Two out of three ain't bad
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Today, while I was at work, I decided to go outside for a few minutes and help out and by the sheer luck of that decision I got the chance to meet one of my favorite actors, Jason Lee. Out of all the actors in L.A., there were basically three that I really wanted to meet that would make my whole trip out here worth it just for that: Will Ferrell (who I met at an exclusive Anchorman screening), and now Jason Lee, and I've had a chance to hang out with the third, but I didn't sieze the moment (oh, well). Jason Lee is just one of those actors that has such a real quality about him that makes any movie he's in that much better. He was such a shy, reserved person when I met him, which doesn't make for the greatest conversation when talking to another really shy person. Just being able to talk to him one on one outside was such an excellence experience, though. Hopefully, next time will be a lot better (well, at least I hope there will be a next time). Anyhoo, I just thought I'd share that with you guys. Until next time...
Author: Billy... » Comments:
Jim Carrey is in the hizzouse!
So, for the past three days Jim Carrey has been hanging out down on our corner. He and Tea Leoni are shooting a hold up scene at the party store around the corner (renamed 'Q Mini' for the scene) for the upcoming remake of Fun With Dick and Jane due out next year. The whole area has been closed down every night while they shoot. They have a large illuminated 'balloon' in front of the store to shed some light to the subject. Chuck and I actually walked through the set to get to the grocery store. They asked us if we were background and I just said, "I'm just trying to get to Ralph's". I kind of wish now that we had faked it and saw how far it would get us. If you go out in the street you can see Mr. Carrey's trailer in the lot at the end of the street. I was SO tempted to...well do alot of different things, but as usual I conceded to my inhibitions. Oh well, maybe next time. I wanted to get a picture of all of the fake billboards and the store facade, but I don't actually have a camera right now. Still it was pretty cool...
Author: Billy... » Comments:
I'll say it now: Jamie Foxx deserves the Oscar.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Ray
(View trailer for Ray)
Well, after waiting for months (impatiently, I might add) Chuck and I finally got to see Ray, starring Jamie Foxx tonight. I can not say enough good things about this movie. Jamie Foxx's performance was outstanding. It was obvious that he put a lot of heart and dedication into the role (including spending some time getting ready for the role by living for some time 'blinded' and wearing prostetics over his eyes during filming). The story was an emotionally shocking and inspirational film that was still affecting me hours after I left the theater. Or course, I would have to qualify that with the fact that I really get involved when I watch a movie. Foxx really brought heart and a realism to the role in a story that was tragic, inspiring, and yet still found a way to stay entertaining. I'll never look at Ray Charles the same way again. His life was...well, let's just say that I've learned to appreciate my life a bit more. There were actually times in the movie that I had to hold my breath to keep from crying out loud. After the credits were rolling, I stopped and then started up all over again -then once again on the way home. It was crazy! I'm sure it won't affect the majority of people the way it did me, but there was something about this movie that really touched me on a lot of levels. I hope that if you get a chance to go see it that it will do something for you too.
Author: Billy... » Comments:
Love Hurts...
Thursday, October 21, 2004
So, tonight the neighbors across the hall got into another one of their usual shouting matches, which happens at least a couple of times a week. The difference this time is that as it got a little more heated and it moved out into the hallway, I looked out to make sure everything was OK and their vocal dispute had escalated into him beating the green eggs and ham out of her as he forces her back into the apartment and slams the door. I just wanted to grab the S.O.B. and toss him down the stairs, but I've jumped to aid of women before in similar situations and every time she switches to the defense of her 'loving' man. So instead I called the police and told them what was going on. During this time I can hear her screaming about how bad her eye is and about her nose (which he has generously broken for her five different times, apparently). After anywhere from 35-40 minutes, the police finally arrive, knock on the door, enter the apartment, and within a minute's time are heading back down the stairs and leaving. I was so frustrated the I wanted to go across and beat the daylights out of her myself. And the police just LEAVE. Not even enough time there for a verbal 'slap on the wrist'. Nothing! But I bet if you were jay walking or were going 5 miles over the speed limit t you'd be stopped and fined. A person can be harshly disciplined for driving recklessly or drunk due to the danger that they could hurt someone else regardless of the say of the incidental victim, but when an obvious harm is being maliciously done, they don't even sneeze about it? What is wrong with the world?
What makes someone so blindly love somebody enough to allow them to do something so horrible to them? You know what?...No... What makes a person care so little about themselves to allow someone to do something so horrible to them...and regularly? I mean, I know why. It just doesn't help it make anymore sense. Man, people are messed up...
