"The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me."

--Anakin Skywalker


Holeeeeeee Crap. I just got back from seeing Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, after having delay after delay in my plans. I was almost afraid I wasn't going to see it opening weekend (which would have put me in a VERY sour mood).

Unfortunately, I'm going to the beach tomorrow for a week and won't be able to elaborate on my short review, which you can find here:

FLEURKING AWESOME.

Seriously. Awesome. This movie had a much better script, much better acting, much better emotion, much better drama-- it was just MUCH BETTER and therefore TOTALLY AWESOME (sorry for the lack of adjectives other than "awesome", but not much else is needed).

And I had no idea it was going to be that sad either. There are quite a few scenes, without spoiling anything, that might be tear-inducing for certain people (no comment from me). As critical as many were towards John Williams' score for Ep.III after listening to the soundtrack, they have no room to complain when they see how the music is perfectly used in the film to underscore the many somber scenes of death and betrayal.

And what's with everyone drawing these Anti-Bush connections from the movie? There's nothing THERE! Not unless you go in looking for it... As Yoda told Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, you'll find "Only what you take with you."

I'll ramble about this movie if I'm not careful. Again, I'm just so impressed with how much emotion this Episode had. Sure, I have some minor quibbles with the first half. But they're minor. And all the good (of which there is a lot of) faaaar outweighs them.

So, off to the beach for me, where I hope to see Ep.III a second time.

--Cbake

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, Skeletor!

Or... his stunt double, Lindsay Lohan!
(URL given bc picture didnt' fit properly)

Seriously, when and how did she go from hot, curvaceous redhead to blonde, boney Olsen Twin? And trust me, this is one of the better pictures of her online right now.

Sad place, this Hollywood is.



Can't wait to go!

--Cbake

"He gave us a signal!"

--Batman


Friday night I went to the Actor's Theater in Charlotte with my grandmother. One of her good friends owns the place and they just moved into it within the past year. This particular night they were having an "Evening with Pat Hingle".

Who might that be, I'm sure you are asking yourself. Well look him up. I'm sure most of you won't know him by name, and those readers in my age demographic will most likely only know him from his work as Commissioner Gordon in the four Batman movies that have come out since 1989. I also recall seeing him in "The Quick and the Dead" and "Splendor in the Grass".

The man is almost 81 yrs old, and for two hours he stood onstage in front of us and read the play "JB", which is a story about the 20th century Job, and played all the parts. Then he did the same with choice scenes for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", two plays which he performed on or off Broadway and are very near and dear to his heart.

He also related anecdotes of meeting and working with legendary director Elia Kazan (onstage and on film with "Splendor in the Grass" and "On the Waterfront", his debut film role). He told of how during some freak accident in New York, he fell down an elevator shaft and tore off his left pinkie, a digit I noticed missing late in the night as I started paying attention to his many hand gestures during his acting. Pat also mentioned how Tennessee Williams and Elia Kazan visited him in the hospital, and Kazan had an abnormal fear of hospitals (back then they weren't all white and pristine) and kinda had a restrained freak-out during the visit.

Pat also told a humorous and sad story about running into Tennessee Williams in NYC. Pat was walking near the Plaza Hotel and stepped over what he thought was a drunk. As he looked he realized it was Tennessee, drunk, passed out. He tried to wake him.

"Hey Ten, it's me, Pat Hingle."

Tennessee- "Huh?"

Pat- "It's me, Pat Hingle."

Tennessee- "Wha...huh...."

Pat- "... It's me, Gooper." (character from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof")

Tennessee's eyes light up, a smile on his face - "Gooooper!"

Pat then helped Ten (as he called him) up and took him to the Plaza, where all the bellmen and members of the concierge came running up, worried about him, saying they'd been looking for him since yesterday. They took Ten up to his room and thanked Pat Hingle. And that was the last time he ever saw the famous playwright.

