Small Calamities

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Thunder on the Mountain
August 26, 2008 | permalink

A lot of the people that I work with, and nearly all of my crew, are in this business because the hours are flexible, and it pays well, and the work can be fun; but really they want to be doing something else. By which I mean really they are doing something else, they just haven't figured out how to make a living at it. But once they do, they are soooo out of here.

I've been thinking about this lately, reflecting on the magnificent variety of people that working in this business has allowed me to meet and interact with. I have had the pleasure of working with a shockingly large number of brilliant and creative people over the years. Of course there have been lighting and scenic designers; that's a no-brainer, given the nature of the work. But there have also been several painters, a sculptor, writers and playwrights, two glass-blowers, several photographers, a lawyer, a doctor, a couple of scientists, a dancer or two, musicians, magicians, a card shark, a librarian, a computer programmer, a few filmmakers, a trapeze artist, cooks and bakers, and a genuine bearded lady. And those are people that I know (or knew) personally, most of whom I counted as a friend.

Some of them have moved on, of course; the nature of their calling not being compatible or leaving them with the time or desire to load in shows; some are still with me, still not quite ready for whatever reason to take the plunge. And some of them are mostly gone, but come back every once in while to play. But no matter where they are, I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work along side them.

Posted in Musings & Working
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Walking in the Fields of Mars...
August 21, 2008 | permalink

... is like what Fashion Week feels like, more and more each season. It feels more and more foreign and unnatural every time.

Forgive me if I am repeating myself, but the older I get... the more grown up I get, I guess, the more responsible I want to be about the resources I use and the waste I produce and the impact I have on the world around me. It's actually causing me a fair bit of angst, I realized. Because I love my job, Gentle Readers. Using my brain to solve technical and logistical problems under pressure, doing physical work, leading a team, passing on my knowledge to others... I don't want to have a job where I don't get to do all those things.

And yet, as much as I love doing what I do, the people I do it for I mostly find reprehensible, if not downright despicable; and the sheer waste and frivolity of it all... I have a harder and harder time justifying the mindset. Not that I am ready to walk away; because I do enjoy the work on a deep level; just not some of the people I work with. But I used to think I could do this forever, and now I know I can't.

Posted in Fashion Week & Working
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Hellbound Train
July 24, 2008 | permalink

I was in the great city of Chicago all last week (as was A Lover and a Fighter, though our paths did not manage to cross, sadly) attending a rigging seminar taught by none other than Harry Donovan. Which doesn't mean much to most of you, I am sure, but trust me- as far as my industry goes, he is pretty much the bee's knees. It was pretty damn awesome.

I have been doing what I would describe as medium-ish level rigging (at best) for many years, and a lot of my knowledge is that imperfect kind you get by doing things without having too much in the way of actual theory or fact to back it up. That is, 'I know that works, I have seen it done and done it myself many times, and since this is sort of like that, it ought to work to. Probably. Let's try it and see!' Which is fun and exciting and all, but not necessarily the best way to hang a bunch of stuff over people's heads. Now I have a bunch of math and theory that I can apply. Which I like.

I even got a little time to see Chicago. I saw my dear and long-moved friend the Gemological Goddess, which was quite lovely- it had been well over a year. I ate at a couple of pretty good places, went to Navy Pier and Millennium Park. It was quite a good visit.

Posted in Out of Town & Working
(1) Comments

Back to This
June 4, 2008 | permalink

I did a ridiculous event over the weekend.

It wasn't the scope or the scale that made it so; it was big and necessitated long hours and sprawled across three venues, but not really complicated or even, honestly, all that hectic. It was the tone of it that I found so... I am not even sure what the right word is. Ostentatious, maybe? Which I found a little surprising. I mean, I work on a lot of big, stupid, wasteful corporate gigs, and I can think of several that were more over the top without even trying.

I guess it's the fact that it was an awards show. And not an awards show where some neutral body is giving out the awards, either... It's more like, hey, lets get together and give ourselves awards for doing such a great job of being us! Maybe I am just being curmudgeonly, but that kind of self-congratulatory nonsense kind of bugs me. I mean, if these people were really doing something that warranted praise and recognition, I think that someone outside of their circle would stand up and say so, don't you?

I suppose it's possible that I am still overtired and under-caffeinated, and thus am being more judgmental than I ought to be. But I don't think so.

Posted in Working
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Sundialing
May 15, 2008 | permalink

I have been in Miami all week, installing the lighting for a poolside fashion show. Being as it is out of town, I have been working with a crew made up of locals that we hired through a Miami based lighting company (save The Director, who came down with me to help me run things). There are a lot of differences between my crew and this crew, some of them very frustrating.

A lot of it, of course, is that most of the people that I work with in New York are people that I have known for a long time. We have a common vocabulary and experience working together; I knew that this would not be the case here. Indeed, I have gotten a lot of blank looks this week for the simple reason that Miami and New York are far enough apart that things are referred to with different words.

Another source of frustration (and I don't want to sound snobbish; it's just the truth) is that the base standards here are just not what they are in New York, in terms of neatness or consistency in work. And I knew that this was the case going in, but I hoped that with a little guidance they would do things my way. I am not saying that my way of doing things is the best way, mind you; but it's a pretty good way, and it works for me, so...

Sadly (and frustratingly) for me, most of the crew, when presented with the option of doing something the way they were instructed to or the easy way, they chose the easy way. Every time.

As far as I am concerned, it's not about the easy way. It's about making it look good and be right. I cannot tell you how many times I have uttered the phrase, 'I know this is going to be a pain in the ass, but I need it done like this...' My regular crew trusts me, and knows that I am not making it difficult for no reason. And I trust them not to take shortcuts for their own convenience. It was all very irritating. But it happened nonetheless, Gentle Readers, and is going off without a hitch as I type.

Next time, though. I think I will bring a few more of my own people, to help steer the work in the right direction...

Posted in Musings & Out of Town & Working
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Tales of Yankee Power
February 20, 2008 | permalink

One of the things I love best about my job is that sometimes I get to work on things that are really cool and interesting, and actually see things I would not get to see otherwise (learning something in the process), all while getting paid to do a job that is fairly fun and interesting in and of itself. Doesn't that rock?

This dispatch is from just such a job, Gentle Readers. I am sitting in The Catholic Church of St. Peter, which is the oldest Catholic church in New York City, while a group of Buddhists rehearse the ceremony that they are going to perform here tomorrow morning. It is all part of this week's activities centered around the opening of a show of sculpture by Shinjo Ito, a renowned Buddhist artist and the founder of the Shinnyo-en order of Buddhism.

Not a bad way to spend a couple of days.

Posted in Working
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Laughing Cavalier
December 14, 2007 | permalink

I had quite an adventure last week.

I was in Miami on a job, and I went out to a late dinner with The Boss (who is the very model of a charming Englishman), The Cylon (one of the designers I work with, whom, as you may guess from my nickname, is literal-minded, has a big brain, and over-analyzes things), and Uncle Mike (a boisterous and gruff ex-roadie who now runs one of the companies that we often deal with). We were perusing the menu of a place with a bunch of outdoor tables (actually, it's Miami Beach... they all have outdoor tables), and a couple of women went by and made some comment to the effect that we should pass that place by. Uncle Mike goes after them and strikes up a conversation, in the hopes of securing a good recommendation for dinner from a couple of what he assumed were locals- both he and The Boss have a pretty discerning palette.