Author: Billy... » Comments:
Monday, October 18, 2004
Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason
(View trailer for Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason)
Chuck and I went catch a special screening of the new
Renee Zellweger movie,
Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason tonight. I won't give anything away about the movie except to say that it's a proper sequel with a seamless continuity and all of the characters coming back for another romp. The one aspect that I would have to criticize about the movie is that despite all of the growing into herself and confidence and self-respect she seemed to have gained in the first installment, it almost seems from the very beginning as though she has somehow 'devolved' from what she had so akwardly blossomed into by the victorious end of the first film. If you loved the first one (which I did), you should enjoy the second. If you didn't care for or 'get' the first one, you may find the next one a bit of a hard cookie to swallow. So, enjoy...or don't
---I don't really care (jerks!).
Author: Billy... » Comments:
...and a birthday to boot!
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Okay, so not only is today the 'unofficial' first day for GenericCity.com, but it's also my birthday. Whoopee!!! I didn't really do anything special, though. Chuck (my roommate) and I went to see Team America: World Police today. It was good for a cheap laugh, but I seriously doubt that I would buy it on DVD. After that, we grabbed a hamburger (actually two -one for each of us) from Fuddrucker's. That was pretty good, but to tell the truth I was actually more enticed by the Pepsi in a glass bottle that they had there. Man, I miss those. They were just as good as I remember them. I got a few DVDs from my roommates, but the coolest gift was hands-down the Clerks/Chasing Amy script book that Mike picked up at Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash. Jason Mewes, was there when he picked it up and when Mike mentioned it was for his roommate Jay said, "Let me see that", and signed it for me.
That was pretty cool of him. I guess I owe him one (if it ever comes up). That was basically the highlights of my day. You don't do much when everyone you know is thousands of miles away.
The day before (Friday) was a pretty cool day, though. I got to meet Ryan Starr from American Idol/Surreal Life 'fame'. She seemed a lot nicer than she comes off on television. The thrill, though, was that I got to meet Shawnee Smith, who have had a crush on for about 15 years now. I ran into her at work upstairs where I know nothing about, but I tried my best to help her out anyway. After that , I talked to her again downstairs while she was waiting for her order and then helped her one more time when she needed to return part of it. I didn't let on that I knew who she was (I just try to respect their privacy when I usually see a celebrity), but inside I was like a ten year old who had just gotten a new bike for Christmas (except that I couldn't take it home and ride it---wait that doesn't sound right, does it?). After she left, though, I realized that she was in that new movie Saw that comes out this coming Friday. I would have liked to ask her about that. Dag-blast-it! I always do that! Okay, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal to most of you, but I was pretty stoked.
Author: Billy... » Comments:
Welcome to Generic City -population: 0001
As a member in good standing of CaliBlog for the better part of this last year I've come to enjoy the interaction between ourselves and the people who grace our site with their presence. It was something that took a little coaxing to get me involved with in the first place (mostly by a very persistent Mike), but it's really become an amazing fixture in my life. For those of you out there who know me, I'm not the most open person in the world with my thoughts. The experience has been nothing but cathartic. I guess there's a certain feeling of anonymity to expressing yourself to a faceless audience that allows you to alleviate a certain level of vulnerability (you should read some of the things that ALMOST made it to the site). From the beginning, I had planned on doing a lot of my own things on CaliBlog. A plan that never seemed to quite reach fruition, with no one at fault but myself. Chuck and I had talked on a few occasions about starting a second site, a site that was nothing more than simply a fun, crazy site. From that point on I knew I wanted to start a separate site from what we were doing as a collective, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Soon after, Mike started Pedal Project (Proj: Pedal) to promote and inform people about his soon-to-come documentary and Chuck had left CaliBlog, altogether. Not long after that, I hit my 6 month marker for being in California and I wasn't very happy with MANY things about that subject, to the point where I had come to a decision that it was time for me to pack up and head back to the Great Lakes State and get on with my life, as it were. Generic City is, by way of a very obscure, twisting, almost inexplicable road, the result of the conversations and deliberations that came from said dilemma. I guess the easiest way to explain it is simply that I'm putting myself on the spot. Whatever happens here is all me. I'm not relying on my friends to fill in the dead air if I don't do something. It's my own personal motivational tool, without cluttering up CaliBlog with a lot of the things that I may feel like doing. So, that's about it in a nutshell (I guess I didn't really have to explain myself, but whatever...we're all friends here, right?). I hope that everybody enjoys themselves here and I'll see you back home at Caliblog. But, please be patient, it IS a work in progress...for now, welcome to me.
Author: Billy... » Comments:
