Jake and I went up to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the red carpet and other Oscar preparations at the Kodak Theatre as the town gets ready for tomorrow’s Academy Awards. Last night was the final evening the area was open to the public…the entire boulevard is closed today and tomorrow. George Clooney was with us but you can’t see that in the pictures.

My job consisted of screaming out “Rolling,” “Resetting,” “Cut,” and “Moving On” so that the crew members (probably 30-35 in total) would know when to be quiet on set. Also I had to lock-down areas so people couldn’t pass into frame, pass out time-sheets, coordinate van deliveries, and help organize the background actors (it was a massive party scene so there were around 100 of them) .

But the most exciting part was getting to meet and interact with Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari, both of whom I’m a big fan of. My initial contact with each of them went like this:

Me: Hey, Aziz, they moved your chair and jacket over there.

Aziz: Oh, thanks man. Have we met yet? I’m Aziz.

(we shake hands)

Later…

(as Amy and Aziz walk out of the mansion and toward a van to taking them back to base camp)

ME: (stepping in front of her) Amy, hold on a second, I think they want to run through one more rehearsal.

AMY: Oh they do? Okay. Hi, I’m Amy.

(we shake hands)

ME: I’m Derek (big smile).

So that’s how it went down. And that would’ve been enough, but it actually got better because in the evening I was sort of shifted into their personal set assistant, so I was making and delivering coffee, tea, and hot-dogs to them all night (I don’t know if this was a joke, but I was told to get them two hot-dogs, one beef and one vegetarian, with three dots of ketchup and three dots of mustard no bigger than a penny each and not touching-which I executed flawlessly). Also I didn’t know how to make tea, so somewhere out there is a british background actress who I’m indebted to. Also I brought the director some club soda. And I charged Aziz’s blackberry. Am I ashamed for being so proud of such menial work? No, no I’m not. It was Amy Poehler.

So that was a really fun experience, even though it was a long day of constant standing. I think it’s episode 21 of this season, so I’ll post something when it’s coming up. Oh, also, Kevin Nealon showed up with his young daughter because his wife was a guest star. He’s very tall.

I think that’s all the people I have left to name-drop. Here are some pictures, not the best, but I didn’t know what was allowed and what wasn’t.

Oh, also I was able to see Shutter Island on the Paramount lot the night before it opened. It was one of those classic theaters with a great big purple curtain that pulled back before the start, and I think the second-unit people were there because they kept clapping throughout the credits. The bench Forrest Gump sat on was there.

    Last weekend I went to a bar off Hollywood named Dylans. It was a pretty good time, which got even better when Sloan from Entourage came in. I don’t know here real name, and I’d rather not. That way I  can just imagine that the actual character from the show was there. She looked pretty good too. Also Deputy Jones from Reno 911 showed up and had a drink right next to me. Ah! It was a star studded night.

   Do you like how I write in random spurts? Me too!

  As I was walking from the JKL studio to the JKL office the other day, I stopped to talk to some friends outside the El Capitan Theater, and all of the sudden I see Tim Burton nonchalantly getting into an suv right next to me. I didn’t really have a whole lot of time to process that I just saw the man behind the Nightmare Before Christmas and other such greats. I guess they were having a screening of Alice in Wonderland there that night.

         Last weekend we also went to Home Depot to buy some plants to spruce up the house. Ladies love a guy who can grow plants. I went with the potato flower, which to my dismay doesn’t even grow potatoes. It’s more like a vine. Derek opted out of the plants in order to do some further research on the foliage that would best fit him. All of the roommates have been anticipating his decision. I’m hoping he lands on growing a pumpkin patch on our balcony. We could have a full sized pumpkin by Halloween. God Willing.

Well that’s it for now friends. I’d love to write more, but I have L.A. things to do (I need a nap).  Take care everyone…take care.

Welcome to Jimmy Kimmel Live! This is the studio where all the magic happens.

This would be the Green Room as mentioned on shows such as Entourage.

The man at the piano would be none other than the great Barry Manilow. Needless to say, there were a lot of older women at the show that night.

On a shoot at the Roosevelt Hotel off Hollywood Blvd. At night it apparently is this huge party area where big stars come to hang.

This is part of the Kodak Theater mall complex. Through the catwalks you can actually see the Hollywood sign. It doesn’t show in this picture though. 

This one kind of speaks for itself. 

This one too.  

Traffic on the 405 during Friday rush-hour. I hate this city from about 4-7 every day.

