Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

I asked people all day if they had ever seen this show and no one had. 

Last Wednesday I woke up at 4am so I could be an extra in a movie called SAFE.  The day was well worth the lack of sleep.  Once I got dressed and made up, I put an extra outfit in my bag with some heels and a book, and started walking towards Chinatown.  The other times I got up at this time this year were to go to New York City and to help my friends shoot a movie.  I really like the city at this time.  It's really beautiful and still.  It feels like it's waiting patiently for the day to start.

Once I got to Club Shampoo, I made my way to the basement where many other Asians were waiting in two lines.  One line was to check-in.  The other was to be checked by wardrobe.  In line, I chatted with someone who was an extra as a part-time job.  She was nice enough but she liked to talk in a baby voice and I found this unsettling and strange.  After I checked-in, I got in the second line.  When the woman from wardrobe checked my outfit out she seemed displeased.  I wore the shortest dress I had which was a fitting floral print dress that I bought from the store that I now work at.  I bought it because it reminded me of the 60's.  I wore my seamed stockings with it.  I showed the wardrobe woman what else I had.  I refer to this other dress as my "Conan" dress because the first time I wore it, it was to see Conan O'Brien on his tour.  I love him (and his new show starts tonight.  He could be shooting it right now!)  The wardrobe woman didn't like my Conan dress either.  She flipped through some dresses on the rack, holding a few up to decide.  She handed me a silver sequined dress to try on.  I would never wear the dress on my own but I wasn't self-conscience in it either.  She liked it and asked me to take off my stockings.  I resisted the urge to turn around and go, "But they're seamed!  Like Marylin Monroe in Some Like It Hot!"  I always think of her when I put them on.

Before going upstairs, a large man with a booming voice explained what was happening scene we would be shooting.  We were all dancing and having a good time at a club in China when the cops and the main character bust in.  A shootout goes down and chaos ensues.  The guy seemed nice but at the same time intimidating.  He had a Papa Bear-like quality.  I would also compare him to John Goodman.  Soon, I decided I would ask him how to get a job behind the scenes.

 As we go upstairs, I feel a sense of plainness.  Where I grew, there were hardly any other Asians, even within my own family.  Around other Asians I feel left out because of my distance from my culture.  I also feel less special.  To be around 150 other Asians I feel out of place and just a part of the crowd all at once.  As we are split up into sections and as I am asked to take off my glasses, I wonder if our looks have anything to do with our segregation.  I doubt it, but once the thought crossed my mind, I decide that I am average-looking and am mostly unbothered by this.

We start to rehearse our panic scene.  I look around at all the equipment and crew naming things and crew members in my head to reassure myself that my film degree and special feature watching hasn't gone completely to waste.

After an hour or so of arranging and rehearsing, the director decided that we're ready to roll.  Soon, I hear an authoritative accented-voice behind me.  The man asks, "Can I have a really loud action please?"  We do the scene a few times.  There are fake guns and some screams.  Everyone seems to be having a good time.  The crew thanks us and sends us back downstairs for awhile where we fill out some paperwork so we can get paid.  While this is going on, I approach the John Goodman-like guy and ask about getting a job.  His name is David and I wasn't wrong about him seeming nice.  He is helpful and inviting and tells me he will introduce me to Liam later in the day.

Content with this step in the right direction, I sit with the other extras.  The one who talks like a baby, two girls my age, and two older woman who are with their teenage sons are all casually chatting.  The question of age comes up  At this question, "Baby" pouts and looks down, whining, "Won't tell!"  To this, one of the older women says, "It's no big deal.  Guess how old I am!"  We all guess in the 30's and she states, "I'm 50-years-old!  See?  No big deal!"
"How do you look so young?"  One of the girls asks.
"Jesus Christ," she flatly answers. 
I reached for my Gene Wilder book at this point.  As I started reading, this woman starts to ask our table if we know about the savior Jesus Christ.  I am holding my in front face like a shield.  Gene's strawberry blond Jew-fro served me well.

We break for lunch and I choose my food carefully because it's hard for me to tell what may use butter or other non-vegan things.  I got some salad, grilled veggies, and fruit.

Soon, we go back upstairs to run back and forth.  By this time, many people seem disenchanted with being an extra because by this time they've been talking downstairs for a good hour and a half and would prefer to do that.  For me, I am convinced that I am not good at talking to new people but I could be good at doing these jobs around if I created the chance for myself.  For the first time in a long time, I feel reassured that I went to school for the right thing.

Hours go by, we scatter, stand, and wait.  We are sent downstairs and up again a few more times.  I made an effort to pay attention to what the crew was doing and talk to them when possible.  I am introduced to Liam who tells me to talk to him at the end of the day.  Jason Statham makes a few more appearances as he is needed and the girls around me gushed quietly to one another.  I don't see it.  Statham's no David Bowie.

We are sent downstairs a little before 7 pm and soon we are told that we can go home.  Just a 13-hour shoot.

