alittlecameo

Wine across the ocean

February 12, 2011

Dinner tonight was what has come to be a standard SoCal meal for us, Mexican.

We are loving the Mexican food and are eating lots of it. So we picked a little restaurant on Newport Street in Ocean Beach, a suburb of San Diego that, you guessed it, is on the beach.

We settled in to a homely booth and deliberated over all the options. Only after we’d ordered did we take notice of the rack holding four bottles of the same wine, a South Eastern Australian wine.

It turned out to be a 2009 shiraz from Andrew Peace Wines in Victoria who I had come across in a previous job. Given California’s wine industry, I hadn’t thought Aussie wines would make much of an impact, let alone end up in a little family-run Mexican restaurant.

Heading out on the freeway

February 11, 2011

Gin, J and I have headed off on an adventure in the hired Corolla. A drive on multiple freeways to San Diego.

Karen, our Australian GPS, helped us find our way from the 101 to the 5 to the 710 to the 5 to the 55 to the 1 and well, you get the drift, we were freeway whoring all over southern California.

Aside from the snaking entrances and exits, what fascinated me was driving in to San Diego at night. We came over a hill and before us lay two wide reflective lines of red and white lights like an 80’s arcade game. A product of the busy 6 lane freeway.

Everything is bigger in America.

Raising the bar

February 10, 2011

Gin driving the U-Haul truck in ranch country

Craigslist is like an online Trading Post. It’s where you find all sorts of stuff to buy. Today it was a bar for a bargain.

The bar was a dual purpose purchase. It would form part of props for our short film and at other times grace Ricky’s apartment.

At 7 feet long, the bar was too big to fit in the back of the wagon, so a U-Haul truck was required for the 30 mile trip to Santa Clarita to pick it up. I rode with Gin in the truck on the freeway out of the city into ranch territory. So many horse ranches with the stereotypical white wooden fences lined the road as we struggled to find the address.

After about three u-turns on the windy road (not easy in a big moving van I may add, so high-fives to Gin) we finally found out that we’d been given the wrong address. Thankfully it was only a bit further up the road.

We drove into a small complex of four big ranch houses and met Butch, a retired guy, probably in his early sixties.Not living up to his tough name, he was lean with a silver beard, twinkly eyes and lovely demeanor. Butch used to be a set constructor and built the highway you’ve seen in The Matrix. Some of his old set equipment, a dolly trolley, helped to move the heavy bar from his upstairs self-proclaimed ‘mancave’ above the garage down to the truck. It was still quite a delicate process to get it down the stairs but we managed, and Gin and I proved our mettle to Butch, who had looked surprised at Ricky for bringing some girls to help with the job.

Once loaded in the truck we made our way back into LA where the next challenge was to unload the bar and then find a park in the street. We were lucky in finding an easy park in the street not far away because they can be tough to find, especially truck-sized parks.

Then, the big test was getting the bar up two flights of stairs and into the apartment. With some think-throughs, talk-throughs and just-do-its, we got the bar and a sweat up. Although the last little bit couldn’t have been done without the help of a neighbour who lent a hand at precisely the right moment, while it was in the air and in a pocket of inertia.

But, it looks great and was worth the adventure, although I’m not sure I’ll be volunteering to move it again…

A read through

February 9, 2011

The design of a film is mighty important.

It makes all those small details that the script doesn’t include visible, so a production designer has to determine all the right props to match the characters and the location. It all goes towards making the film believable and natural, which is probably why I never believe any of those over-styled rom-com or family dramas that have everything so neat and perfect. They are designed without everyday pe0ple clutter (like I am accustomed to) and really are just show-room floor. The devil is in the detail, so they say.

So today we met with a production designer for the short film we’re making and did a run through of the script. This meant that we looked at each scene and the possible angles and what kind of furnishings need to be sourced to go with the character’s apartment. We love our production designer. She was a really cool, down-to-earth local who we think we’re going to get along with smashingly.

In the meeting we talked about couches and the type of couch, the colour of couch and the location of the couch for the shoot. We talked about what should go on the walls, is it art or photography, what style, where can we find a loan for those for free. We talked about what should go on the floor, what type of appliances should go in the kitchen and all sorts of other prop details. It was all fascinating.

