tournament edition

the sandlot, buffalo '66, stranger than paradise, and my voyage to italy. i watched them all tonight. also did some reminiscing with parkie. good memories. like when i destroyed her in scrabble by making the word 'park' and getting a triple word score for it. and how dave and i have a special, special love for each other. also, that amazing weekend when i got my pumas - and the nice summer fling that followed. last summer... those were the days... back to the cave.

p : haha, batman's cave!
p : where secrets of twisted love triangles lie!
p : manifold movies are watched!
p : and strange women pass in and out in the night!
p : it's cozza time!

you may wonder how i'm supposed to make movies if i can't stay awake through one. trust me, i wonder this too.

question. why is it every time...
why can't people just buy dvd players and stop complaining about blockbuster not having enough vhs tapes?
why can't people deal with widescreen?
why do people want to see that stupid straight to video al pacino movie so bad?
why do people expect me to have seen the shitty movie they are about to rent?
why do all the movies that come out suck?
why do people ask for receipts for the movies they return? (as if we secretly wait to check them in late)
funk that.

the fucking game got cancelled. the game that i rushed home for on a friday afternoon, sat in friday afternoon chicago traffic to get home for was cancelled. not because there was a storm, but because the field was wet. man. i dont even want to talk about it.

that night i went out to dinner with my parents and grandma, which was nice. then went to see hero with brandon, drew, and jake. definitely worth the wait to see it on the big screen. its too bad im not home more, i'd be able to have more nights like those. but alas, there is work to be done...

wrapped up shooting on movie boy today. i ate one and a half philly cheesesteaks at the wrap party cause all we had on set all day was 'kosher snacks.' overall the set experience was low key and relaxing. so i cant complain. i also cant complain cause i was only there for half the time. props to lefko, anthony, and hoyt for shooting a feature length film - that's dedication.

i tied up a bunch of loose business ends last week (all non-paying of course), so it's time to look towards the future and get something done in the name of creativity and progress. i need to clean my room. i need to shave my head. i need to write a masterpiece. i need to go to bed.

speaking of john c. reilly...

dear avid tournament edition readers,
do you remember when, at the beginning of the august 23rd entry, i compared one of my managers to john c. reilly's character in magnolia? at the time it was just a random thought, but now it is all very ironic. here's the story:

i arrived at film and tape works around 7:25 a.m. and only the office manager was there. she let me in to wait for the others. about 15 minutes later, ryan, the audio guy, busts in talking about how we are late, and screwed, etc. jim isnt even there yet, and either is the other hired hand 'billy.' ryan decides to save some time by pulling the truck around front, only to receive a call a minute later to put it back in the garage because "it's better off there" (says jim). around 8, everyone showed up, so we loaded up and left. jim, the worst person in the world to have in the shotgun seat, was driving ryan crazy in the van. here are some quotes and the translations:
"i like to watch the garage door shut" = "back up, now"
"if it were me, i'd turn in front of that bus" = "turn if you want to keep your job"
"i would have made that light" = "you are inferior"

anyways, lets jump forward to the hotel. the peninsula is sweet. slightly swankier than the hotel sofitel that kevin shot in. as we were unloading, it became apparent that billy had no fucking clue what he was doing. i think jim likes that though, so he can tell him to do anything by just standing in the middle of the room and pointing and yelling. i think he also likes that because if he doesnt know what he's doing, that means he doesnt know what he should be getting paid to do it. we set up a little interview setup. this is a reoccuring job for the film and tape works - set up an interview setup, then some type of movie star comes in, and then various reporters take turns sitting down and interviewing him/her. todays star was john c. reilly. oh the irony! so i got to meet him, and watch him eat oatmeal. he's a really nice guy, from chicago, and has a really good attitude about work. i think i'd actually consider him a role model now. the movie he was hyping was called criminal and it comes out in september. check it.

other things... i took nilli, erika, sonia, and will out to chilis with the 50 dollar gift certificate my mom gave me. that was good eatin, follow by scrillas return to socom, which was sweet. i've been holed up in louis for the past two days finishing a project i got paid for a long time ago and should have also finished a long time ago. i have to go back and burn the dvd in a few minutes. it'll be nice to be done with that finally. ricardo and i are contemplating making some type of jimmy floyd hasselbaink website. sounds like a good idea. back to business

gotta get some food in this place..
last night i slept for about 3 hours, i just couldnt stop watching the women's racewalk 20km race, or that ridiculous pregnancy show on mtv. i went to sleep sick as ever and woke up 3 and a half hours later feeling surprisingly good. i was all prepared to call into work sick, but i actually wanted to go (its always better holiday... but i need the money). monday mornings always a real chill shift, i just hang out with sara all day and put movies away. today we talked old italian movies, cats, assistant managers, and about things we stopped liking once everyone started liking them. it went by pretty quick, no lectures from managers... the other night jesus lectured me about 'the way things work.' it was funny. he takes his job way too seriously. he's like john c. reilly in magnolia, cept he works at blockbuster and thinks he's a hero for the corporation.

