Hours on duty have been a lot longer than I expected. Yesterday I was working from 7Am to 11PM. I have been a driver for the crew. During my down time I have been hanging out at our base-camp, which is a large parking lot in town with all of our trailers. The other half of my down time is spent at whichever location we are currently filming at. Here is a video the local NBC did on our production. On another note, I can't believe how many rich people there are here. There are so many $80,000+ cars around town that they have lost their appeal to me. Also, the weather here has been incredible!
Today I was on duty from 5:30AM to 7PM. I am afraid my schedule will be like this until the movie is finished. We will see if I can handle it. I'd like to post lots of cool stuff from yesterday but I don't have it in me.
A view from the house where last night's party took place
I arrived in Carmel yesterday afternoon to take part in the kick-off party for the movie I will be on the crew of. From what I understood, the house belonged to one of the many investing in the movie, and his house was magnificent! It isn't really my job to promote the movie, but things seem to be starting off very positively, and there seem to be a number of well-known actors and crew members. Today is a free-day, before another welcome dinner tonight, and work at 8AM tomorrow. Yesterday at the party Ryan and I were able to get advice on what to do around this area by no-one other than a former mayor of Carmel. We also met some friendly newspaper writers who want to show us around town and share their "hook-ups" with us. Anyway, we are off to Point Lobos State Park for a hike.
I will leave this beautiful place, and go to another
When this year started twenty-three days ago, I would have never thought in my wildest dreams that one-twelfth of my year would be spent in Carmel-By-The-Sea. I will be working as a PA (personal assistant) on a movie set. I have done this type of job for sports broadcasts numerous times, but I had no reason to believe I would ever get involved in a movie. I guess it all sort of started with Carmel, because on the way to Southern California with Miho we took Highway One and drove by that beautiful area. While in LA, I met up with a very generous family I know who is in the film industry and I was randomly asked if I needed a job! My buddy Ryan will also be working with me, and is being put in the same hotel as I am. I am really looking forward to everything my month in Carmel will surely bring me. I head there on Sunday for a kick-off party, and work starts soon after that. Other than that, my time in LA was pleasant. I got to see Hollywood, which was as dull as I expected, but it was still fun to see a new place. I am sure the night-life is the best part about that area, but that will have to happen another time.
Miho's reletives that we stayed with in LA
One of the most interesting aspects of the trip were the people we stayed with. The woman on the right is Miho's mother's cousin. Her family was forced to move to LA in August because of her husband's job. For me, it was my first time to not only stay with a family in America that doesn't speak English, but what made it unique was that they were Japanese so I understood all of the language, and cultural challenges they were facing. They have done a pretty good job at making their lives in LA just like at home in Japan. For example their fifth grade boy goes to a Japanese elementary school where everything is taught in Japanese, and, surprisingly, English studies are minimal. He, and his high school aged sister even go to jukuwhich is after school tutoring and college-prep studies in the evenings. The father of the house works in an office where he says they don't speak English. He drives a Japanese car to work, uses a laptop with a Japanese keyboard, plays a Japanese Wii that can't play games bought in America, and, possibly the best part, gets Japanese food prepared for him by his wife. Being there reminded me how much I love Japanese food. They even took us out to one of their favorite Japanese restaurants, which had a wall full of pictures of Japanese celebrities who have eaten there. The family member who is probably facing the most challenges is the high school aged girl. She has no choice but to attend a regular high school, albeit, she is enrolled in a program for students with limited English skills. Still, even with academics aside, being a freshman is just rough! Having been a person in a place where I don't speak the language, I felt sorry for them at times. Ordering pizza at a restaurant we went to was a challenge, and so were other basic interactions with the general public. This doesn't seem to phase them very much, as they are all high-spirited, friendly people who seem to be able to overcome the language barrier.
I spent a very enjoyable holiday season in Truckee with my sisters, a couple of their husbands, my mom, and Miho. As you may have read, the trip to Truckee began with me having to put chains on a car for the first time, which was a major headache. The snow kept falling for a few days which made winter activities much more enjoyable.
The varying snow levels
Day one, two, and three
Of course, we dedicated a day to go snowboarding! In case you didn't know already, it now costs eighty dollars to ski at Northstar! Northstar can be seen in two of the above pictures. It has constantly transformed into a luxurious retreat, but I simply can't justify spending that kind of money to go snowboarding one day. However, I figured that since the conditions were so nice, and I had a great crew to go with, that I would shell out the money.