I spent the meeting pencilling notes on the margin of my script and standing with my mouth agape I’m sure, as I took in all this new information, detail and lingo. Of course I had my little bits of input like “I think a plain red rather than a Persian style rug would look best”. Maybe they weren’t taken up, but I’m going with my fortune cookie reading from yesterday and using my imagination rather than my knowledge.

A stationery experience

February 8, 2011

There is so much to learn here. I am like a sponge, soaking up every detail, every conversation, every name drop. I love the potential to learn and I guess that’s why I’m here. Today I had the simple task of getting copies of a script, which turned into a learning adventure for me.

I had found a copy place, Copymat Hollywood, using the review website Yelp and had mapped my walking route there. I followed the stars on the Walk of Fame there, passing by the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Bing Crosby, Audrey Hepburn etc. It’s so hard to not look down when you walk along the streets because you are constantly looking to see whose star you’re stepping over.

I stopped in to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a browse, filing away prices and products for future reference (namely some handheld beaters so I can become the Pavlova Queen of LA) and then got some cash out of my new bank, the Bank of America.

It was here that I saw FedEx Office (which apparently used to be called Kinko’s) and is a copy place so I decided I might get my scripts printed off there. They have great self-service machines that you put your debit/credit card into and then your USB to print from. Unfortunately, I came up against one of those lost in translation moments, one of paper size. Because the pdf was saved to A4, the printer wouldn’t recognise it and just decide to print it to the American Letter size. And there was no override facility.

So then I continued on to Copymat Hollywood where it was smaller, more personable and I could change the print settings myself. Plus, it worked out to be less than half the price FedEx Office had quoted. What a win!

Conveniently, diagonally opposite Copymat was a Staples store. Staples is the equivalent of Officeworks in Australia and there were so many aisles to browse, although I only ended up with a packet of highlighters that were on sale for $2.20 and a membership card.

On the way back home in the patchy weather (cool and needing a cardigan in the shade, but hot and sweaty in the sunshine) I called in to Trader Joes supermarket and picked up a couple of essentials, bread (sweet and yucky) and corn chips. I told the check out guy it was my first time and he asked me how I’d found my visit, that was nice.

My outing ballooned into a 2 hour browse-a-thon, but at least I got back to HQ with the goods; six lovely clean scripts.

Today’s fortune cookie (from Vietnamese in Silver Lake) reads:
Imagination is more important than knowledge

A Silver Lake sojourn

February 7, 2011

Today we met our new apartment in the trendy suburb Silver Lake.

I almost had a heart attack when I saw the hill that our place is perched on top of. Virtually either side of the apartment block are steep drops. I’m talking a San Francisco style hill that is so steep I seriously doubt my ability to ride a bike down it without careering into a car and catapulting over the fence of the dog park at the bottom of the street. On the plus side, we are going to have the best looking legs and butts ever.

The owner of the apartment is still in the process of moving out, so despite the clutter, mess and dirty carpets, we liked what we saw. The kitchen tiles had been pulled up and will be replaced, and the loft space was fabulous, if a bit hot from the direct sunshine, although that can be fixed with the air con on. The best thing though was the big window like the arch window on Playschool. It has amazing views out across LA.

After writing a check (or as we would call it a cheque) where I almost thought I’d written it incorrectly because I’ve never had my own personal cheques to write, we handed over our security deposit (known in Australia as a bond). Then we set off to explore our new area.

The reservoir has a running track around it that looks good. I guess we’ll be working up to that knowing that the climb home will sap the last ounces of our energy.

Then we found the Red Lion Pub. It is apparently one of the best bars in LA and it looks like a typical pub from back home, except that it’s themed German style. They even had a beer garden and free chilli. I think it’s going to become our local.

Next up we moved to Malo, a groovy bar restaurant that has $1 tacos on a Monday night and is located in the Sunset Junction area. We gorged on all sorts of different tacos and the girls had sangria that came served out of big glass canisters that sat on the bar. After a tasteless soda, lime and bitters, I ordered a lemonade thinking a Sprite would come out. I was rapt when it was real lemonade and I think that’s going to become my US equivalent of lemon, lime and bitters.

The feeling of discovery and wonder is so amazing. I love marvelling at things and constantly going ‘wow’. I hope I never forget this feeling because it makes you so alive and so appreciative to be where you are.

Superbowl Sunday

February 6, 2011

: Hut, two, three, four

Today was a big American sporting event, Superbowl Sunday. It’s the Aussie Rules equivalent of the Grand Final, only with the Black Eyed Peas, a zillion glow-people and 30 second appearances by Slash and Usher for half-time entertainment and where companies pay $2.5 million to run a 30 second ad reaching over 90 million people.

I guess I expected a few more team colours splashed about the city like there is on grand final day back home, but the only ones I found were an inflatable Pittsburgh Steeler outside some place on Hollywood Boulevard and a glassy at Birds wearing a Green Bay Packers shirt.

I missed half of the first quarter as I was buying a GPS at BestBuy with my new housemates Gin and J. I had expected the city to be dead, most people at home watching the game, but there were lots of people at BestBuy, and lots of nerds in the Apple computer section.

When I arrived at Birds to the booth Ricky had saved, the one with a birdcage in the corner, the score was Steelers 0 : Packers 14. The Green Bay Packers (who I was “rooting”* for because they wore green and gold uniforms) were clearly outplaying the Pittsburgh Steelers, or at least that’s what it looked like to my half-interested Australian sensibility.

The atmosphere was a-mazing. It was so happy, cheery and beery. At quarter time, one of the big-bang commercials played a snippet of Elton John’s Tiny Dancer and then the owner, a super crazy woman who is entertainment herself, went and put the song on the stereo and everyone in the bar started singing along. It also happened at the end of the game with “We Are the Champions”. I loved it.

Superbowl Snacks — Snacky time at the Superbowl for Cameo, J and Gin

I chatted to a couple of people, we ate a big fry up of onion rings, frickles and jalapeno cheddar poppers (half a chilli with melted cheddar in a crumbed and fried case) and we perved on a guy in a trucker hat, denim shirt and jeans. It was great fun. Oh, and the game got better, although the Green Bay Packers still managed to come up trumps.

* Going for, or supporting a team in the US is commonly referred to as “rooting” which is as hilarious to us as calling flip flops on your feet thongs is for them.

Preposterous packaging

February 5, 2011

I am dumbfounded by the amount of packaging they have here in America, so much for the reducing part of reduce, reuse, recycle.

It was my first foray in the supermarket today. The supermarket in Target that is. It was a pretty quick shop, and I am looking forward to when I can take a long leisurely stroll in the supermarket, moving up and down every aisle with cool plastic trolleys that can be pushed from any angle except with the quirk that they don’t like to reverse.

A brief observation is that everything comes over-packaged. The tissue boxes have a little plastic wrap covering the cardboard opening, but they have longer openings and no plastic ‘curtains’ on the inside. I don’ t know that the external wraps would make it any more hygienic, but I guess that’s the look they’re going for.

I was shocked in the fresh produce aisle when I came across a sweet potato completely sealed in a plastic case. I was so surprised I held it high and waved it over my head, screeching in my Australian accent “Look! They even wrap individual sweet potatoes!” Followed quickly by “Oh, it is microwaveable. No way!” You just need to stab that thing with a fork and throw it in the microwave. Snacky snack.

I’m not the world’s most environmentally friendly person (I’ll admit to loving long hot showers) but I am definitely going to beat the average American as I try to find products without all the bells and whistles packaging.

Tasty treat:
Frickles – fried crumbed pickles. Yummo. Can be found at Birds Cafe on Franklin Avenue.

Surprises:
No one has appreciated my accent yet. Maybe I just need to talk more. Or louder.

A night at the Dresden

February 4, 2011

Thai was the order of the day for dinner, but we had to pick up some special guests from their hotel to join us.

We cruised along Sunset Boulevard and picked up half the boys from Melbourne band Goodbye Motel before making our way to Thailand Plaza in Hollywood for some food. If you are in the mood for Thai food, this little strip is THE place to go for a mind-boggling number of Thai restaurants backed up wall-to-wall. Only in Thailand could you find this many Thai restaurants in dodgy-curry run-to-the-dunny distance.

The food was not dodgy, so please don’t think that. Rather it was a bar-gain at $21 a pop for a mix of Thai favourites. I wish I’d paid attention to the ordering because my favourite dish was a chicken one and unfortunately I can never really remember what Thai dishes I’ve ordered before unless they are a basic green curry or Pad Thai. The portions weren’t as huge as I have come to expect in America, with not a lot of leftovers, so that made me feel good that not a lot went to waste.

We followed this up with a drink at the Dresden, a bar famous for two things, the ancient couple (Marty and Elayne) banging out the jazz tunes and for being a location in the 1996 movie Swingers. Now I haven’t seen Swingers before but it stars Vince Vaughn and Heather Graham. I’m not really sure I need to see it now after the guys were repeating vast slabs of dialogue from the film, but I’ll put it on the list anyway.

The Dresden in Los Feliz is this gorgeous old-school bar with round, low backed booths, soft-lighted chandeliers, small club tables with red vinyl chairs on office wheels and a wall of frosted glass with line drawings in them. There was such a wide range of people in this rather small lounge; old people in their 80’s, young people, hipsters, hippies, jocks and every combination in between.

Not long after we’d arrived they asked for patrons to come up to them with song requests written on a napkin. Motel Tom took up the challenge and wrote a song name on a napkin and took it up to them. Watching from the other side of the bar, we saw Marty’s response – he took the napkin, folded it in half and wiped his mouth with it. What a ruse!

So the Dresden was pretty sweet. I’d go there again, and this time hope for a little curved booth.

Dating update:
Well, no dates requested yet, but it’s early days. Being out on the town with 4 guys isn’t really conducive to looking single. Luckily the girls arrive tomorrow to even up the sexes.

Surprise:
It’s not hard to open a bank account. Thank you Bank of America for being so nice and helpful. Thank you Bank of America for giving my buddy Ricky $25 for the referral and me $25 for taking up the referral.

I’m here

February 3, 2011

View of sign — In the shadow of the Hollywood sign

I’ve finally arrived in LA after months of preparations and dreaming and saving, and well, it was a pretty good welcome. Clear blue skies, plenty of warm sunshine and the Hollywood sign greeted me.

After a shower it was down to the business of getting a US sim card for my phone. Easy peasy. T-mobile will give you a sim card and some pretty good prepaid deals without running a credit check, so it is a good option for travellers. Plus, unlike in Australia, it wasn’t a massive rigmarole of paperwork to get it. Here they have 3 digit prefixes which supposedly tell people where you are from. My rep Palmer asked what I wanted and I just stared blankly at him. 310, 323 and 123 mean nothing to me. So he said “I’ll give you a 310, that’s Beverly Hills, all the cool kids want that one”. So, I am now a cool kid with a 310 prefixed cell number. [yes, cell number, not mobile number, gotta get the lingo down because my pronunciation of data already got me funny looks]

I also called in to Target for a blow up mattress and pillow to get me by until a) we get our apartment and b) til I get a real bed. Another simple procedure.

And then it was lunch at Birds Cafe/Bar where I ordered the turkey baguette with brie and cranberry mayo that came with a side of sweet potato fries. It was delish, if oversized. I tucked into the sweet potato fries, these yummy little waffley looking things, but could only manage half of it. However, the waiter came over with a plastic container for me to take the other half home for later! Two meals in one, my kinda eating out.

Feeling a little sleepy around 3pm, I wandered up the road to a little supermarket in Hollywoodland where I came across my first Australian accents. Three guys had broken down and they wanted to know if I knew somewhere nearby they could have something to eat. I must have exuded some confidence about where I was going (I didn’t feel it) but then when they heard my fumbled response and Australian accent, they just wrote me off.

I think I’m still running on adrenaline, because I barely got any sleep on the plane last night, had 5 hours sleep each of the two nights before that and have lasted til 5pm since I got in at 7:30am. I look forward to sleeping on my new airbed tonight and seeing what tomorrow has in store for me.

Handy tip:
When coming to the US, always fill in the I-94 form, even if the airline staff tell you you only need the Customs Declaration. It could save you time if the officials then say you need it, as happened to me. So I ended up being one of the last three people to get my bags off the carousel. In fact, I was so late that airport staffed had already taken them off and loaded them on a trolley for me.

Surprise:
Airport parking was only $3 for about 30 minutes to an hour. Melbourne Airport’s is ridiculously expensive by comparison – $12.

a little cameo

Author: alittlecameo