Just another bloody day at the office

Shooting is coming along nicely here in Sofia, despite a heatwave that has seen temperatures soar up to the mid 40sC (>110F). It's made a few members of the crew a little light headed and giggly. Which is probably preferable to violent outbursts with heavy metal piping.

This is me near my trailer. No, not the crate in the background, although it does look somewhat similar. My bloody look is just the start of what happens. There are some truly horrific moments in the film which, being a horror, there should be. Equally scary is some of the food we have encountered. The perennially popular "shopska salad" seems like a safe bet, until it arrives; a mountain of grated white cheese smothering (one hopes) a few tired lettuce leaves.

Doing my best to embrace the culture, I have also partaken of a popular local drink of sour milk/yoghurt with a delicate sprinkling of dill. It's definitely an acquired taste served, as it is, at room temperature (read: warm). The people are great, but one would do well to learn some Bulgarian, as few locals speak English. I've learned enough to order a cheese and tomato sandwich, coffee, ice for my soda (which doesn't come unless requested), and the obligatory bill please, thank you, good day and good night.

And with that I shall bid you leka nosht!

Goodbye to a Legend

Renowned South African actor, Bill Flynn, passed away suddenly wednesday, after suffering what appears to be a heart attack. He was only 58. Bill was instrumental in my getting started in the business. My first professional production was the annual panto, and Bill was playing the Dame. He was excruciatingly funny and brought the house down every night. I played a few characters and had a little stand-up bit during a set change. Bill was kind enough to introduce me to his agent after a performance and I was on my way.

I had the pleasure of working with him on two more occasions - in Paul Slab's rugby farce "Heel Against the Head" and as Bernard opposite his Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman". In Heel, Bill could be a terror; whispering something that only I could hear, trying to corpse me. He got me the first time (and a few more) - you were putty in his hands. It took every fiber of my being not to get caught again. I was so furious I was determined to get him back and, for the rest of the run, devised all manner of plans to break him onstage in revenge.

I finally settled on a comment on a business card that my character handed him. I was so excited for my corpse I could barely contain myself. When the moment came to hand him the thing, Bill merely looked at it, dryly (and only audible to me, of course) read my "clever" comment back to me - and I cracked up. He corpsed me with my own damn corpse! Brilliant.

His Willy Loman, on the other hand, showed how he could blow a dramatic role out the park. The production won pretty much every award going. There's a scene where Willy sees how far Bernard has come, in stark contrast to his own son. When Bill turned to go, he looked upstage at me with such sadness and loss I nearly cried every night. I felt so privileged - no-one ever saw that look but me.

Bill was one of the warmest people I've ever met. A comic genius, a dramatic powerhouse, a talented singer (even though he tended always towards the spoof) and an inspiration to other actors, generous on stage and off. I will miss his voice, his ever-expanding monologues, his business, his passion, his love, his Dr Spock death grip (damn he was strong) and his multitude of characters. Nearly 200 plays, dozens of films and TV credits, numerous best actor awards, thousands of voice-overs and millions of memories for all of us.

Thank you, my friend. Thank you for everything. I love you. I am standing with you and Paul at the Baxter now. We've finished the show, taken off our make-up, you've had a drag of my cigarette. We've said good-bye to the last of the people at the bar and climbed the long staircase after the show. We stop at the top, just before the exit and gaze upward at the orange domes. We shift slightly, to position ourselves perfectly in the middle, to maximize the acoustics. Perfect. Then, with as much conviction as possible (ie: milking it), we deliver that movie trailer guy's voice...

"It has been buried for thousands of years. A mystery, a secret, a key to our past, and maybe... our future"

Gonna miss you.

The Train is at the Station

I find myself in Sofia, Bulgaria, about to shoot a movie called Train. It's a horror set in Bulgaria (funny that), that centers around a college wrestling team who inadvertently board the wrong train. A train to hell. Or something like that. I play the coach's assistant, who knows nothing about wrestling. Quite fitting really, as I know absolutely nothing about wrestling, too.

It's a beautiful country to fly over, and as charming and gritty as Prague or Slovenia. Can't say much more, as I've only been here a couple hours. But will report more when it happens.

Oh yeah - that's the view from my bedroom. Not half bad...

And He made Man (-ish)

As a part of my ongoing mission to bring you the latest grammar maladies, I present to you the following casting breakdown, posted earlier today:

Mr Earth USA Candidates

Lead / Male / All Ethnicities / 18 - 35 /
Were looking for a male candidate who are intrested in having the title of MR. EARTH USA 2007. He will symbolyses the masculinity of man at any angle of ethnicity, and to show the flexibility of man towards different issues in life.

The Candidates chosen to become the next Mr. Earth - USA Pageant 2007 should have the characteristic of attaining their own individualism, intelligence, talent and leadership. By this, he’ll create a once in a lifetime experience; his life will be forever change and will make a difference in touching the life of others.

