Update: Triangulate My Position

Thank you Jade for reminding me. I did have a bit of video I wanted to post yesterday. In addition to walking the figure 8 and sometimes part of the trail with Pekona, we sometimes get the chance to play fetch with a tennis ball. Unfortunately, he's a beagle, so smells will often make him drop the ball, explore what it is, then pick the ball up and return. Because of this, our fetch sessions are confined to the tennis courts at the park, and only when they are available.

So here's a video, not the greatest quality, of Pekona late in our fetch session (maybe his 10th fetch), He's a little pooped so he doesn't run fast. But at least he wasn't distracted by smells. You'll probably want to turn down the sound before starting it. There was a guy with a leaf blower on the other courts clearing leaves from the storm.



Watching the video again, it looks like he does catch a whiff of something and goes sideways for a second. Thank you Jackie and Ray for the funky "Illusion" collar that he is wearing. I find it very handy for keeping him in line on our walks. Like Cesar says, you have to keep the leash high on the neck, like show dogs, to keep better control.

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Triangulate My Position.

The last few days we've had "winter weather" here in Los Angeles. What that means for us, is windy, rainy and cold. But not bitingly cold like up north or back east, but cold enough to put on a lined jacket, and rainy enough that sitting at home and watching TV is the best bet.
A couple of winters ago, it did snow at our house. But so far this year, this is as good as it gets... a light dusting at the top of the mountains behind our house.

I was out walking the dog when I took that picture and thought I should take some photos of around my neighborhood so those who don't live in L.A. have a sense of where Sean Patrick, Nicole and I live. We like our neighborhood for the most part. Some of the neighbors we can't stand, but I guess that happens every where.
We live on a bit of a hill, not steep, but it's easier to say, "At the top of our street," as opposed to, "On the north end of our street." So... At the top of our street is a trail head, the Altadena Crest Trail. Basically come out of our front door turn left, cross Loma Alta Drive and you're on the trail. I've never hiked more than 30 minutes of it. I want to, but it's an open trail along a ridge so in the summers it's really hot. In the winters, well, I have no excuse for not having hiked it in the winters, but right now is not a good time since it's wet and slippery. I usually take the dog on a walk through a section of it that ends up at the Loma Alta Park.

And speaking of parks, Loma Alta Park is a really nice one. There's two sections of it cut in half by Loma Alta Drive. The upper half has a two baseball diamonds, a small swimming pool (only open during the summer), two very nicely equppied play grounds, one for 8 and under and one for 8 and over. They've also got an indoor gym with a basketball court and weight room.
The lower park has picnic areas, tennis courts and and equestiran area, pictured above. It's puddled up because of our winter storm. Our house backs up to the equestrian park.
That's our house behind the light pole. During the summer, people will ride there horses right along the brick wall there next to our house. We're not in the backyard that often, but there have been times where I've caught a torso floating above my wall. It's a rather strange sight when you can't see the horse.

The short dog walk usually involves a figure 8 through the park. Pekona has found his places to poop and sniff in the park, the places I let him anyway. And then we head back home either walking down the street or up the street depending on the direction we start.

While were on the subject of directions, how's this for confusing... Here's the street sign at the top of Dabney
And here's the street sign at the bottom of Dabney
Which is it? Dabney STREET, or Dabney AVENUE? I think government has forgotten there's a street or avenue there because we've had a street light out for over a year, and there's been an abandon car parked in front of our house for over 6 months. I've complained about both to the proper authorities and the most response we've gotten was a parking ticket on the light pole. Geez.

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The Passing of A Great Man.

On the 10th of December, 2008, the world mourned the loss of a great man. No where was the cry louder than from the small quiet community of Kalaupapa.
Richard Marks passed quietly at 11:45PM on December 10th at the hospital in Kalaupapa.

There was a good article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, one of two local papers to carry the story. The other was the Honolulu Advertiser. Click on the links. There, you can learn of his life. He was a brilliant, funny, man.

I was fortunate enough to know Richard Marks. He was a friend of my fathers and a friend of mine. He was one of a handful of Hansen's Disease patients left on Kalaupapa, the community that developed from the banished Hansen's Disease patients during the late 1800's through the 1940's (FYI: No longer are they called leprosy patients, and "leper" is akin to the worst racial slur you can think of... Think "N" word).

