to say that pop up here and there but for the most part I'm happy. I'm in a central location. I have plenty of stores nearby and within walking distance. I'm near a mall called The Grove. I have Hollywood down the street so I'm not trippin. My roommate and I were told that we stay in the second largest apartment community in the nation so that's pretty cool. They have Towers which is what I stay in and Garden Homes. I'll keep you posted with community news but until then that's it for now. 2 Fingers.

Chase what matters, how about my bank that matters...

So before I came out to Sunny LA I was going to close my Chase account cause it didn't exist in California, but I was persuaded by a Chase rep to keep it open cause he said they WaMu (Washington Mutual) was being bought out by Chase. He also assured me that by the time I get out to Cali everything would be cool. So I make the move to Cali and errr he was WRONG! It wasn't until the third week of March when WaMu's name started to change to Chase but just because it's Chase on the outside doesn't mean it's Chase on the inside but let me explain. So during this process all WaMus were becoming Chase, the employee's wore Chase attire and there were even Chase advertisements on the radio. So I'm thinking in my head Chase=Chase right, errr I was WRONG! So for the first visit I learned that I can only withdraw money from the ATM and I can I only withdraw $500 a day. I also learn that I can't deposit any money into my account until the month of April. So time passes and it's still tough out here for a Chase account holder. Currently I can deposit but it's mailed off to an actual Chase branch so the it can take 3-5 business days to get it in your account, but I must admit it's been pretty quick on my end (knock on wood). When it comes to withdraws I do have the authority to write a check to myself and get it back in cash if I choose not to do it by ATM. They can not look at my transaction history and they don't follow Chase rules they're still under WaMu rules with 25% Chase accessibility. So I have to play it out until October (that's what I've been told) then everything should be up to par on my banking but until then I have no choice but to put up with. So I'm going to continue to chase what matters, my money, LOL.

Back on the Blog

Ladies and Gentlemen it has been a while since I have been on here there is so much I want to blog so I'm going to break it down into mini stories to get you caught up.

Take Care,
-CE

First Day As A PA

On Monday (3/16/2009) I was able to experience the life of a Production Assistant (PA) and let me tell you it is not for the weak hearted. My day started at 3:30 AM because I woke up thinking of things I need to take care of before I had to be there, the call time for me was at 6:30 AM. So I mapped out where I was going on my Nav (GPS), what I was going to wear and what I was bringing to set. After taking care of that business 15 min. had passed and I'm thinking, I'm still tired and I have a lot of time before I have to head out to set. So I took the risk of falling back asleep but at the same time I was nervous cause I was thinking, I'm going to oversleep on my first day. Luckily I woke up at 5:00 AM got ready and was out the door at 5:45 AM. I proceed to go to Starbucks cause we were instructed to have breakfast before we arrived. Later to find out they had McDonalds for breakfast! Dang but I'm supposed to be laying low off the fast food anyway. I arrived on set at 6:25 AM and met DC the Asst. Producer Supervisor, you can look at him as one of my bosses. So DC explained to me what my first task which was to direct people into the parking lot and hand them a Call Sheet with the schedule for the day. I take a look at the schedule and I'm going to be there for a good 18 hours. Yes people, I was on set till 12:00 AM and didn't bring my MP3 player, LOL JK.

2 Weeks In & Headed In The Right Direction

So it has been a total of two (2) weeks since I've been here and I must say the weather in Sunny LA is great! I'm diggin' the environment and the new scenery. Big shout out to my cousin, Jil and Ray Kay for the hospitality.

So it has definitely been a learning experience other than me being in a different city and state there are rules that I must abide by. One would be getting a California DL (Driver's License). So after a week of settling in and getting in contact with some resources (friends and connects) and doing a little bit of paperwork as a Production Assistant (PA) I decide to go to the DMV with my cousin.

As a side note I find it funny how back at home (Indianapolis) it's called the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and here Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), funny right? Anyway, I head there at the crack of dawn before they open and a line is already formed which is expected. They open and eventually I get to the desk where you get your ticket to wait in line and find out I need my birth certificate, WHY!!!!! I said that in my head not out loud, LOL.

So they went ahead and gave me the form I had to fill out to get the DL so I could fill it out ahead of time but in addition to that I found out from another DMV representative that I need to take the written test. WHY!!!! I said that one out loud, JK. So the Birth Certificate is on it's way by mail and I'm studying the California Driver's Handbook so I don't fail the first time and have to go back up there to retake it. I figure if I could pass it the first time six (6) years ago I can do it again (knock on wood).


Next, I finally have a ride!!! Yes, 1996 Toyota Avalon. Big Shout out to Bill and Christiana Woods for agreeing to make the sale with me. I'm blessed they let me buy it cause they had two (2) other offers and they allowed me to purchase it. So I'm rolling in my own ride and the first major trip I made was today (Friday, 3/13/2009) to Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records to talk about my role, what I'm looking to do and how I could fit in with their company. Big Shout out to Michelle for giving me the chance to meet with her and discuss future possibilities. Overall the meeting/interview went well.



So everything is on the up and up and headed in the right direction.

I would like to give additional shout outs to:
My Family, for the, support, love and advice
Kathy at Rockhard Films
Rene at Staples
My friends from ALL around, there are a good number of you but you know who you are. Thanks for checking up on me and the support.

Until next time this is CE signing off.