I don't know about you, but Mr Earth isn't bad. I'd put it somewhere between Mr America and Mr Universe. Also, I think I've attained my own intelligence and I've been looking for a forever change.

Cool. Interested? Check.

Next step: to symbolyses the masculinity of man...got the equipment...check.

Now the hard part. To do that at any angle of ethnicity!

Hmmm... Tricky one, kids. Tricky.

I guess one could be masculine from most angles but, in all fairness, even the most butch guy can look a little girly when he's sleeping in fetal position, walking a very small fluffy dog, or delicately picking at a Caesar salad. Wait a second - he's gotta be masculine at any angle of ethnicity! Whether black, white, asian or mixed race, sporting dreads, crewcut, afro or bald - he must be masculine from any angle and, presumably, all of the above SIMULTANEOUSLY!

Think of the layering, the make-up, the dizzying choreography...

It's a tall order. No wonder they're offering a first prize of $1000 for the ultimate multi-ethnic macho man. Oh- and the "possibility" of a 6 month modeling contract. I'm in! I'm gonna have a Chinese face, mixed race legs, white arms and a black torso (all the way down). Waaaaait - what's this?

Audition Note
Please bring a beach wear for proper screening of candidates

Oh man, I just KNEW there'd be a catch. I don't have a beach wear. And why do I have to screen candidates? Is this for the position of judge? Why can't I wear an office wear? Maybe this isn't the competition for me. I could do with the $1000, but let's get real here. I'll never win.

I can spell.

The costmer is always right?

Its sad when you have to say goodye to a loved one. I love my car, but not so much after my local mechanic, Sam, quoted me $890 for repairs. I said I didn't have 890 bucks to spend - what was most urgent? "well, it's all urgent". Wonderful, I said. What's the MOST urgent? I can pay you for the most urgent part of that yummy lumpsum, or go somewhere else. I'm sure you can find one thing to fix. Sam gave it some thought, and managed to russle up $188 for 2 radiator hoses, antifreeze and labor.

Nice.

I just knew he could rise to the challenge.

Best of all, I now have a concise report of what repairs are outstanding:

"ECT sensore is foulty. Engine mount are came af part advise. The costmer."

I kid you not. Now, I don't know what to be more concerned about - Sam's grammar or his scare tactics. The engine mounts "are came af part"? Pretty scary stuff. Also, that's past tense, isn't it? This already happened, so my engine must be lying on a stretch of tarmac on Ventura Blvd somewhere. Meanwhile, my car is still driving. Not bad. No engine = no emissions, right? I may have the first inadvertant hybrid. Shoot, I'm beyond hybrid. I don't need ANY gas to power a car with no engine. Think of the money I'm going to save. Cool! I'm feeling pretty darn peachy now.

On a side note, last week AT&T offered Emery Gidoen the oportunity to switch to their new improved telephone service. Sounds great. If I come across Mr Gidoen, I'll certainly pass the info along...

The Battle Begins

Well, our little 4min mini-episode of Battlestar Gallactica is up online, as the featured video on scifi.com's
Battlestar Gallactica page.

Or you can access the movie directly here. Please drop in and take a look and if you like it, post a comment. We had a blast shooting it and, with some luck, may get to see it on the TV one day...

I would post an image here, except Blogger seems to be having issues with uploaded photos. I tried repeatedly to upload a jpeg and comes up with an error message saying "only jpeg" format. Huh? I'll upload when I can.

Thanks for reading and thanks for watching!

EDIT: Lindsey - thanks for letting me know about the problem link!

Gid.

Revelation

Thanks for the comments on my last post! Great to know you're out there!

It's been a little quiet, so I thought I'd be productive. I stumbled across a challenge on scifi.com, to come up with your own mini episode of Battlestar Gallactica. Basically you have a max of 4 min to showcase your creative effort, which can be enhanced with actual sound and video clips from the show. When you're done, upload it and, if approved, they post it online. Best part is, producer David Eick will choose one entry to be aired during an episode of the show!

So I turned off the computer and wrote a piece. Buddy Phil Miller lit and shot it for me, and talented actors James Babson and Ana Alexander jumped on board. We filmed in an oil change bay, essentially, which could have been deep inside Gallactica, for all anyone knows. I think it turned out pretty well. Lemme know what you think. The premise is deliberately absurd, but the goal was to treat it seriously. I can't post the vid here or anywhere else for that matter, as the rules stipulate that all entries exclusively belong to scifi. However, I can give you the link to where it will (hopefully) appear.

This will take you to the sci-fi Battlestar Gallactica page. The videos appear as thumbnails. Look out for our one called REVELATION. If you like it, please post a comment on the site. You could help us get on the air!

Thanks again and have a great weekend! Gid.