In his absence the rest of us decided that we were too hungry to go on looking, and got a table. Uncle Mike came back in a few minutes with the women in tow. They were, it turns out, not locals at all, they were just giving us a hard time. They were also completely trashed, really loud, and had invited themselves to dinner.

Gentle Readers, they spent the next two hours mercilessly hitting on me, much to the amusement of not only my dinner companions, but (as we later learned) of the people at the tables around us as well. I will not repeat the innuendo and double entendre that I was subjected to- but I am sure you can imagine the kind of things that a couple of drunk, trashy, 48ish year old women, one of whose husband was wandering the area in a rage looking for her, might say. Suffice it to say, it was more attention than I am used to getting. I am not exaggerating to say that if I wished (and believe me, I did not!), I could have taken at least one of them, if not both of them, back to my room for the remainder of the evening.

The Boss was so amused that he lost no opportunity to relate the story to the other people that we knew working on this gig. For days I was getting good natured teasing from even the producers, including the woman who is the top dog and, quite frankly, someone who I doubted had a sense of humor in the first place. And I have to admit that I do think the whole thing is funny, and I am getting a good smile out of it even now. Not to mention the amusement I feel to learn that I am, apparently, a cougar magnet.

Posted in Out of Town & Random & Social Life & Working
(1) Comments

Never Said
December 2, 2007 | permalink

Hello, Gentle Readers... It's been a while, hasn't it? More than two months, which I believe is the longest break in my writing to date. Which really was not a good idea. I let myself forget how much of a stabilizing and sanity inducing influence this writing is, and only now looking back at the last couple of months do I see how much I probably would have benefited from being diligent about writing.

Not that you should get the impression that these last many weeks have been full of unbridled misery; far from it, there have been some really fantastic high points, and I have no complaints about my personal life and relationships. It was the job. I did a gig in October that broke me, and I have been feeling a little less confident, a little less extroverted (or more introverted, I suppose, would be more accurate, since extroversion is not really a strong trait of mine), and a little more passive since then.

The job in question started out fine, but slowly turned into a grueling clusterfuck. Some of it was foreseeable, and just not noticed in time by me (though I am assured that this is far less true than I think it is), some of it unforeseeable, and some of it was just bad luck. Towards the end I reached a real low point, and my morale broke.

I do not mean that I was feeling discouraged, or frustrated, or even depressed; I mean my morale really broke. I gave up. I ceased to be leading the crew, I ceased to be the boss. I ceased to be the motivator and the encourager and the example that a leader is supposed to be. All I wanted to do was slink away and hide in a corner, alone with my misery.

After a few hours (which seemed eternal, I assure you) of despair, I pulled myself together and took charge again, rallying the crew as I rallied myself. Which is good; judging by how crappy I still feel over my temporary lapse, I have trouble imagining how terrible I would be feeling if I had not managed to get my shit together and salvaged that job.

I have never, in my entire life (which, if you have been reading, you know has encompassed some difficult challenges) felt so completely defeated and broken. And frankly, I would not have believed that I could feel such despair. I always thought that I was too tough, too tempered by previous challenges. But it seems that I was wrong.

Even now, writing this, I feel a deep shame for having so unequivocally surrendered. Which I suppose is the real reason I haven't written in so long; I didn't want to really admit out loud my surrender and the resulting shame I felt. But I wasn't able to write about anything else, either. It seemed too disingenuous to just let it slide away and not acknowledge it here, to you.

So that's my story, Gentle Readers. And now that I have aired out the room, so to speak, the writing at regular intervals will resume...

Posted in Blogging & Musings & Working
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Overpowered by Funk
September 21, 2007 | permalink

I am having trouble, Gentle Readers, getting back in the habit of writing. I have mentioned how disruptive Fashion can be in the past; how it is, for all intents and purposes, non-time for those of us involved (much like the extra days and weeks that the ancients would insert into their calendars as festivals outside the normal flow of the year). This season was worse than others, as I had a gig right before and right after, which effectively made my normal two weeks of fashion nearly a month long. Nearly all of my routines and habits have been suspended, and I feel a little adrift today, as I try to resume living in real time (as opposed to the Fashion non-time).

Of course, all I really need to do to get back in the swing is to actually do the things I am used to doing. Tonight I will bake bread (for the first time in I can't remember how long... six weeks, at least, which is the longest its been since I started in earnest 20 months ago). I am writing this post (obviously), and it is flowing better than I feared it would. Certainly better than the two or three I have tried to write in the last few days. And I am back in the office, and have done some of the close-of-show paperwork that I need to do, instead of drifting aimlessly around my desk. It's an interesting sensation, though... kind of like coming off of a tour, or returning from Spoleto.

One notable absence of my post-Fashion, though, is my customary serious case of the blues, which is nice, to say the least. There is a touch of them, to be sure... there always is, after a big project. But that's really all it has been- a touch. It's a lot better this way, to actually be able to enjoy the feeling of a job well done (even if it was completely life-disrupting), instead of well, not.

Posted in Blogging & Fashion Week & Musings & Working
(1) Comments

I've Seen the Sun Set the Sea on Fire
September 14, 2007 | permalink

Well that was a hell of a week.

Even now, only a day and a half after I closed the door on my last truck, it seems hazy and indistinct. That might have something to do with how little sleep there was to be had this season (not that I am complaining, mind you- I got less sleep than ever before, and I was getting off easy. There were shows where a lot less sleep was had than on mine), coupled with the large and then gigantic shows I did, back to back. So, yeah, it's all kind of a blur. But there was one notable highlight.

One night, backstage while the first of my events was going on, I had a very stereo-typically male conversation with The Sorta-Rican. Not stereo-typically male in its subject matter; we weren't talking about tits and ass. What I mean is, it was kind of an emotional conversation, but conducted with gigantic under-statement. It really struck me later how much was being left unsaid, though at the time there was never really a question about what we were talking about.

The gist of the spoken conversation was this: He is seriously considering leaving the business and doing something else, and he was saying that he didn't want me to feel like I was being left in a lurch (he is my number one guy, as they say). I assured him that this wasn't the case, and that I would be thrilled for him to find something that he liked better, and that was pretty much the end of it.

What was really going on though, was more like this: He was asking me if we were really and truly friends, or just work friends, and he wanted to know and be prepared if we were going to not see each other socially, because he doesn't really have a lot of people that he feels close too; he counts me as one of them, but if he's wrong, he wanted to know. He's not wrong- I count him as a brother, in every sense of the word, and I made sure that he knew that I loved and respected him and wasn't going to drop him like a hot potato. And all of that happened without any of it being said, and we both knew it.

The vast amount and great subtlety of information that can be contained within a superficially inane conversation between two people who know each other well is truly amazing, isn't it?

Posted in Fashion Week & Musings & Social Life & Working
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Call Me When You're Sober
August 23, 2007 | permalink

I've started this post nine times, I swear... I get halfway through, and then fashion rears is hideous, beautiful head, and I can't find the time or focus to get back here for hours or days, and by then whatever I have started writing about no longer seems interesting or important, so I delete it and start over and then fashion rears its hideous, beautiful head, and... well, you get the idea.

So really, Gentle Readers, I suppose this has now become my bi-annual 'I'm sorry I have no time to write, I don't mean to neglect you, it's just that it's Fashion season' post. I will try to write something more interesting soon, I promise.

Posted in Blogging & Fashion Week & Working

Quiet as a Mouse
August 7, 2007 | permalink

What do you do, Gentle Readers, when you have a knotty problem you need to solve? Do you sit and pick at it, peering for any weakness or chink, searching for the first step and meticulously picking it apart thread by thread until you've unraveled it? Or do you set it down, and circle it from a distance, examining the whole thing, trying to hold the shape of it in your mind and understand it, and wait for it to tell you what the solution is?

I'm thinking about this because it is nearly Fashion season again, which is of course my busiest and most hectic time of year. The entire month of August is pretty much consumed with The Boys (and by The Boys I mean our design staff) designing and re-designing our shows, while Smacktalk and I, in our roles as the production department, try to figure out the least stupid way to implement the aforementioned designs. Sometimes the shows are relatively simple and straightforward, without any major challenges (even the simplest has minor challenges). And sometimes there are major challenges, but they are similar enough to something that one of us has encountered before that it isn't too long until we find an acceptable solution. Every once in a while, though, something comes up that really stumps us.

Which, really, is part of the fun of the job. I like the challenges that come up, a lot. What I find endlessly fascinating (aside from the problems themselves, of course) is how Smacktalk and I will consistently approach these problems in such completely different ways. He is far more methodical than I am, and will worry the problem apart by sheer stubbornness. Sometimes it is almost like the fact that the problem exists is a personal affront to him, and he cannot rest until it is resolved.

I, on the other hand, am content to mull it over and let it percolate in my head for a while. Often, while I am doing something else, the answer (or an answer, at least- I'm not claiming to be the be-all end-all here) become clear to me. I have a lot of Eureka! moments in the shower.

It's funny, too, because his way of doing things will often drive me nuts. And vice-versa- I know that it makes him crazy that I will seemingly ignore the problem that is driving him insane, just as it makes me crazy that he wants to talk the problem to death rather than let it sit for a bit.

So how about you? Are you a picker or a percolator?

Posted in Fashion Week & Musings & Random & Working
(4) Comments

Sunshine
June 23, 2007 | permalink

Let me tell you, Gentle Readers, I'm glad that's over.

The insanity of the last two months' work schedule, I mean. Between the two weeks in LA, the week and a half I spent on the show at the Public Library, and the two and a half weeks I spent on this last one (a party, for a well known high-end retailer, capped off with a 36+ hour day for me), it has been a hell of a spring. I am very much looking forward to going back to semi-regular, 40ish hour weeks at the office, at least for a little while. It will be quite nice to be able to actually sit down while I have my coffee, to say nothing of being able to be on the internet and the IM, the great distractions of desk work. I will even have time to write here, believe it or not; you don't need to feel neglected any longer.

Posted in Blogging & Working

Double Team
June 15, 2007 | permalink

Remember when I said that I hadn't been writing because I was so busy? Well, that was true to a point, but I must admit that I deceived you a little, Gentle Readers, by implying that my being busy was the only reason I hadn't been around.

You see, the whole story is that while I have been insanely busy, I have also been fairly unhappy as of late as well; so even when I had free time, I was feeling too down to do anything constructive with it. Like keep you, my wonderful and inspiring readers, abreast of the meanderings of my mind.

What, you ask, could be getting me so down?

Well, a lot of it is just me. Chronic crap floating around in my head that won't let me be. The constant struggle between wanting to connect with my friends and peers and my near inability to do so. At least lately. It's exhausting. I haven't even been able to bring myself to go out after work for a couple of beers. I feel so closed off and disconnected that I can't even imagine what I would say in the way of conversation; I cannot fathom being able to participate and interact, and sitting there watching everyone else converse just makes me feel worse. So I have been begging off.

So, that's where I am at, my friends. Sad but true. But fear not! I will persevere and overcome. Luckily that is something that was instilled in me by The Old Man even before the lesson on how people suck and you should always always always be on your guard.

*sigh*

Posted in Musings & Working
(1) Comments

California Stars
May 6, 2007 | permalink

Well Gentle Readers, I'm off.

Not right this moment; I leave on Tuesday, but between now and then I highly doubt that I will have any real free time. So I am taking this opportunity to bid you adieu, for the moment. My next dispatch will be from decidedly beachier climes.

As I have mentioned, I will be in Santa Monica for just shy of two weeks. Working, for sure; we do have a big show to put on, after all. But there seems to be some real potential for some leisure time as well, and I plan to take full advantage of every moment.

Posted in Out of Town & Working

Wherever I May Roam
March 28, 2007 | permalink

I went to Los Angeles yesterday. And when I say yesterday, I mean that literally; I arrived at LAX at 1am Tuesday morning, and was on my way back to New York by 10pm Tuesday night. Not the most relaxing day I have ever had, with a day-long string of meetings and site surveys sandwiched between the flights, but it was productive, which was the point, after all.

I've never been to LA before, and I was struck most by the vast amount of open space. There was so much open air! I'll be honest, it made me a little uncomfortable, though I'm not sure why... I spent most of my youth in more or less rural areas, and love being outside; hiking, camping, campfire cooking- these are some of my all time favorite things. I have never felt the way LA and it's environs made me feel.

It might have been that so much is hidden. What I mean is, there are millions of people there, and yet there seemed to be nothing besides eight lane highways and open sky. There didn't seem to be nearly enough structures to support all the people that I know must be there. I guess I just wanted to know where everyone was. I know enough about myself and the paranoid way I was raised to know that I like to know what is going on around me- I guess all that open space combined with all those unseen people made me a little edgy. At least, that's the theory I'm going with at the moment, though I will happily entertain other ideas, if you have any. I will get another chance to figure it out, though; I will be back for a week when in May when it comes time to put the show on...

Posted in Out of Town & Working

Regular People
March 25, 2007 | permalink

Gentle Readers, I just did an event that I can't tell you about, for someone I cannot name, at a magnificent place I shouldn't specify, with a guest list that I am not supposed to even think about, let alone allude to in print. But what I will tell you is this: Even people that throw multi-million dollar parties, with hundreds of rich, famous, and powerful guests, get up on the dance floor after dessert and coffee and shake it to the same DJ playlist that you do at every family wedding. Kool and the Gang, (old) Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin... you know what I'm talking about.

You could take the view that the rich and famous are just regular people, like us. Or maybe we are all just classier than we thought...

Posted in Working
(3) Comments

High Centurions
March 9, 2007 | permalink

I set up a birthday party yesterday. I can't say who it was for, but for our purposes here let's just call the guest of honor the Prodigal Daughter, and say that her mother, who threw the party, is someone very wealthy and famous, and let it go at that. And let's just say that it must be nice, being wealthy and famous; no one ever threw me a party like that.