For those who haven't been there, the map below is of the Kalaupapa peninsula on the northern side of Moloka'i.


View Larger Map

As you can see, on three side it's surrounded by rough seas, and on the fourth, you can tell by the shadows, are tall cliffs. The tallest sea cliffs in the world. It is harsh and windswept, a truly isolated place.

Nicole at the top of the Kalaupapa trail. a 5 mile hike that switches back along the cliff. Not an easy hike, but the pay off at the end...

And yet, it's quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth.
To stand anywhere on Kalaupapa and look at the beautiful green cliffs, or out onto the vast ocean, you cannot help but be inspired.

Kaluapapa is one of the quietest places on earth. There is no hum of a city or civilization to be heard. All you can hear are the waves on the beach and the wind in the trees. My dad has said, "I come to Kalaupapa to hear God speak". And in all the silence, you might just be able too.

There is no light pollution so the nights are very dark. So dark, you can see the Milky Way with the naked eye. And the only light to navigate by is the moonlight. On the horizon, you can see the orange glow of light pollution from Honolulu.

Richard Marks has always been part of our family. So much so, we call him "Uncle Richard". He's even one of my brother Matt's godparents. He always had a story to tell or an opinion to share. I was always enthralled listening to him talk about his life and times on Kalaupapa and around the world.

I remember the first time my father took Ray and I to Kalaupapa. I was only thirteen at the time, which is slightly illegal. No one under 16 is allowed on Kalaupapa. But we went anyway and stayed at the "Stone House" at the base of the light house. It was away from the town of Kalaupapa proper, where suspicious eyes might question our age. On our first night there, Uncle Richard joined us for dinner. Because there are no stores there, no restaurants, we had to pack in all our own food for the trip. Our mother had made us fried chicken and rice for dinner. We sat out on the porch over looking the moonlit ocean and the glow of Honolulu in the distance, while Uncle Richard entertained us with stories of Kaluapapa. There was no TV to distract us, and the radio could only get one Hawai'ian music station from "top side".

I had never heard the spooky ghost stories of Kalaupapa before. Uncle Richard told them with such grace and flow, I was mesmerized. He told us the story of how he believes the "Stone House" is haunted.

The Stone House was originally built as the residence for the lighthouse caretakers, back before the lighthouse became automated. The original house is the back half of the house with an addition being built on the front later. The story goes, that one of the caretakers fell off the top of the lighthouse and died. Since he couldn't be buried on Kalaupapa, they had to keep the body somewhere until a doctor could fly in to pronounce his death and it's cause, and then fly him back to Honolulu. So they kept the body in the middle bedroom, for several days.

Now his ghost haunts the middle bedroom. Sometime at night, if you are sleeping in the middle bedroom (and especially if you are a woman) you can be woken up in the middle of the night by pressure on your chest, like someone is sitting on you.

Uncle Richards wife, Auntie Gloria wouldn't even come in the house she's so spooked by it. They've had priests and Kahuna's come to the house and bless it in hopes of removing the spirit, but no one knows if he's still around, waiting for the next person to sleep in his room.

When we got to the house earlier that day, guess where I put my bags... in the middle bedroom. I was so scared after that story, I couldn't finish my chicken. My stomach hurt so much from fright that my dad made me swig Pepto Bismol to help ease the discomfort. That night, Ray and I slept in the living room.

I have been back to Kalaupapa many times since then. And every time, listening to Uncle Richard "talk story" was highlight of the trip. I would actually look forward to our dinners.

The last time I was there, I brought Nicole. We were staying at the "Beach House" that time, Uncle Richard had taken to renting out the "Stone House" to the "Kokua" or the help, people who worked on Kalaupapa but who were not Hansen's Disease patients. The "Beach House" is amazingly enough, right on the one beach on Kalaupapa.

I'm glad Nicole got to experience the magic of Kalaupapa at least once, and to hear Uncle Richard "talk story".

I hope to one day get back there. It won't be the same without Uncle Richard. All I can do is keep his legacy alive by telling his stories (albeit, not as well), and remember him as the amazing human that he was.

God bless you Uncle Richard, I truly miss you.

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Unceremoniously Dumped.

I thought I was going to make it through my first winter in a long time without seeing the fall of snow. But here it is, in all it's glory, quite possibly, my only snowfall for this season.


That crown looking thing is the entry dome to the Caesar's casino in Windsor. Across the river is Detroit, holla!

The snow was probably the one good thing that came out of my weekend with Blue Man Group. It was there in Windsor, the day before this snowfall, I learned that I was replaced as the lighting designer for the Megastar tour. I was unceremoniously dumped from the program without reason. And the part that sucks the most, no one had the balls to tell me I was being replaced.

Sure, there had been rumours swirling about for some time, but I was assured by some of the powers that be that it wasn't going to happen. There was no money to pay for a new design. There's nothing with the old design, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

But someone had a bee in their bonnet that they had to have the old designer back. So that's what happened. I was replaced by the guy I had replaced.

That's what sticks in my craw the most. I was brought in, not to really re-design the show, but to streamline it. Make it cheaper. So that's what I did. Of course, I had to add my own artistic touch, but it wasn't without approval by the "artists". And the design toured well, for two and a half years. But now they want to step backwards.

I don't get it. There's lots of other interesting ins and outs to this, but I'm stopping now. It's not worth it to sit here and bitch about it. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of this industry of "no loyalty".

I've been taking this one pretty hard, but this wasn't the first tour I've been dumped from. There have been a few.

I've been fired from two tours, Ministry and Bad Religion. Ministry was a simple one to leave. They had sent me out to replace a guy who faked a heart attack. And then two weeks later, they just sent everyone home in an effort to fix the tension. Bad Religion... Well that one I think I got myself thrown off of by simply asking for my own hotel room on days off. I thought that's a standard thing, but it's not. The one thing that experience taught me was to have everything written down and agree to before setting foot on a plane to fly to the start.

There's also been a number of tours where I've not been invited for a return engagement. A Perfect Circle is one of them. It's funny that as I write this, I'm sitting next to the guy who replaced me. I was really mad at them for a while when I found out I wasn't coming back. I thought the lighting design looked great, but when the second album came out... no phone call, no return design. As I understand it, the guy who replaced me (and is sitting on my left) was a much better brown noser than I.

During the "Verizon Ladies First Tour", I was hired to do Missy Elliot's design, and ended up two weeks after the tour started, doing both Missy and Alicia Keys design. At the end of the tour, I stayed with Alicia Keys (she offered more money and a longer tour). After almost 9 months of touring with her around the world, I was not called back to do the next leg. Again, no one told me I wasn't coming back, they just went out and got someone else. Granted, they got a new production manager and in an effort to "save money", they hired an "axe man" to cut back. I was mad for a long time about this one because, again, I'm not given a chance to prove I can do a cheaper design, save them money, be a team player.

These things I blame mostly on the fact that I'm not a "brown noser". I think I'm a good person, and my designs are good. I believe myself to be a team player and if you ask me specifically what it is you want, I can deliver. And even if you have no idea, I can help you out. I think I lost A Perfect Circle because I wasn't sucking up to the band, and Alicia Keys because I wasn't sucking up to the "axe man".

But I think the one that hurt the most, was not doing the latest tour for Tori Amos. In 1998, I was sent out secretly to replace the LD. He was in on it. He didn't want to tell Tori or her management he was leaving, so I came out to learn the show and then he would just disappear. Tori and company didn't like that and since then, I had been part of the Tori camp... Until last year.

I was on track last summer to design Tori once again. I had it all figured out. I had a really good (and cheap) conceptual design to match her latest album. I had a competent (and cheap) lighting director lined up to finish the tour for me, while I went back to Blue Man Group, who was going to be touring in the fall, at the same time as Tori.

Tori's management I guess didn't see it that way. They wanted someone who was going to stay for the whole tour. At least, they had the production manager call me up to tell me they were going in a different direction. Of course, this was after I had already cleared my summer to be with them.

What bothers me the most about the whole Tori thing was what I perceived to be a lack of loyalty. But I guess they could say the same thing about me. My opinion, I covered all my bases to make sure they had a quality design and a quality lighting director to replace me. But I guess that's not what they wanted.

Nicole always says, "It's not you." But it's hard not to feel that it is sometimes. Somethings I can understand, but not being given another chance, or not being told I've been dumped, that to me is inexcusable.