I got dressed out of my slutty dress and into my street clothes.  I didn't care for asking for a job in club-wear.  I walked upstairs and waited to the side until it looked like Liam could be bothered.  As I waited, Jason Statham walked by, stretching his face in a way that I have been imitating to my friends since.  Liam gave me his number and told me to text him the following morning about getting a PA (Production Assistant) job.  Mission Accomplished.      

Conan's back!

Hail to the Chef

Guess who I saw yesterday?  If the guessed The President of the United States you are right!  If you guessed The Vice President of the United States you get vegan brownie points.  If you guessed The Roots maybe you were there too.

In the beginning minutes of yesterday, a friend of mine told me that Obama, Biden, and The Roots were going to be in Germantown for a rally.  I was invited to come along and I was pretty excited!  I got up around noon and got dressed up in a black dress that I had only wore once before.  I considered wearing jeans and such but as I thought, "It's the President of the United States!" I just couldn't go in my street clothes.  I even wore my fancy stockings!  As I clipped my stockings to my garter belt standing in front of my Marilyn Monroe poster I smiled to myself thinking of her signature song.  I used to have normal stockings but once I got into Rocky Horror, my stockings from my preteen years and before just couldn't compare.

So, my friend Jared and I hit the road at around 12:30 and we got to our destination at around 1 pm.  As we walked up and down some streets looking for the right entrance, one of my garter clips unsnapped and my stocking was sliding down slightly.  I was annoyed but my dress was knee-length and I thought maybe no one would notice. After being turned away from one entrance for not having tickets, Jared and I walked up a ways.  There were some high school aged kids sitting on a stoop joking around and as I walked by one mischievously called out, "Your stocking is falling down."  Fantastic.

As Jared and I turned on to the street we would wait on for a few hours, we met Stan.  He lived close by and was our age.  He was going to the rally too so we all waited together.  Stan told us about his travels to Japan and his studies in French, Russian, and Japanese.  Jared and he swapped stories about McDonald's in Hawaii and Japan.  Stan asked me questions about my heritage and was jokingly exasperated about how far removed I am from my Japanese roots.

When we were let into the park where the rally was held, we were about 75 feet away from where the podium was and slightly closer to the stand where The Roots would play.  At the time, I could see things pretty clearly and my feet were feeling fine in my heels.  The three of us waited longer, with Jared sharing news updates he got from his iPhone.  There was a DJ playing music and a bunch of speakers that everyone was angry to hear from.  There was a Temple student, Governor Ed Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter, Joe Sestak, and some other people.  Whenever someone was introduced, everyone got very rowdy.  Everyone would yell, "Where's Obama?!"  After standing through various speeches about getting everyone to go out and vote, The Roots were introduced.  I was excited to see them mostly because of their connection to Jimmy Fallon.  I liked the songs they played although I had never heard them before.  I had a pretty good view of stage, despite the fact that a bunch of jerks had pushed their way to the front.  After The Roots played, Joe Biden came out and everyone was excited to see him.  I had a worse view of the podium now but I was glad that I had worn my heels.  Stan helped me find holes in the crowd so I could see.  Joe Biden talked for a little and then he introduced our President.  Obama came out and the crowd lost their mind.  It was unbelievable. Through the crowd, I caught a glimpse of him.  I smiled at the sight of him.  I couldn't believe I was actually seeing him.

He talked about stuff.  About how we (the voters) had defied the odds two years ago and how we could do it again.  Something about how change starts from the bottom up.  I thought of veganism.  At one point, some people held about some signs saying "STOP GLOBAL AIDS: What happened to the 50 million you promised?!" and started shouting.  People behind them start shouting louder, "Put those signs down, we can't see!"  People on either side of them shouted, "Yes we can!  Yes we can!"  The signs and shouting went on for about a minute and the people put them down.  Not long after, a girl in front of me got up on the shoulders of her boyfriend.  This resulted in her butt being right in my face.  There was an older woman standing next to me who immediately complained, "Oh no!  You're butt is in right in my face!  Get your butt outta my face!  Your ass is hanging out of your pants and everything!"  I was cracking up!  Here I was, I had waited for 3 hours to see the president, he was talking in front of me, and I was looking right at this girl's butt.  I found the situation genuinely hilarious.    

After about 30 minutes or so, Obama wrapped up.  He shook the hands of everyone in the front before leaving.  I wasn't close enough to feel it was worthwhile to stick around.  On our walk back, we exchanged contact info with Stan because we had all talked about wanting to go to Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert's Rally.  So maybe we'll wait together again.

Later that night the Phillies and the Eagles won.  I guess that's pretty cool.           

Something else I have to share is I had some amazing vegan shrimp two weeks ago!  Two weeks!  And I cannot stop thinking about it!  If anyone wants to give it a try check out Kingdom of Vegetarians at 129 North 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  Hail to the Chef!

On another note, I'm moving to New York City on the 23rd.  I'll give more details later when I haven't see Barack Obama the day before.