Picture lots of low couches and tables, the couches upholstered in red and orange and gold damask, covered in over-sized pillows of the same stuff. The tables were inlaid with exotic wood and mother of pearl, or else had ornately carved wooden legs with beaten brass tops, and silk banners hung from the rafters dividing the loft into a half dozen semi-contained areas. Candles, of course, covered the tables, and more flowers than you would see in an average New York florist's shop were artfully arranged in five foot vases. The lighting (which is what we were there to do, of course) was dim and golden and mottled, rounding out the ambiance of opulence. Think opium den chic, and you have it spot on.

There was food, of course, and what must have been a $500 cake, and I'm sure it goes without saying that there was a fully stocked, four-sided bar in the center of the room- an open bar, mind you. Not to mention the $1000 tins of caviar at the vodka stations, which were carved from blocks of ice.

It got me thinking about my own birthday. I'll be thirty five later this year; if any of you want to contribute to my Birthday Fund so that I can have a properly extravagant party, well, I promise to put your funds to good use.

Posted in Musings & Working
(2) Comments

The Echo Factor
February 12, 2007 | permalink

Good morning, Gentle Readers. I'm sorry to have been away for so long, but it was Fashion Week you know. I know I have said this before, but it is basically all-consuming and pretty much trumps everything else. It's not the way I would like it to be, necessarily, but it is the nature of the beast.

It's not just the long hours that make it so, though they are indeed long; for me, what makes Fashion Week my 'one and only' is a bit of a mix of the nature and time frame of the work, the pressure I feel to succeed, and my own predilections for single mindedness. As a result, friends, family, lovers, sleep, meals, and everything else fall to the wayside for two weeks twice a year. I know that I lose perspective during this time, and I know that I should keep a better balance. I just haven't figured out how.

The schedule is difficult, all by itself. Hundred hour weeks are pretty much the norm. In some cases I am installing Broadway-scale shows in one tenth the time that my counterparts on the Great White Way have. This time frame, coupled with absolutely no margin for error, makes me feel a little under the gun, as I am sure you can imagine. While the lighting is not the most important part of a Fashion Show, you can make an argument that in many ways it is the most critical, and it's my job to make sure that it all works perfectly every time. When you are talking about million dollar shows, the pressure can get pretty intense. Add to that the (some have said) unreasonable standards I hold myself to, and I think you can see how everything else can get squeezed out, I think.

But it's all over, now; and here I am, back in the world. Bread making, beer brewing, dinner and drinks; all the little things that make life fun can now resume. Until next time...

Posted in Fashion Week & Working
(2) Comments

Gun Shy
January 27, 2007 | permalink

Fashion Week is once again upon us, Gentle Readers. Shows start on the 2nd of February, and most of next week is taken up by the shop preps and load ins that must precede such undertakings. These next two weeks, and their counterparts in September, are hands down the busiest weeks of the year for those of us in the business. Literally everyone is working, all the time. In addition to the sheer volume of shows that need to be mounted, we are invariably doing some of the largest and most complex shows of the year, all while personnel and materials are in short supply.

Things have been getting increasingly hectic at The Office, of course, for some weeks. Being on this end of it, dealing with clients and changes and budgets, is all kind of new to me still, and the more of the pre-load in craziness I am witness to the more I am amazed than anything gets done at all. I have a new appreciation for what the designers have to go through to make the client happy, and I see now that the inevitable on-site changes, while sometimes extremely frustrating to me and the various other crew chiefs and our crews, are relatively minor compared to the sweeping changes that get dumped on us here while we are trying to work up proposals and budgets. It's been quite educational.

Outside of The Office, I have two big shows that I will be heading up on site this season, both of which ought to be nice and big and stupid and challenging. As much as I am enjoying the new job in The Office, I am very much looking forward to getting on site and making things happen. I think it's what I do best, and it is one of the things that I most enjoy doing.

Posted in Fashion Week & Working

An Old Fashioned Love Song
January 12, 2007 | permalink

The two designers, Smacktalk, and myself threw in and bid on a Foosball Table on Ebay last week. We won over the weekend, and it arrived at the office yesterday.

As I'm sure you can imagine, post-arrival productivity dropped to zero as the four of us assembled and subsequently tested the table. It's not high end, by any means, but it is pretty sweet nonetheless; it even has collapsible drink holders built in. I was sadly the loser in our first inter-office elimination match, which meant I had to buy the beer last night. Not the worst thing...

The only problem with the table, really, is that we have not told the boss about it yet. You see, he's been out of town. He's due back this afternoon, and we figure he will say one of two things. Either, 'What the hell is that thing doing here?' or 'I have next game.''

Time will tell...

Posted in Random & Working

Happier Than the Morning Sun
December 12, 2006 | permalink

One of the parts that I like best about my job is all the prep work that happens before we get on site. I take the plot from the designers and go through the whole installation on paper, start to finish, and figure out not only what I need to make it all go, but also how to do it in an efficient and logical manner. And not only for myself; I have to be able to take my plan for the load in and be able to easily give the information to my crew. If it doesn't make sense to them, it doesn't matter how much time I spent on it. To this end, I try to represent on the drawing as much as my plan as possible, in the simplest format I can; the ultimate goal being that any of my electricians can look at the plot and implement the plan exactly as I intended.

Of course, I'm a big dork, so it's also a lot of fun for me. All the color coding and cable paths laid out, everything accounted for, all ambiguities clarified... I love it. Once we get in the space and the designers start making changes some or all of it goes out the window, of course, and we have to adapt and improvise. But with the original plan as a firm base, it makes it easier. Working with the same crew most of the time makes it easier too. I try to be consistent in all of my conventions from one show to the next, and it pays off. If I forget something, or things get changed, usually my crew knows what I would have done, and does it like that. Which makes things easier for all of us.

Additionally, giving my crew all the information they need to do their jobs, instead of hoarding it and doling it out piecemeal, shows them that I trust them and value them, and don't feel like I need to look over their shoulders to make sure everything happens the way it should. Which makes for better morale, a better dynamic, and makes the work more fun, for me and for them.

Seriously, if you can't make this job fun, you should go do something else...

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Empire of Light
November 20, 2006 | permalink

Saturday I volunteered my services (well, mostly volunteered; there was also a promise of a bottle of scotch... but that was after I had already said yes) this weekend to help a young designer I know load in a show at a high school in New Jersey. They really wanted a New York designer, to try and make the show look more like a professional production instead of High School; but they have no idea what goes into a production on a professional level. What I do for a living, these people do as a hobby, and there is a large gap of standards between the two. So the support and resources were just not there, and the designer would have ended up being there 24/7 trying to get everything done. Rather than do that, she enlisted some help.

It was actually a lot of fun. One of the other people working with us is someone that I often have on my crew, and it was good to see him in another dynamic. I also haven't done the nuts and bolts work of hanging lights and running cable in a long time, and it was quite enjoyable to do some physical work, and kind of nice to not be in charge. I also got to drive the articulating boom lift, which, as you can imagine, is just about the coolest thing ever.

Totally unrelated, except that it happened this weekend, I went to the grocery store on Sunday. Which is completely unremarkable, except for the people in front of me in line to checkout. They were a young couple, clearly shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. Equally obvious was that neither of them new how to cook worth a damn. I know I am a bit of a food snob, but come on- mashed potato flakes, stuffing in a box, vegetables in a can, gravy in a can... the only thing these two bought that qualified as a raw ingredient was the turkey itself.