Pictures of the apartment, stuff from the Kimmel set, and more coming soon-ish…

First up on my mind: What the hell, IU Basketball? We finally have two games broadcast out here and we lose both of them in the final minutes, seconds even. Jake, however, is a Kentucky fan so he’s not too concerned. I hope you all know that. Kentucky.

Last Saturday I had another shoot, this time at Jane’s House in Hollywood, where we covered this launch event for the Green Music Group which includes the likes of Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews, and Willie Nelson. Those three weren’t there but I did get to see Jason Biggs! (that’s a sarcastic exclamation point) Actually the coolest part was shooting Jeff Garlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm and taping the jam session that included the lead guy from Guster, the lead guy from Maroon 5, somebody from the Dave Matthews Band, and the drummer from The Roots. Also they served free and environmentally friendly food and alcoholic beverages, so it was literally like getting paid for hanging out at a party. Only I wasn’t getting paid.

On Monday I took part in this after-work meeting of the Whistler Society, which is a collection of Causecast and Falling Whistles Interns (an incredible cause/organization, please check out the link) where we talk about social injustices and the challenges facing the underrepresented. At the end we all do a group hug thing and say what we’re thankful for. Little New-Agey for me but I like the concept and the people so I’m interested to see how the group will evolve and what kind of activities and discussions we’ll engage in. For next week we’re supposed to bring in something that challenges us as a person. Hmm.

Yesterday I went to one of the most famous bookstores in the country, Book Soup on Sunset. Smaller than I imagined but awesome (although they didn’t have any Ring Lardner). All the big names come here to do book-signings and readings. It’s also the trendy spot for those celebrities that read to buy books, but I didn’t see any. I did however find my professor’s latest poetry collection, Bucolics, which was awesome because there weren’t many modern poets in-stock. I sent him a postcard to let him know.

Oh, I started riding the bus to work. My first impression wasn’t that great, but it beats paying the metered parking all day while I’m in the office. On the same trip back two people–the busdriver and another passenger–asked me what grade I was in. Grade? My friend I’m not in a grade anymore. Well. They got a kick out of that. Both thought I was in high school, one guessed a sophomore, the other a senior. And to make matters worse that second passenger wouldn’t stop talking to me, which ordinarily would have been fine because it’s kind of an adventerous thing to get into a conversation with a stranger on a metropolitan bus–but it was dark and I couldn’t see my stop so I missed it by a little ways and had to walk several additional blocks home. So the next day I just brought The Catcher in the Rye with me so no one would speak up, which I’ll admit is a very phoney thing to do and probably made me seem more like a high school student than anything. But I’m saving quarters, I’m saving quarters.

Superbowl tomorrow. Unless Jake talks Jimmy into letting us come to his house we’re probably sitting in for this one. Or what about this…Jeff (I hope you still read this) you hook up a computer at your party, prop it up on the coffee table, and Jake and I will appear via skype throughout the entire game. That could work. You could hear our delayed laughs at the talking baby commercials.

What else, what else? Oh, I hope you all have a nice Valentines Day. I received some chocolates myself the other afternoon. Thanks very much, Mom.

We’re going to get up some pictures on here one of these days. We had a big shipment come in including a couch, a table and chairs, and my mattress and guitar, so things are livening up around here. Did we ever mention our neighbor? Hans? He’s this guy and he was in There Will Be Blood. Anyway that movie was on the other day and so I turned to it and there was my neighbor’s face in full HD. I went down and told him about it. Thrilled, just thrilled. He has the most vicious dogs on the planet, by the way.

Oh, wait, I do have some pictures I can put up. These are all from my phone and taken the first week, maybe even day we got into L.A.

The last two images of our road trip, which turned out to be some of the coolest scenery I have ever seen.

Here’s a little bit of Malibu, or at least near Malibu, featuring the Guz-inator. We’ll get a picture of Ben up here sometime, too.

Okay, that concludes this week’s blog. Warm wishes to that son-of-a-gun Caleb who will be relocating to Chicago for the next three months to intern at the PR firm, Edelman. He may be joining us on the blog as a contributing writer. Stay tuned.