Well, another design will come along, there's always work out there....

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Weapon of Choice.

Under false assumptions, Nicole and I ventured out to the mall on Sunday with Sean Patrick. On Sunday last, Nicole went to the mall and said it was pretty dead. Not a lot of people shopping. It was Thanksgiving weekend, the Sunday after "Black Friday" and before "Cyber Monday", which usually makes for a busy day. Perhaps the economy was affecting people and shopping was going to be light all Christmas season.

Except for yesterday. Yesterday, it was a mad house. As Nicole likes to say, "It was nuts to butts". People everywhere looking for the best bargain they could. The craziest parts of the shops? The kids sections. Christmas time is for giving gifts, and giving gifts to kids, especially. So it makes sense that kid sections are packed.

I stood with Sean Patrick in the stroller and Nicole dove head first into the sale racks looking for gifts for our niece and nephews. I looked around and began to notice a trend...

Before I get into this, I have to vent a little about what I think is proper mall etiquette and if you disagree with me on this, let me know. But in a mall, or any place really, that has a heavy flow of foot traffic, I think it's bad form to stop in the middle of it for any reason. If you need to stop to pull out your cell phone, or talk to your buddies about which store to go to next, pull over. Get out of the flow of traffic. Stop in front of a store window, turn down a side alley, something. People walk like they drive cars, you follow the people in front of you moving in the same direction as you, If you need to pass, you wait for an opening in opposing foot traffic an dart around them. And like cars, if you stop in the middle of traffic, accidents occur.

The worst offenders of this rule: people with a baby strollers. As I stood in the baby section of Macy's, I noticed piles upon piles of baby strollers, double parked in the aisle ways, stuffed between racks of clothes, parked sideways. Baby stroller mayhem. It was a bumper car derby just trying to get Sean Patrick, in stroller, to the checkout line.

I thought it was just in the baby sections of the stores that I would see this trend. But as we walked around the mall, I noticed it everywhere.

People were stopping in the middle of foot traffic with their strollers to answer cell phones, or get something out for the fussy baby. Some were moving fast and basically ramming peoples heels with their strollers. I saw one lady ram a young man and his friend and when they turned around she gave them the meanest stink eye she could, as if to say, "I've got a baby in a baby stroller so I have the right to do what I want. Now get out of the way."

It had become the weapon of choice. So much so that I could have sworn there were a few women there with strollers and no babies just to take advantage of the unwritten rule.

Nicole had noticed it too. As a general rule, anywhere, Nicole and I don't stop in the middle of foot traffic. If were at an airport and we have to rearrange our carry-ons or something as we walk to the gate, we pull over against a wall before stopping. So at the mall, we vowed to continue our general rule to include walking with the stroller.

When Sean Patrick got fussy at Target, we pulled over into a mostly empty aisle (shaving cream and razors) while we pulled him out of the stroller and situated him the Bjorn. While Nicole was shopping in Baby Gap (another store full of strollers), I did laps around the mall with Sean Patrick, he's not a fan of being stopped in one place. I did my best to move with the flow of traffic, I didn't walk to fast or too slow. When Sean Patrick fussed for his binky, I pulled over against the window of a store and out of they way. I was even tempted to start using hand signals to indicate left and right turns. Maybe that would have caught on, but I doubt it.

Only once did a ram a couple of guys in the ankles with the stroller, but that's because they stopped walking in the middle of traffic. Don't they know the rules?

Here's a picture of me at near the end of the long day at the mall. Please note, I have the stroller parked in front of me on the bench, out of the flow of traffic. I've still got the Bjorn mostly on while feeding Sean Patrick in this monument to consumerism. It's really just a "personal touch".

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The Economy, Windsor, Television, And Sesame Seed Bones.

THE ECONOMY

Long time since I've posted.

The economy has effected every one. In a effort to scale back and prevent people from becoming unemployed, I've decided to cut back on the number of post on this blog to once a week. I know, it's hard for some, but in order to save others, we must do what we can in these tough times.

Or, I've just been busy with baby, out of town for four days on my last Blue Man Group gig, and really just didn't have anything to say.

But I'm going to blame the economy because that's the thing to do.