Poor bastards...

Posted in Around New York & Random & Working
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Vegas, Baby!
October 19, 2006 | permalink

Gentle Readers, I'm in Las Vegas. For work, even. And not putting-in-a-show work- I got sent here to attend the big lighting industry convention, LDI. I've never been sent on a true business trip before- all my other work travels have been to put in or take down a show or event. It's kind of cool... like a paid vacation. I mean, I'm out of the office, getting put up at the Luxor, and my only out of pocket expense is roulette (I'm currently up $120!). On top of that, Friday and Saturday I get to wander around the convention center and check out all the cool new toys and gadgets that people are making for lighting shows, and, since the industry is relatively small and I have been doing this for more than a decade, there are a

ton of people here that I never get to see (due to geographic differences)- people I used to tour with, or who I worked with in some other city, or who used to live in New York but have since gone elsewhere. The only thing that is actually like work that I have to do is take an exam tomorrow, which will make me a certified entertainment electrician, instead of just a hack with a wrench...

Wish me luck!

Posted in Out of Town & Working
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Fashion Nugget
September 14, 2006 | permalink

I started this post ten days ago, but got sidetracked by fashion (shocking, I know...). I don't even remember anymore where I was going with the bit that I had written, though I'm sure it was supposed to be some pithy observation on the then pending Fashion Week. Not that I am saying it would have turned out like that, mind you; only that it was what I intended. But the specifics are long gone, obliterated by lack of sleep and the poor dietary habits that Fashion Week imposes on you.

I only had two shows this season, as opposed to the five of last February. But the shows I did have were the biggest I have put up to date, topping out at over six hundred units- that's more than 400,000 watts of light, and about the same number of units as a small Broadway show. Only we installed it in three days, instead of the typical three weeks or more that a theatrical production of this size might take. My crew, Gentle Readers, kicked ass to acomplish so much in so little time.

My shows are done- the next couple of days are all about providing support for the shows that are still pending for us. So I'm tracking down equipment and perishables for last minute adds and changes, doing my crew's payroll, and working on resuming 'real life' (as opposed to fashion life), which got put on hold about ten days ago.

Posted in Fashion Week & Working
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My Second First Day In Six Months
August 3, 2006 | permalink

Well Gentle Readers, I started my new job this week- I think it's going to be a much better fit than the last one. For one thing, I've known everyone in the office for at least 5 or 6 years, and most of us are around the same age and have a bit in common. Moreover, I haven't felt like the office lackey once all week, which is quite nice; the extra duties that I have been assigned, like helping to re-organize and administer the server, and organizing the photo archives with the goal of putting together new look books, are things that I have an interest in and an aptitude for, as opposed to being things that no one else wants to do. It's always nice to be able to do things you actually want to do.

My core duties remain about the same- doing site surveys, generating equipment lists, scheduling and co-ordinating crew before events happen, and supervising the load-ins, events, and load-outs once we're on site. the only difference there is that I've traded my hourly wage and overtime for benefits and vacation time, and a check every week. I think it's a good trade- I'm very happy with my contract.

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Whyfore So Much Dread?
July 10, 2006 | permalink

I put in notice at my job today. I'll be honest, I was dreading it. I have a very overdeveloped sense of loyalty, and even though I knew I was making the right decision on lots of different levels- the new job has better benefits, is more advantageous to me financially, I'll be working with people who are more my peers and with whom I already have a good relationship, and the company is at a turning point, and I will actually have a chance to help shape it in new directions- I couldn't help but feel a bit like I was betraying The Boss.

Where was I going with that absurdly long run on sentence? Oh yeah, right- dreading giving notice. I shouldn't have, of course; The Boss was understanding and even gracious about it. He said that he thought I was making the right choice, after I had laid it all out for him, and he gave me a great compliment, calling it a coup that they were able to woo me away, and that I would be missed.

It bothers me that I was so anxious about this. In most work situations, I think, I don't really have a problem with asserting myself. I mean, I am the crew chief, I have to get things done, and if that's going to happen, I can't be a wilting flower. That one on one, superior/inferior dynamic though- that's tough for me. I know that it is a part of the 'obey without question' method of upbringing that I got- but knowing the mechanism and how it works doesn't seem to make it go away, sadly.

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Time Keeps on Tickin'
June 27, 2006 | permalink

I haven't had a chance to put in notice at my job yet. I've basically been on site doing gigs since I got the offer, and I really want to sit down and talk to the boss face to face. Well, I don't want to- I actually feel kind of guilty over leaving, but I know that that's the decent, adult thing to do, and so I will. I had a really awkward moment yesterday though.

As I said, I've been on site, and the gig I was doing yesterday was being produced by my soon-to-be-boss' company, and the company I am currently working for was doing the lighting. So there I am at the event, chatting with the boss who doesn't know I'm leaving yet and the boss for whom I am leaving- very uncomfortable. I hope I never have to do that again.

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Um, Me? Really?
June 22, 2006 | permalink

Remember back in March when I took that office job for one of the companies that I'd been freelancing for? The one where I was working part-time in the office and heading up all their gigs for them? The one where they sent me to learn about that fancy architechtural control system?

I hate it.

Not in its entirety; I like going on site and doing the events. And my sister The Star is the office manager there, and I like seeing her all the time. (If she wasn't in the office I probably would have quit already, truth be told.) It's the rest of it- the meetings, dealing with clients, the constant ringing of the phone. I leave at the end of the day feeling like I haven't accomplished anything. I don't really have anything in common with any of the other people there, either. Not in background or lifestyle; they're mostly 40-hour-week-family guys. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, mind you- it's just not me.

That architectural stuff? Awful. As a mental exercise, it's really cool and engaging. In reality, dealing with the client and the long timetable and the never-ending nudginess of it is eating my soul. The great thing about an event is that no matter how bad it is, it's only a few days, at most, and then it is done and you don't have to think about it anymore. This other stuff just stretches on and on and on... ugh. It's to the point where I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning because I don't want to go to work, and I have trouble going to sleep at night because I dread getting up. I thought about leaving before now, but the improvement in my financial situation was big enough to make me continue to stick it out and hope for some improvement.

Gentle Readers, I'm out. I got offered a better gig. A bigger gig. With the most prestigous lighting company in the city. More money, full benefits, paid vacation, even a signing bonus, like I'm a baseball star. I would have to go to the office on this one too, but the big differences are that the other people working there are friends that I have a history and lots of common ground with, and (this is the big one) that my whole job would be heading events and preparing to head events. All of the other crap- the architectural stuff, negotiating with clients, answering the phone, being the office lackey and catching everyone else's overflow- that's all gone.

The wildest part is that I was totally head-hunted for this new job. There has been a huge shake up over the last couple of months over there, and Smacktalk was just hired as the new Production Manager. The Boss told him his first official duty was to do whatever it took to get me on board. I'm blown away by that.

Now all I have to do is put in notice for my current job. I don't think the boss is going to take it well- he tends to take things personally. Maybe, like a baseball star, I should get an agent to do all of my dirty work?