It must have been a holiday miracle, because when we arrived to the resort we found out that one of Bret's buddies was able to get all of us complimentary tickets! From then on the day just kept getting better. I got to snowboard for the first time in two years, and for the first time with Miho (who hadn't boarded since she broke her wrist in Japan, so I let her use my family's wrist guards). The snow was perfect, and so was the weather, which is why I was really confused with this middle-aged couple that sat by us on one of the lifts. They just couldn't stop complaining about petty things about Northstar, and about people in their lives. Miho and I were talking about them in Japanese how they need to just enjoy this wonderful day, and stop whining, when suddenly the lift's safety bar came down without any warning. This was odd because we were already half way up the mountain. I didn't think much of it, but it made me like these people even less. Then, near the top, I was suddenly smacked in the nose with the bar as these people abruptly lifted it without saying anything. The impact made my nose make a crunching sound, and instantly my eyes welled up. One of them asked, "Did we catch your nose?" I painfully groaned and said, "Yeah." Before leaving us they said, "At least its not bleeding," then took off. They couldn't tell that I was bleeding, a lot, it just hadn't started coming out of my nostrils yet. This incident convinced me to make this my last run, but on the way down Miho crashed really hard, cracking her goggles in many places due to smashing her face into the ground.
Bloody jacket, and smashed goggles
Enjoying the winter weather
We kept active, and burned off all of the over-eating we had been doing by goofing off outside, and going on lots of walks.
We also went sledding in town, which was a whole lot of fun! It is probably the most we all have laughed in a while! Check out the video:
Christmas
Christmas was different this year, as it was my first time to spend Christmas Eve in Truckee, and the fact that my family made an agreement to only buy gifts for one person each. The snow was falling hard Christmas morning, so I also got one of my first "white Christmases." It was beautiful, but quite stormy at times, as this video shows:
Snow bunnies
We also celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday
New Years at a San Francisco penthouse
The rest of the party
Miho and I really didn't have much of a plan for New Years, but we figured that we would have more fun in San Francisco than we would have in the Tahoe area. In fact, blaming the current economic times, Reno canceled their downtown fireworks show. Our only real plan was to go to the San Francisco Embarcadero and see the fireworks, but then we heard about a party my friend was throwing in a nice Financial District hotel. So before we knew it, we were forty stories up in the sky sipping champagne with incredible night views of the city like I had never seen before. Again, there is a video to paint the picture better for you:
And just like that, 2009 begun. I am done with school, and am not sure what I will be doing during throughout this year, but I do have a couple interesting things on my plate that I will cover in a future blog. Thanks for reading!
I have been eagerly awaiting the day when I would no longer have to endure what many people have called the most failed US presidency in history. That day will come tomorrow. I have all of my faith in Obama, and I hope he is able to lead our nation towards many positive changes.
You may recall the recent incident where a reporter threw his shoes at President Bush during a press conference. Well, that sort of anger management was unleashed to the public on the streets of San Francisco, as a carnival-type booth was setup for people to toss shoes at the soon to be former president.
I actually had no idea this event was even going on. I left home early and took advantage of free parking downtown because it was a Sunday. I parked near First and Market, and walked along the bay to Fisherman's Wharf. I started to feel kind of sick, like I was getting a cold, so I decided to take a trolley back to Market Street. On the way, though, we passed this booth and I had to see what exactly was going on.
The booth was setup by the Oakland-based "Courage to Resist", which supports military service objectors. Just like the real Bush, it isn't necessarily easy to hit him with a shoe. Bush did a pretty nice job dodging the first shoe that was thrown at him at the conference. I have never been so impressed with him! Check out this link to a professionally done video of the booth, and also check out me as I go two for three. (I didn't feel like I was getting a cold anymore after I participated!)
I had a truly memorable day on Tuesday out at Van Damme State Park. The weather was unseasonably warm, and the skies were clear. I ventured out to walk the trail pictured above, which I had searched for once on a trip to Mendocino a few years ago, but was unable to find it. Getting some pointers from a local expert, I was able to find the trail-head this time. I couldn't get over how great the warm air felt. I felt like I was in a tropical country, without the humidity, of course. There were all sorts of birds flying about, but the wildlife that impressed me the most were the many whales!
