Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner! Seriously? People say this through their poker face? 
I went and saw 21 the day after it opened. And while I like Kevin Spacey and certainly don't mind Jim Sturgess, the real draw was an unknown extra taking up space in the background: me.
I'm easy to spot, if you're keen on background action. Here's the trick: in the background of the last scene, a bunch of somber-looking college students stroll across the campus at a leisurely pace. In movies, the extras are never late to class.
Suddenly, out of the righthand corner of the screeen come two figures clad in black and khaki, booking it across campus. Yes, that would be myself and Kyle. We walked faster with every shot to make sure we made it onscreen.
That was a cold day in Boston (Cambridge, technically), and it looks like fall, though it was actually spring. It was freezing, and we huddled inside what buildings we could between takes. As cameras were set up and everything was put together, I watched a few guys tying fake leaves to the bare trees. Bizarre.
In other news, I went to my first demolition derby. I confess, I wasn't too excited about watching cars slam into each other, although I suppose it's what we were all dreaming of when we jumped into the bumper cars at the fair. And while I laughed at what my friends called 'redneck race night' and 'white trash entertainment,' I confess I got some sort of odd enjoyment out of watching the twisted metal of mass destruction. Who hasn't wanted at some point to ram their car into someone else? It must be a good feeling to do so to the cheers of a sold out, all too eager crowd.
While I was surrounded by NASCAR fans watching the literal meltdown of a Ford Taurus, some friends of mine were elsewhere, enjoying wine and cheese at a refined dinner. They asked me later how the derby went and I told them it was awesome. Then I laughed. Maybe not the most scintillating way to spend an evening, but I had fun. What's the point of not enjoying yourself?
As we left the derby, the sweet lady I'd gone with (a volunteer at her church library and mother of four) turns to me and says with shining eyes, "Monster Truck night is in May this year. You should come."
You know it's not official until it's on Facebook. I just removed a person from my friend list who really needed to be completely forgotten. And you can deleted them from your phone, your schedule, your life, but when you delete the person from Facebook, whoa. That's when it gets real.
My friend Seth likes to have fun. No matter what's going on or where he is, or how ridiculous circumstances are, he makes sure he enjoys himself. I'm inspired by Seth's outlook and will seek to imitate it as such. Life is full of drama, awkwardness and sheer stupidity.If you see it that way, life is going to suck most of the time. But, if you can relax and enjoy yourself and find the fun, life is going to be a lot easier.
I went and saw 21 the day after it opened. And while I like Kevin Spacey and certainly don't mind Jim Sturgess, the real draw was an unknown extra taking up space in the background: me. I'm easy to spot, if you're keen on background action. Here's the trick: in the background of the last scene, a bunch of somber-looking college students stroll across the campus at a leisurely pace. In movies, the extras are never late to class.
Suddenly, out of the righthand corner of the screeen come two figures clad in black and khaki, booking it across campus. Yes, that would be myself and Kyle. We walked faster with every shot to make sure we made it onscreen.
That was a cold day in Boston (Cambridge, technically), and it looks like fall, though it was actually spring. It was freezing, and we huddled inside what buildings we could between takes. As cameras were set up and everything was put together, I watched a few guys tying fake leaves to the bare trees. Bizarre.
In other news, I went to my first demolition derby. I confess, I wasn't too excited about watching cars slam into each other, although I suppose it's what we were all dreaming of when we jumped into the bumper cars at the fair. And while I laughed at what my friends called 'redneck race night' and 'white trash entertainment,' I confess I got some sort of odd enjoyment out of watching the twisted metal of mass destruction. Who hasn't wanted at some point to ram their car into someone else? It must be a good feeling to do so to the cheers of a sold out, all too eager crowd.While I was surrounded by NASCAR fans watching the literal meltdown of a Ford Taurus, some friends of mine were elsewhere, enjoying wine and cheese at a refined dinner. They asked me later how the derby went and I told them it was awesome. Then I laughed. Maybe not the most scintillating way to spend an evening, but I had fun. What's the point of not enjoying yourself?
As we left the derby, the sweet lady I'd gone with (a volunteer at her church library and mother of four) turns to me and says with shining eyes, "Monster Truck night is in May this year. You should come."
You know it's not official until it's on Facebook. I just removed a person from my friend list who really needed to be completely forgotten. And you can deleted them from your phone, your schedule, your life, but when you delete the person from Facebook, whoa. That's when it gets real.
My friend Seth likes to have fun. No matter what's going on or where he is, or how ridiculous circumstances are, he makes sure he enjoys himself. I'm inspired by Seth's outlook and will seek to imitate it as such. Life is full of drama, awkwardness and sheer stupidity.If you see it that way, life is going to suck most of the time. But, if you can relax and enjoy yourself and find the fun, life is going to be a lot easier.
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