the whole day i was just thinking about how i'd finally get to play soccer later. i got rob to come out cause we were short on guys. he fit well with the team, hopefully he'll keep coming out, along with a few other guys. maybe we'll be able to get the sunday team going again. hopefully. i scored the 'game winner' towards the end of the first half. a weak left footed volley on the corner of the six that barely snuck by the keeper. we went on to win 5-0 i think. all the other goals were in the second half. it wasnt close, but it was great to get out there and play. i feel like im in top shape for the big game friday - the alumni vs. current varsity at joliet township high school. that should be a lot of fun. brandon and drew are gonna play with me in that one. afterwards we are gonna see hero. sounds like the perfect night - old friends, soccer, jet li, and then inevitably steak and shake.

i got a call today to work on a shoot tomorrow at the peninsula hotel downtown for film and tape works. im glad they still call once in a while, gives me a little hope for the immediate post-grad future. i was planning on working on some projects all day tomorrow, but i dont think ill have any time now. after downtown, theres chili's then probably a movie and some 40s, and then will's radio show. i guess that doesnt bode well for a productive wednesday either.. ill probably spend 9am-1am at louis on wednesday and thursday (i'm really behind). hopefully no one has deleted my stuff... i have to be at ftw at 7:30, so im gonna crash.

destruction, terror, motherfucker say what?

somehow i developed a minor ear infection in the middle of the night...

set was nice and easy this morning, i just reflected the sun around for a few hours. then, in the afternoon, i had a wonderful nap and watched miller's crossing - "what heart?"

work sucked. i was active seller again and had to talk to approach and talk to people all night. whenever people ask me for good new movies to watch i basically just tell them there arent any and then just tell them to watch city of god or big fish depending upon who they are. they are always asking me how i liked this or that new release, and i cant answer cause i havent seen any of them. i spend my rentals catching up on things i need to see, and none of them are new. for the most part, people are nice, but a lot of times, they just straight up ignore me. its probably not on purpose most of the time, but its just funny. cause i know other people saw/heard me approach this person, and watched me get completely ignored. i usually just walk away. i never ask twice.

the only good part about work was i got to leave early, that took some convincing though. i took off for the metro around 9:40 and got inside by about 10:05. 'made good time.' on my way in i saw sage at the merch booth and talked to him for a while. i asked him if he watched the dvd of the slam poetry mc battle he was in (i gave it to him last time he was in town). he said he laughed his ass off, and also said that my short doc was solid. we talked shit about the powers that be in the world of poetry slam for a few minutes. he didnt go to nationals either this year, which makes me feel a lot better about skipping it. for some reason, i decided to cut our conversation short and get inside - i was already an hour and 15 minutes late. we shook hands and parted ways. i got my over 21 wristband, just cause i could, didnt drink anything though.

i found frank, harrel, and emily pretty quickly. it felt good to be at a show like that again, especially with that company. harrel said he was reppin 'joliet cathedral area 98+1' which made me realize that the 'more and more in oh four' slogan was not the first time harrel had created a theme for the year. lets face it 1999, wasnt anything but 1998+1, right? we were all in the middle of high school, its all the same. but im sure spring break '98+1 blew spring break '98 out of the water (despite the rhyme). anyways, the show was good. lots of spontaneous stuff, freestylin, beat boxin, scratchin - dj abilities is still as nice as ever. e&a looked real clean cut this time around, i havent seen them for a while though. slug was hosting and did a little bit of sober freestyling. sage came out in a cloak with a wig on. he took the cloak off and had a strange famous records jump suit on. then he took off his wig, and, during the last song (makeshift patriot) took off the jumpsuit to reveal his american flag skirt (that eventually came off too...). after the show i told him that every time he comes to chicago, he gets more and more naked.

the show was supposed to be a non-partisan voter registration rally type thing, and it was funny how they played around that. that reminds me... at work today, i was suggesting movies to these two girls and i told them kill bill vol. 2 was good. the girl rolled her eyes at me and said, 'are you going to vote for bush, too?' that was pretty annoying... back to the show. sage is still the man, and all those guys still put on a great show. i probably inhaled too much smoke for my own good though. time for fallen angels.

"i'm the bill o'reilly of this hip hop shit." - sage

chungking express was not the movie i needed to see yesterday... or was it... im back from the canadian wilderness and am pretty much over the annoying disease i caught. spending a day in the car while being sick the entire time is a bad way to spend a thursday. but its friday now and jamba juice and socom helped me shake off whatever was wrong (plus a lot of sleep). im supposed to work on a set today at 2 pm, but they never said where i was supposed to be at 2pm...


until then, ill write in here. i was flying under the radar for a bit there. i had my reasons. but now im on the surface, trying to get my bearings and start moving forward for once. gotta start typing more, so maybe this will help me get used to it. the ideas are flowing, just havent made anything of them, and that gets depressing after a while, really depressing. i have a large list of things i need to do on campus, all for other people, all for either no money, or money ive already gotten that wasnt enough for my services. but, you know, dont want to let anyone down... (note: i'm never putting old home videos on dvd again, it makes me want to kill myself.) all these other things always have to get done before i can set one foot forward, so mostly, i stand still and go to work sometimes.