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Where Were You When Humpty Dumpty Needed You?
May 24, 2006 | permalink

You want to know something that I truly abhor? Rules for rules sake. The blind following of a regulation regardless of whether or not it is applicable, and the refusal of the enforcer to be willing to engage in a discussion about the appropriateness of a given rule in a given situation. Rules and laws, untempered by knowledge and good judgement, are useless. Worse than useless; rules applied badly are worse than no rules at all.

If you are thinking to yourself, Gentle Readers, that something must have happened in the last week or so to spark this rant, well, you're right. I did an event last week. It was in one of the city's major transportation hubs, and they had a lot of rules. Which is fine, in and of itself; I'm not advocating chaos. I think that rules, appropriately and judiciously applied, are a very good thing. But this place was out of control. And the powers that be kept changing the rules on us, seemingly without rhyme or reason. The end result was that a job that should have taken a total of 35 hours over three days took 65 hours of the same three days. Yes, we were there 65 out of 72 hours; that is not a typo.

The worst part, to my mind, was that many of the rules were in place to ensure our safety. However, they weren't designed for our industry, but for general contractors. And while on the surface the two industries seem very similar, they are in fact very different. So many of the rules were only partially applicable, if at all, and actually gave rise to a more unsafe situation than if they weren't used at all. And the people enforcing them insisted on enforcing them blindly, because those were the rules. I was constantly in a position where I had to compel my crew to do things that were against our collective better judgement to satisfy some desk jockey's idea of safety.

An example- we were required to wear safety harnesses and be tied off with a lanyard if we were working above six feet. All well and good. I advocate harnesses for my crew when it is appropriate. Not when my guy eight feet off the ground, working on a free standing lighting boom, has only two choices as to what to tie in to- the boom, or the ladder. Either of which he would have pulled down on top of himself should he have the misfortune of falling. How is that better? Can anyone tell me?

Posted in Musings & WTF!? & Working
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Have I Mentioned That My Job Rocks?
May 14, 2006 | permalink

Today I got to work on top of a scyscraper. You read that right, a skyscraper. Fifty stories up, 705 feet, according to the internet. And yes, it was as cool as it sounds.

One of the highlights, aside from the awesome view, was that there was a hawk living up there. Unfortunately, it didn't like us very much; it kind of buzzed us a couple of times. Maybe more than buzzed- at one point it swooped down out of the sky and snatched a hat right off the head of one of crew. Yikes!

Anyway, here are some shots. There are more at Flickr.

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Yes, I'm Still Here
April 20, 2006 | permalink

I'm sorry for leaving you for so long, Gentle Readers, but I've been swamped... I can't believe how fast the last two weeks have gone by. I think I've settled into a pretty decent groove with the new job. I feel like less of a lackey and more like a useful part of the company, which is really important. I know that some people can work on a task by task basis and be perfectly content, but I am not one of them. I need the bigger picture, and I need to feel as though I am contributing to the overall goal. Otherwise I am very unhappy and not terribly productive.

I am happy to say that this has not been the case with the new job. And as I get more integrated there are more and more things for me to do. My position is new, and while there were some specific things that The Boss wanted me to be responsible for, I have had a lot of leeway creating my job description. I've taken over several things from other people here as well, things that weren't necessarily part of their job but that there was no one else to do. So now I'm doing all the supporting paperwork for shows, whether I am going on-site to install them or not (though I am doing nearly all of the installations as well); service and maintainance contracts; booking crew for jobs; a little product research, a little office handy-man action (I have voided more warranties by modifying stuff to fit our needs around here in the last week than I have in months on gigs); and lastly, keeping all of our theatrical equipment and perishables organized and in working order.

Phew!

But I am having fun, even if I thought that I was going to have an aneurism last week from all of the projects I was juggling. In theory it won't get that bad again, as I am actually learning how to do all of this and not lose my mind in the process.

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Office Space
April 6, 2006 | permalink

I'm having a little bit of trouble adjusting to the new job. I am so glad that it is only part time and that I am still freelancing on other projects; if I had to go cold turkey I think I would lose my mind.

I don't think there is anything terrible about it; I just have never worked in an office before. It is definitely a whole different skill set. And the dynamics take a little getting used to. no one talks to each other out loud. Everything is discussed over IM, even though we are all only a couple of feet away from each other. For the first couple of weeks I kept forgetting and would walk over to people's desks to talk to them. They would think that it was something dire, because I had gotten up to actually speak to them in person, and drop whatever they were doing as if what I wanted was life or death. It was a little funny, and kind of amusing. To me, anyway.

The other thing that I having a really hard time getting used to is the fact that I am the lackey. I make follow up phone calls for people that are too busy to take care of them themselves, and get sent to the store, and generally get handed things to do that the others don't want to. I'm used to being in a more captain-like position. My goals are set by the people who have hired me, sure... but to accomplish those goals I am left totally to my own devices; I make the decisions, I have a crew under my direction, and it all gets done my way. So yeah, there is a little bit of a transition to be negotiated. I'm sure I will perservere.

One of the great things about it is that my sister, The Star, is the office manager for this company. Not that this cuts me any slack, or that she doesn't use me as a lackey as well. But it's still nice to see her so often.

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Off the Train, Illuminated
March 25, 2006 | permalink

Gentle Readers, I finished my Vantage training, and let me tell you, it was awesome. The three days of training were fairly intense- I must have taken close to fifty pages of notes during class time, and there was homework (hours of it!) and even an exam at the end. There were a lot of hands on practical sections, too, wherein we go to play with the hardware of the system, learning how it all went together. But it is the programming software that really has me excited.

The hardware is fairly straightforward; at its simplest, a dimming module is installed in a house, and all of the lights are connected to individual dimmers instead of breakers. The dimming module is connected to a control module, and the control module is connected to keypads which replace the standard light switches. Then someone like me writes the programming for your system, telling which button to do what, and uploads it to the control module.

It's at this point that you may be thinking, 'Well, that sounds like all I did was buy a bunch of expensive light switches.' And you couldn't be more wrong.

The programming can be incredibly sophisticated. And with the integration of sensors, relays, and IR emitters, the system can be made to control almost anything in your house that runs on electricity. For real. Here are some scenarios:

• One button press changes the lighting in your dining room from brightly lit, so that you can see to set up, to the mood lighting for your party.


• You get up in the middle of the night. The pressure switch built into the floor next to your bed is tripped, and all the lights between you and the bathroom fade up to a nice, non-jarring, level. When you get back into bed, the swich is tripped again and they all go out.


• The same switch, when you get up for the first time after 6am, brings up the lighting in your room and in the bathroom, and starts your shower. It is then disabled until after midnight, when it goes back to the mode described above.


• Your outdoor lighting is timed by the system, and comes on a little after sunset and turns off at midnight. The system knows, based on your lattitude and longitude, what time sunset is each day, so you never have to update the timing. It also takes into account daylight savings. But, should you trip the driveway sensor between, say, midnight and sunrise, the system can bring the outdoor lighting up for enough time for you to park and go inside.


• You could have a 'Deck Party' button, which would, with one press, turn on the deck lighting, the outdoor audio system, and the hot tub.

The possibilites are truly endless. I can't wait to program my first gig.

