week from hell….

…well whaddya expect? This is the big move week and, true to form, the motherload of work just keeps pouring in and will do until the moment we say, “well, actually, let’s put off this L.A. malarky for a while seeing as things are just so great here now….despite the impending recession…”, at which juncture the sands of time will all but dry up forever and like some spaghetti western, the only sign of anything moving would be the happy skip of a tumbleweed gaily chuckling as it zips past my cracked lips, as if to say  ”go on, book another holiday or, better still, a stupid little adventure like last time.”  I know, I know I’m a cynical old git. This is a way of looking at life that I have worked hard on perfecting for many years. I have done my utmost to avoid positive thought along with optimistic desire, but without the added futility of bitter hatred, for a few decades now and found it most gratifying. My secret mentor, Robert McKee insists that to be a good writer you must have a cynical view of life and I agree with that with every fiber of my miserable self. Optimistic jollity just sets you up for big disappointment, especially in this game where, as Neilly (my pet name for that old grunge-meister, Neil Young) puts it so well, disappointment lurks.Don’t get me wrong fellow filmsters. I am quite a nice chap really and hold a fairly wholesome view of life, the universe and everything. It’s just that I don’t go with that positive vibe thing until it actually happens….Now, this could be the perfect experiment we are embarking on here; one of the many reasons I love L.A. and CA. is the seeming abundance of positive ‘vibe’ that does seem to permeate all corners of that huge desert. This, it has to be said, is what drew me to it in the first place; a relentless drive coupled with unbridled belief in oneself that, although occasionally unattractive in some (English reserve), can be equally beguiling in others as well as entirely infectious. There is nothing I value more in my work and in everybody that I meet be it in the workplace or at home or socially, than passion. And that is what Los Angelino’s seem to thrive on and I feed off it too. However, that slice of cynicism keeps the wolves from wearing me down too much so that when I lose that job to Joe Shmoe, I can grumpily put it down to “their loss” rather than the discarded shards of a splintered dream……I digress……I’ve finished my dreary but socially fun ad. for bog-paper and scored a delightful little ident for a comedy show for BBC 2. I have to design a fantastic chair which starts life as a 60’s/70’s dentist chair which I bought today on e-bay and is to shortly get collected from Newcastle, I think about 300 miles north of where I’m presently sitting typing this. From whence my modelmaker and myself will embark on two weeks of scavenging, sticking and general manipulation to hopefully arrive at something “Brazil-like” with a touch of MIB and I-Robot thrown in……..here is a “before” pic…….The 20 second ident will be set in this amazing location that I saw today for the first time, a very old, dilapidated theatre in Alexander Palace (look it up!) just a spit from where I am still sat typing this…..The other bit of possible employment that is designed to completely fuck up our move to sunny L.A. (despite the fact that all our earthly belongings are on their merry way to join some Atlantic crossing as I write this!) is a possible feature about the very unfortunate last days of Jean Charles Menendez, the Brazilian geezer who was mistakenly killed about 20 times on a subway train in London for resembling an Islamic terrorist bomber…..very controversial and truly fascinating….. Stephen Frears is exec. producing so what can I say…..fingers crossed……..I’ll keep you posted.