Pat then answered some questions from the audience. He revealed that two of his sisters live here in North Carolina, and Pat himself, along with his wife, are retired and currently living in Wilimington.

The audience then disbanded and went to the lobby for drinks and desserts. My grandmother's friend took my grandmother and I backstage and I got to meet Pat and shake his hand. Which was cool. I mean, that's Commissioner Gordon! Among other great roles, I know. But he'll always be Gordon to me.

He's a great actor. Watching this 80 yr old stand onstage for TWO hours and read the parts of every character for "JB", and then do pretty much the same for "Cat" was amazing. He's extremely talented, a true professional. My grandmother loves him because she says that every time he smiles, his eyes twinkle.

So I looked for that, and she was right, they do.

--Cbake

As the creepy girl from "The Ring" put it..."Seeeven daaaaays..."

Seven days.

One week.

One movie.

One finale.

Till Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith blows its way into theaters.

Think I'm excited? You bet I am. "Return of the Jedi" is the VERY first movie I can ever remember seeing in a theater, and I must have been two years old. And it's had a huge impact on me growing up.

I bought the soundtrack last week but have refrained from listening to John Williams' score until after I see and hear its use in the movie. It came with a 70 minute DVD, however, made of 16 music videos that use major themes from the Star Wars saga along with edited footage from all six movies to tell the story through music, beginning with Episode I and ending in Episode VI.

Needless to say, it rocks. And now we play the waiting game...

"...Aw, the waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos instead."

--Cbake

"Work sucks. I know."

Welcome back loyal readers! Or I should say, it's good to be back.

My dad did take the computer away last week, yes, but luckily the internet service remains for a few days more, and I now have my crappy, six year old laptop hooked up to it.

I've got a lot of topics to catch you guys up on, but first lemme start with a description of what work has been like the past two weeks.

SHOCK! Wait, did he say... "work"?

Yes, WORK. As in I perform services that are traded to me in the form of money. I've been doing freelance production assistant work for two different commercial shoots. This is how it works: A local production coordinatior/supervisor is hired by an ad agency that wants to shoot a commercial in the area. Said Prod. Sup. then hires local crew and thus local PAs like myself.

This is the kind of job I've been trying to get for 9 months, sending resumes and emails and calling up local companies and getting nothing in return. How did I get this job? A friend of mine couldn't do it and gave the Prod. Sup. my name. She called me, asked if I could do it, and that was it.

She didn't even ask for a resume. And I thought "it's all who you know" only worked out in California.

Anyway, so the job isn't in any specific place (I can't tell you how many people have asked "Where are you working?" after I tell them Im a PA on a few commercial shoots). I only work when there's work to be done and the Prod. Sup. calls me.

So mostly I'd been doing office work at her house. Filing things. Making copies. Or Gopher stuff (go for this, go for that). I'll go out and buy office supplies for the coming production, or maybe assorted teas and bottled waters for the picky director from LA. As the shoot day approaches, I become a "driver" and have to pick up the director and producer from the airport and take them to the hotel. And then take them from the hotel to the shoot. And then from the shoot to the hotel. And then the hotel to the airport. And do it all over again for another group. Back and forth, back and forth.

Blah. I'm bored of talking about this already. And that's not good. If I'm already bored writing this, you're already bored reading this. It's hard to relive, working 12+hrs a day. I wonder what that means psychologically, writing about my life and boring myself in the process...

This is the job in a nutshell: Get up early. Work lots of hours. Drive lots of place. Do WHATEVER they tell you to. And get paid really well for doing so.

I'd say over $1900 for my services sounds good.

--Cbake

One last Act of Boasting before I go...

I went out tonight to Jackalope Jack's, a local bar that does karaoke on saturday nights.

And who should I bump into while there? Why, SNL alum Colin Quinn. That's right, we introduced ourselves, joked around, had fun, then parted within seconds. Why? Because my bar kicks @$$. And so do I.

So booyah.

Computer gets taken away tomorrw. Goodbye for now.
--Cbake