Posted in Out of Town & Working
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On the Train, In the Dark
March 21, 2006 | permalink

I traveled out to central Long Island this evening, in order to attend a three day training seminar for the Vantage lighting control system. It's part of what I have to know for my new job. I'm of two minds about it. the training seminar, that is...

On the one hand, I love to learn new things, especially things that smack of geekdom like low-voltage computer programmed touchscreen controlled dimming systems. On the other hand, I'm a little fearful over the fact that this is spread out over three full days. Either it's really complicated, (that would be awesome... see the first hand), which I doubt; or else the presentation has been dumbed down for even the biggest idiot, and is going to bore. me. to. tears. I'm not saying I'm a super genius or anything, but figuring out how things work is one of the things I am really good at. Honestly, I'd lay even money that I could figure out how the Vantage system worked on my own in three days. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it goes...

Other that that, what? I don't know. I'm bitchy, Gentle Readers, and I have been for a couple of days now. Well, bitchy's not quite the right word. Agitated, maybe. I've been having nightmares. I feel like something is close to the surface that I have been avoiding, and I'm not going to like it when it comes out.

I hate that feeling.

Posted in Musings & Out of Town & Working
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A New Venture
March 14, 2006 | permalink

I started a new job. Like, an office job. A permanent job. Sort of.

I'm working as the staff Master Electician for one of the companies that I have been freelancing for. I'm guaranteed 20 hours a week in the office, where I will deal with shop orders and bids, setting up demo equipment for client meetings and design pitches, and maintaining the tools and equipment that they own. I will also be trained on all of the high end architectural lighting controls, and I will be responsible for the initial programming and maintainance of their permanent installations.

Seperate from the office hours, I will be the head for all of thier events, just like before. And it's all flexible, so any other jobs that come along I will be able to take as well. It's the best of both worlds; stability and flexibility. The best thing about this gig is that it will allow me to stay in New York through the summer, and not have to deal with bastard subletters or jobs that make me unhappy. Whoopie!

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Setting the Lights Fantastic
February 12, 2006 | permalink

Gentle Readers, Fashion Week is officially over. Not a moment too soon, either; my body has given up on me and I am currently sick as a dog. It's almost like it is punishing me for the 110 hour week I put in. Hmmm...

This season was a great success for me. I headed five shows, which is a new record for me. (Previously I have done five events during Fashion Week, but they were not all fashion shows- the stress factor is a little higher for the shows.) Among them were the two largest shows in the city, a fact that I am particularly proud of.

I don't have any work this week, which is good. Fashion is a wee bit disruptive; everything else tends to go out the window. I have to return emails and phone calls, clean the apartment, do some banking, go to the grocery store, and probably a hundred other things that I can't think of at the moment.

Posted in Fashion Week & Working
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I'm Still Standing
February 9, 2006 | permalink

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, but Fashion is kicking my ass, to the tune of twenty(plus!) hour days for the last week and a half. Coupled, of course, with the insane demands of unreasonable people. This weekend is the last of it, and then I will have much to say. Stay tuned...

Posted in Fashion Week & Working
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Peace Offerings
January 28, 2006 | permalink

I am about to start Fashion, and this season I have more, larger shows than ever before. In a preemptive apology for what I am about to put them through, I have made- by my own hand, from scratch- donuts for my crew. I think that the donuts, along with the alcohol that I will provide for them at the end of Fashion, will keep me in their good graces.

Posted in Fashion Week & Food and Drink & Working
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Get Back to Work, Scum!
January 19, 2006 | permalink

I went back to work yesterday. The January slump that all freelance theatre and event people have to deal with is officially over! (And how! You should see my work schedule for this weekend...) I ended up having a full month off this year, which is about a week more than usual. It's really nice, except for the no income part...

The gig yesterday was the duPont Awards for Excellence in Broadcast News. If that sounds boring to you, let me assure you that as these things go, it was way more interesting than most, and didn't leave a bad slimy feeling on your soul the way some can. For example, I have done awards shows for the Textile and Crafts industry (And the award for Best Use of Gingham goes to...) and for Investor Relations Magazine (The next category is for Best Hostile Takeover by a $30 Million or Larger Company).

I am not, as you might be thinking, making any of that up. Those things are real.

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Good Morning, Starshine
January 5, 2006 | permalink

I can't sleep, so I'm watching Spinal Tap (with the commentary on- it's like a whole other movie that way) and fucking around with templates for the site. All the major work on them is done, I think; just minor tweaks because I'm a big geek. I still have a bunch of pages to work up content for, too (a profile page for one; stuff like that), but I don't feel like working on those just now. Plenty of time for that.

Indeed, Gentle Readers, time is something that I have plenty of. I'm in a bit of a unique situation here: I'm on day fifteen of twenty-eight consecutive days without work. I'm nearly certain that this is the most time off I've had all at once since I started working when I was fourteen. If it wasn't for the holidays, I think I would have already gone batshit. I'm not used to such... leisure (In the twenty eight days prior to this unusual break, I had one day off- this is far more typical of my usual schedule).

Not that I haven't tried to be industrious... I'm cleaning the apartment top to bottom, reorganizing bookshelves and closets, and of course I've been building this site... Jesus, I need a life!

Posted in Blogging & Insomnia & Musings & Working
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In Which I Get a Bargain
November 11, 2005 | permalink

I've been working on Seventh on Sale; all the big name fashion designer types donate stuff, which then gets priced a a big discount, and the proceeds of the sales go to charity. This year the theme was Chronicles of Narnia; the space was made to look like a winter landscape, and there were all of these great petrified creatures (victims of the Ice Queen, the poor bastards) all over the place. They were my favorite part, and I took some pictures of them.

The gig itself was kind of miserable. I got three major revisions to my lighting plot in the space of 2 days, each of which required that I re-do all of my prep work. (Imagine you have a bookcase with 350 books on it, and are asked to alphabetize them by author. When you are most of the way through, you are asked to stop that, and alphabetize them by title instead. Once you finish, you are asked to keep each letter together, but within the letter arrange the books by date of publication. That's what re-doing the prep on this thing was like). And it's not like it was just me that had to do the re-doing- the revisions were coming in while I was in the shop with my crew pulling and prepping all the gear. And there were many more changes on site. Very boring. Of course, on the bright side, we all got twice as many hours as we thought we were going to; that's always appreciated.

I wasn't really surprised that the gig turned out to be so nebulous. There were a lot of people from a lot of companies involved on the artistic side of things, and that always means changes. But pain in the ass or not, the gig was cool. I am continually thankful that I have such a great job that challenges me and is enjoyable. I mean, how many people do you know who are stuck in some job they hate?

Update: As the day went on today, prices were slashed to unbelievable levels. I got a $400 leather jacket for $45! That's practically free!

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In Which I Detail Some of the Perils of Freelancing
October 19, 2005 | permalink

Maintaining steady work when you freelance is hard work. You have to network, you have to hustle, and you have to build and maintain a good reputaion. Almost all new contacts and offers come through recomendations and word of mouth. I can't remember the last time I actually applied for a job. In the freelance world of the entertainment industry of New York City, your word is your bond and the verbal contract is king. As you can imagine, then, when you find some recurring employment, you work hard to make sure that whoever is hiring you stays happy.