Taking pictures and video of the whales was a challenge because they were quite far off the coast, and they aren't visible for very long. My camera only has a 3X optical zoom, so that is all of the cheating I was able to do. The video I shot was using the digital zoom. I chose to do this because currently I don't have any software that I can zoom video in with. In almost all circumstances, I recommended you don't use digital zoom, because you can do it later on your computer.
Video I was able to shoot
Here are more pictures of the whales
Right after one breached!
Looking straight out, north, or south, whales were visible. I probably saw around fifteen different whales in all. Seeing one breach was so cool! I was close to getting the picture, but at least I saw it with my own eyes to lock in an all-important mental-image!
Some clickable, larger images
The Mendocino coast is so beautiful. Every time I am there I think how nice it would be to live there. There are so many places like this where you can go have privacy, and world-class beauty. I saw one other man, but the whales still outnumbered humans by around fifteen to two!
The water was clear
...but a little rough
This park is famous for kayaking
I came across this little, protected cove that looks like it might have some good snorkeling. I have snorkeled a little farther north before, and it was pretty wild. It is a picturesque little beach, isn't it!
Finally, I was able to get in a photo!
To end, I have a couple shout-outs to make. One to Miho for finishing her last college presentation, and another to Bill for another birthday!
Here on the Mendocino coast I have seen at least fifteen separate whales, and it was all on one walk at Van Damme State Park. When I get to a higher speed connection, I will upload more pictures, and video that I was able to shoot. It was so beautiful, I can't wait to share more!
To begin, dial-up internet is the pits! My blog entries, for a few days, will not be as carefully laid out because it is tedious enough just accessing Blogger's blog editor with these slow speeds. I have my browser not loading images, and am using the text only, cell phone version of Yahoo Mail. I really recommend the cell phone version of Yahoo Mail if you ever have to use dial-up, it caters to low speed connections very well! The address is http://m.yahoo.com, and your computer can access it!
Anyway, I am hoping to slowly keep my journal going in chronological order, and it seems that I still have stuff to talk about from December. On the 2oth, I got to see my Dad, and his wonderful bride, Jane, for the first time since they married in Hawaii earlier in December. Between 2006 and 2008, my immediate family has added three unique, kind, and fun individuals by marriage. I am sure it is only a matter of time before the stork brings one of my sisters a delivery of some sort, but there's no need to rush ;)
The following day Miho and I drove to Truckee, and for the first time in my life, I had to put chains on a car. Snow was falling on Donner Pass just enough to force Caltrans to require chains, which was a real inconvenience to me. For those of you who don't know, putting chains is a cold, wet, dirty job. I somehow managed to mess up three times before getting the chains on and being able to continue up the interstate. I even had them on backwards at one point even though I was reading the instructions step-by-step! It was frustrating, but a good learning experience. To be honest, the instructions are not well written!
You don't need to see my face to know I wasn't smiling!
What an epic day yesterday was at San Francisco's Ocean Beach. It was warm, there was a slight breeze, and the sun was bright. Myself, and the couple that shares our basement, Charlie and Jamie, cooked some sausages on the shore, and complimented them with cherries, chips, and Heineken. I used the camp-stove that has been in my family my whole life, and is still running well. I joked with my friends that I have eaten as many meals outdoors as I have indoors! For a while I just gazed out at the sea and let the rays of sun trick me into thinking it was July. I looked closely for whales, because I saw one just over a week ago, unfortunately I didn't see any this time.
A foreign tourist in American flag shorts, and a Venice Beach t-shirt walked with his friends past me at one point. I wonder which beach he liked more, and which one had better weather? The unseasonably warm, rainless weather can be fun, but I think we are due for some precipitation! This is definitely the first day in my life I have gotten sunburned at the beach, and watched the NFL playoffs in the same day.
All blogs found on this site written before 2009 have been imported from MySpace. Some may not look too pretty, and some of the pictures won't enlarge, but it is a small price to pay to not have to deal with MySpace's primitive blog setup anymore!
I recently graduated San Francisco State University. I majored in Japanese and minored in International Relations, and spent a year studying at Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University. I grew up in a very rural area of Humboldt County California. That remote setting built up a lot of ambition in me to get out and chase my dreams. Thanks for reading!