my hours have been cut, probably cause i've been asking off so much for little trips and things. im just not going to request off anymore, i need some more money. i dont think this camping thing is going to happen this weekend. friday night is the alumni soccer game at west high, im gonna go wreck shop, hopefully brandon will be back by then and come out for the game. right before canada, i went to stephapalooza, which was stef's big birthday bash at her parents house out past morris, IL in the country. it was a great change of pace for parties, huge backyard, horses next door, tents, volleyball, horse shoes, bean bags, two turntables, an ipod, and a sweet p.a., lots of meat, tons of other food, two kegs, some bourbon slush, and a gigantic bonfire - all in the middle of nowhere. it was great, i just wish i knew a few more people there, but i made some new friends. it was also a shame that i couldnt stay the night, but i was leaving the next morning at 5am to drive to canada. i left around 10, the wise man would have went to sleep then, but what did i do instead?..


i went to the beer garden at the shorewood fest and got trashed with my best friend sean and my dad. haha. sean and i handled two shorewood fest souvenir pitchers with a little help from my dad and just observed the strange scene around us. i thought maybe there would be some people i recognized from high school there, since most people arent at school yet, and theres a giant party with unlimited miller lite in shorewood. but, instead, it was almost all over 30 at least, probably mostly over 40, dancin to the mediocre cover band, and just generally having a good time. not quite my element, but it was amusing. it was also amusing to hear people planning to go to bedrocks (shorewood's one and only nightclub!) afterwards since the last call was at 11:45. we walked home, then i conned my sister and wes into taking sean and i to white castle. i had been craving it ever since seeing harold and kumar, and it really hit the spot. sean got the chicken rings, and i got a bunch of burgers. we ate back at my house, and i got yelled at by my mom for being up still (almost 22 and still being yelled at for being up too late, i love you mom). sean bounced and i crashed for few hours before driving to my uncles to leave for huntsville, ontario.


the drive there wasnt bad. i slept basically until we got to canada, then i drove pretty much from the border to huntsville (about 2 and a half hours norht of toronto). its great driving in canada, all the mileage signs are in kilometers, so they go down really quickly. im so used to driving long distances here, that i try to avoid looking at mileage signs cause they never seem to go down fast enough. but up there, you can drive for 5 minutes and drop like 12 kilometers. its all a mind trick, but it makes things seem not so far away. we stayed the first night in a hotel in huntsville. my cousins and uncle from new york met us there. we ate dinner and got our stuff together for the trip.

we left early the next mornign and were on the water in algonquin provincial park by 10. three days, eight people, eight backpacks, and four canoes. the canoeing was great, the camping was great, the portaging was... a portage is a hiking trail that connects two lakes. portaging means hiking that trail with your back on, and with the canoe on your back. i thought that somehow both people would carry the canoe, but its one at a time. you lift it up and put the yolk on your shoulders and just balance the canoe up there while you trudge forward. some of them were short, with flat terrain, but the harder ones had hills, rocky paths, and were just really long. the first one we did was almost a mile long. thankfully, that was the longest one of the trip, but the portaging on the whole was probably the hardest thing ive ever done. it made vacation a little less of a vacation, but i guess this kind of trip is more of a life experience than a relaxing getaway. on the whole, we probably portaged about 8,000 meters and canoed about 3 times that amount. the first day was beautiful, the lakes were so calm, they looked like mirrors, and there wasnt a cloud in the sky. that night, i saw more stars than ive ever seen before. you could see the milky way galaxy, satellites, and tons of shooting stars. we camped that night on an island, which, clearly, is the only way to roll.

the next day was tough work. 5k worth of portaging and a whole lot of canoeing. still a lot of fun though. the sun came out a few times, but it wasnt as nice as the first day. stayed on another island that night. it rained a bit, but not enough to get us in our tents. we played a game of hearts by the fire, and my uncle phil shot the moon to win the game. he had all the hearts and the queen and everyone still had 6 cards to play, it was impressive. the third day was lighter, we just canoed back to the cars. it was a great trip, and nothign went wrong really besides jim getting sick on the first day, and me getting sick towards the end of the last day. we drove to the buffalo cozza's house that night and slept there. the drive home from buffalo was horrible, cause i was sick the whole time, but its all subsided now so i cant really complain.


i spent yesterday in a daze, trying to call people and catch up with them, but not really being able to talk without feeling nauseous. glad thats over with. im gonna go see slug, sage, and eyedea on saturday night. not to mention harrel and probably frank. i think that show will get me goin in the right direction. those guys have a way of being inspiring. built from the ground up, with hard work and dedication, etc. also inspiring was garden state. some people are doin things right, and its nice to see that. gotta make something of all this positive energy, something more successful than a song that she never bothered to listen to. i guess the outlet is more important than the response. something to get used to. gotta find some food. peace.