It works the other way, too... I, being hired to do a job, in turn have to hire people to do it. And I work hard to keep my crew happy, and to foster their loyalty. Without them, I'm nothing. And, of course, it's a fickle business; you never know when someone who used to work for you will be in a position to hire you, or to get you hired.

One of the Production Managers I do a lot of work for (lets call him Mister B), recently took on more responsibility for one of the companies that he works for, and so let someone else take over one of the smaller theatres in order to free up some time in his schedule. Knowing full well everything I was explaining above, Mister B called me to let me know, and made sure to pass on my contact information to the new guy (lets call him Mister D); this way everybody wins. Mister B does me a favor, I get a gig and a new contact, and Mister D gets someone with a good rep who's worked in the theatre before to do his first gig there with minimal effort on his part. Still with me? Because this is where it falls apart...

Now, three weeks ago, Mister D gets a bigger gig as well. So he takes it, and passes the theatre on to a third production manager. He does not call me and let me know that I am no longer working for him, nor does he pass on my info to the new guy. I had agreed to do the gig well over a month ago, and was totally unaware of the changes going on until I called Mister D a few days ago, wondering why I had not yet gotten plans or the final load in schedule. Only then does he tell me he's no longer involved.

I call the theatre and get in touch with the new guy. He tells me that he was unware that Mister D had hired anyone, and that they had hired someone else. End result: I'm pissed, and out nearly two weeks of work. The kicker is this- if I had known that the theatre had changed hands (like if the dickwad who hired me had had the courtesy to call!) I would have called the new guy and known that I was out a job, or maybe even would have talked to him before he'd hired someone else and kept the job. In either scenario, I wouldn't have spent weeks turning down work for dates that I (wrongly) believed I was booked for. Grrr...

It's not the end of the world, but it does put a crimp in the cash flow. Other, small stuff has been trickling in, and I am filling in my schedule as I can. And on the plus side, I am getting a bunch of free time, which is not something I usually allow myself; I am enjoying that part, so maybe I should thank Mister D instead of revile him.

Nah...

Posted in Working
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Where Else in the World, Besides Here?
September 16, 2005 | permalink

I did my last Fashion show yesterday, a little one day job that technically was every simple and that no one was stressed out about, which is why I didn't mention it the other day. But I was wrong. It was worth mentioning.

Usually, for obvious reasons, I omit the identifying specifics about the shows I'm working on; but you, Gentle Readers, need to know about this, so I am breaking my rule. It was a Star Wars fashion show. There were Wookies and The Emporer, various sundry aliens that I can't name, and about twenty Amidalas. On one hand it was kind of lame; on the other, it was really cool. Viva la dorks!

Posted in Fashion Week & Working
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I'm Going Back to New York City, I Do Believe I've Had Enough
September 13, 2005 | permalink

In spite of the fact that it happens within New York City, Fashion is it's own little separate entity, a kind of subset of real life. Past the surface layer that you see in the magazines, behind the super models and designers, it has it's own celebrities and notables that probably none of you have ever heard of; it has it's own rules and customs, and it's own strange history. Kind of like the Vatican...

Seriously, there is nothing else like it. All the excess of corporate America with the whimsy of the artist thrown in for good measure. I have installed last minute adds that cost thousands in labor and equipment for a 30 second gag, only to have them cut after the powers that be look at it in rehearsal.

I write to you now, Gentle Readers, from the veritable belly of the beast. This is my sixth day of being at actual job sites. In that time, I have had three load ins at three different spaces. One is still ongoing, for a show on Tuesday; one had a show last night and another this afternoon; the last was a party, and it has already been finished, party over, gear packed up on a truck and sent back to the rental house. (For scale: the smallest gig, the party, was on par with a small off broadway show in terms of complexity, equipment, and man hours. The larger jobs are monsters, on par with a fairly large rock show- complete with tracking scenery, fog, moving lights, and confetti cannons.)

Needless to say, my crew and I are a little beat.

Why do we do this to ourselves, you ask? One of my assistants (I have one for each venue), the Sorta-Rican (half Italian, half Puerto Rican, and one of the funniest people I know; the name is his idea), says he thinks people do our line of work because they hate themselves. I can see his point- the schedule is erratic, the income is feast or famine, and we are often asked to push ourselves to our physical limits and beyond. I know that I personally have only had 20 hours of sleep in the six days. He thinks that no one who is right in the head should do that to themselves on purpose.

But on the other hand, it has a lot of perks- the money is good; and the job, in part because of the sheer stupidity of it all, is fun and challenging. And despite how frustrating the process can be, the end result is often really cool. And there is, I confess, a little kick to being at events that most people never see in person, and seeing the sordid underbelly of the glossy magazine covers.

Posted in Fashion Week & Working
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Knock Knock
July 21, 2005 | permalink

I've noticed an odd thing about myself after being away from my own home for so long. I used to be very concious of situations in which I was a guest... I was respectful of my host, always asked permission before I sat down or had a glass of water or whatnot; even with people that I was very close to. But after being in places that are not mine for so long, I seem to have lost this compunction- I just kind of make myself at home wherever I am. Other people's rooms, bus stations, where ever... it bugs me, a little. I'm hoping that once I am home again and there is a differentiation between 'mine' and 'not mine, this little oddity will subside. At least, I hope so... I'd hate to be a rude guest.

Posted in Musings & Working
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This is All You Brought?
July 8, 2005 | permalink

I just passed the ten week mark. Ten weeks since I left my apartment in New York to work these two festivals. Ten weeks that I've been living out of a bag.

What, Gentle Readers, does one pack for such an extended trip? For me, it's as little as possible. I make it a point not to travel with more than I can carry myself. And even amongst the people I work with, who are all more or less professional travellers, there is often surprise about how little I bring with me.

I have one medium-sized duffel bag. In it are three pairs of work pants (two for everyday work and one pair of blacks for shows); two pairs of time off pants (that don't get much use, I confess). I brought fourteen shirts; ten for work and four for time off. I have ten pairs of socks and underwear, a toiletries kit, a towel, a set of sheets, a pair of sandals and a baseball cap.

I brought one guitar, with extra picks and strings and whatnot in the case.

I have one backpack- it's got my laptop (with SimCity 4 in it), a pad of paper and some pens, my Gameboy (Zelda and the Minnish Cap and DOOM), my PDA, cell phone, and iPod (thank you Apple for creating the iPod!), the various chargers for everything, a couple of books, and a pouch of rolling tobacco.

And that's it. That's everything I've got. I usually pick up several books and DVDs along the way (I mean, I have to do something in my off time besides drink and smoke!), but that is the total. And I still have six weeks to go before I get to my own bed.

How light do you travel?

Posted in Working
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Sweet, Sweet Infrastructure
July 7, 2005 | permalink

I know that this is going to sound terrible, and make me out to be much more of a power-mad tyrant than I actually am; but I can't help it, it's true- One of the best things about working for these large festivals is the veritable legion of minions and resources at my disposal. In New York, if I don't bring it with me, it's not there, and I'll have to send someone who really needs to be doing something on-site to get it. But here... it's awesome. (Hmmm... Maybe I am a power-mad tyrant after all... Oh well...)

I have three very skilled carpenters here in