WINDSOR

You read that right folks. My LAST gig with Blue Man Group. I was in Windsor Canada this past weekend doing a "corporate" gig for BMG at the Caesar's Casino. This is not the touring show, but rather a short 1 hour performance that they do for private parties and casino gigs. I didn't design it, I was just hired to make sure the lighting cues were correct and operate the console.

I say last, because on Saturday, I found out that I've been replaced on the Megastar tour, but the former lighting designer, the guy I replaced back in 2006. The sucky part, is how I found out, I won't go into the details, but let's just say it was not the professional way to find out.

Needless to say, I don't plan on going back out on the tour. It's not my design, I don't care, and I'm not going to push buttons for someone else's design. Sorry folks, that's just how I feel. No loyalty to me, no loyalty from me.

I'm still a little bitter about this whole thing. And I've been thinking I have a whole blog that I could write about things of this nature. But I'll save that for next weeks blog. :-)

TELEVISION

I did another gig for FN MTV last week, their "Holiday Special" featuring a live performance by Fall Out Boy. We were taping at Boardners, a famous bar off Hollywood Boulevard.

I had started a whole blog about how messed up and chaotic some TV shoots can be, especially one thrown together at the last minute. But I didn't finish it because I only had one point to make and I was becoming long winded about other things.

So here's the one point.

How am I supposed to know exactly what the show looks like? Everyone sets their TV's to different contrast, colour, tint, etc. levels, how do I know what's correct?

Here's why I was thinking about this. When ever I'm programming for TV, the video guys run me two monitors, one that I have control of, where I can use a switcher and switch between the feeds from all the different cameras on the gig. And the second monitor is called the "line cut" or "program" feed, which is what the director is looking at/ cutting the show to.

To illustrate my point, here's a picture I took of my monitors:
It's not about the content on the monitors, it's Miley Cyrus and Pete Wentz, if you're wondering. Look at the quality of the picture, the difference in quality, really. The top monitor, which is the line feed, the colours are warm and balanced. But the bottom monitor, is all blown out. You can't even make out features on their faces. Granted this is a picture of two pictures, but if the two pictures were the same, this wouldn't be an issue.

I guess I have a lot to learn about television lighting.

SESAME SEED BONES

My last blurb for tonight (I should sleep since I have to watch the kid in the A.M.) is about what I discovered today when I visited a doctor.

Last week, I decided I needed to get a flu shot since we have Sean Patrick around, and I was about to fly to Windsor, I'd best take every precaution. So I scheduled an appointment with my doctor last Wednesday, for the flu shot, and while I was at it, I thought I'd have this painful callus on the big toe of my left foot checked out, find out my blood type, and get a wart frozen. May as well make the best of my co-pay and get in as many things as I could.

I love my doctor and here's why... Below are her answers to all my questions:

- You don't need an appointment for a flu shot, downstairs is our free flu shot clinic, just go stand in line.
- I don't have the equipment to shave off the callus, I'm supposed to refer you to a podiatrist, so I'll do that.
- I don't know your blood type. It's not something we normally test for when we do blood work. But I'd be happy to order up some blood work when ever you like, just email me and I'll let you know when to come in.
- I'll burn that wart off, no problem.
- And since I really didn't do anything for you, go back to the front desk and get a refund on your co-pay, no point in wasting money, you'll need to pay for the podiatrist anyway, and he's the one that will be helping you. I'll call the front desk and tell them you are coming.

Isn't that cool? A doctor who refunds money!

Today, I went and saw the podiatrist. He looked at my callus, whipped out a scalpel and proceeded to scrap and cut off my callus. He suggested I get X-rays done to see if I have an "extra" bone in my toe. Cool! I have may have extra bones!

The X-rays came back positive. I have what's called a sesamoid bone located under the toe just behind the toe pad. Which means for the rest of my life, I'm going to develop a callus there, that I will constantly have to have scraped and cut off and every now and again I will experience a little pain if I step on the toe a funny way.

Or I can have surgery to have the bone removed.

For now, I'm going with the callus. Can't afford elective surgery at the moment.

But what I wonder now (and I should have asked the doctor then) is how come I have this problem now? If I've had this bone all my life why the callus now?

A question that will haunt me forever.

Or until I go to bed.

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