-D

Also I started my internship at CAUSECAST.ORG. It’s a small start-up in Santa Monica that works for and with non-profits. They do tons of cool stuff, from building Ben Stiller’s STILLERSTRONG campaign to their recent mobile fundraising drive for Haiti. On my first day I actually got to shoot an exclusive Matt Morris performance at The Mint in Hollywood. I had never heard of him before but he put on a great show, and since he’s best friends with Justin Timberlake, the man himself showed up to the small venue and performed a few duets with Matt (they also performed together during the Hope for Haiti Telethon). But most exciting, and what really made my stay in Los Angeles, even if nothing good happens from now on, was seeing Charlie Sexton (Bob Dylan’s guitarist) perform up close–he even stood next to me during a few songs when he wasn’t playing.

Anyway, youtube yourself some Matt Morris, I think his album is at number 6 or something on iTunes. Here is the video we made from that performance.

I had to get a Twitter account for work, and you know what? I actually like it. Not tweeting, but following tweets from different news sources and personalities like Bill Gates or Stephen Colbert.

Last week it rained for something like 120 hours straight. Our heat doesn’t work currently either, so I’m sleeping in two t-shirts and two sweaters. Except not tonight because they are still wet from that damn 18 minute Laundromat.

Ummmm. Oh, Jake and I went to this “mixer” thing at a bar for “Hollywood Hoosiers.” We met with some undergrads out here with the Business Career in Entertainment Club, as well as a few IU grads working in the biz. I think in the right frame of mind I might have enjoyed it, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Plus I had cut my face shaving earlier in the day and it wouldn’t stop bleeding. That was fun to explain. Especially in a loud dark bar where your voice just dissolves away as you speak and you’re too lazy to make any attempt at proper projection. Jake was Jake though, smiles all around.

Spring break looks promising for a select few of us, huh? You know who you are. I predict fun. And if you’re on the fence about where to go…I just predicted fun. Okay I guarantee it.

We Skyped with Caleb the other day. He looked terrible. Just terrible. Going through that post-Bloomington isolation in Evansville, which I know all too well. He’ll bounce back though. Maybe to Chicago? But if any of you want to Skype–not including the strangers who stumbled upon this blog and just can’t get enough–let me know because it’s actually a neat tool. We can see each other’s faces.

Oh, we finally got cable, which means I was able to watch the Colts game this weekend and Tremors today. Beautiful.

That’s enough for now. We’ll shoot for maybe a post a week? I think we can do that.

Peace

-d

1) Private mixer at a Hollywood nightspot. Special guests included screenwriter of upcoming Drew Barrymore/Justin Long film. Jake lets the charisma fly, Derek just wants to go home.

2) Lunch at the famous Smoke House, where our Disney contact let us in on Sunday lunch with some prestigious names and faces. One of them may have directed this.

3) Jake meets Harrison Ford. Not really, but almost.

4) Derek meets Justin Timberlake. Not really, but almost.

5) Derek meets Matt Morris and Bob Dylan’s guitarist. Really.

6) Boy it rains a lot here.

7) Spring break plans.

Eight) General internship and diet summaries.

9) The Guz finagles 6 months of free Showtime.

10) Skype with Caleb, our lonely, newly bearded fellow back in Evansville.

Hope everyone is well.

Come back soon.

Go Colts.

-d

Yes, I just had lunch on the Disney Studio Lot–the same place they made Pirates of the Caribbean and Mary Poppins. On the way in I passed between the sound stages where the crew of ABC’s Brothers and Sisters was eating lunch (maybe some cast members, but I haven’t seen the show so I didn’t recognize anyone). I feel bad posting this since most of you just resumed classes and are probably wearing sweaters and stuff indoors. I’m going to anyway.

The way it happened was I made contact with an IU alum out here who wrote for Step by Step and now works for Disney Interactive as a content developer for the web. He invited me out to Burbank to have lunch and I got to go through the security gates, get my little pass, and eat with him in the commissary where all sorts of people in the upper echelon of Disney gathered for lunch. We even said hello to the woman who “handles all the Jonas Brothers’ stuff.” Exciting.

After talking for a while he was nice enough to take me on a tour through the animation studio and production office where I met a writer for the kids’ series Phineas and Ferb. Their offices are wild, with prototype drawings and storyboards covering all the walls. I even got to touch my first writer’s room table.

So that makes up for the last couple days, where I pretty much did nothing. IU had to have my signature mailed back to them before they could approve me for credit, so my start date at CauseCast was pushed back to early next week. I spent yesterday and the day before reading and listening to music in the apartment, with a few freeway excursions and some moderate rope jumping. Jump roping. Jope Rumping.

Jake was supposed to get us invited to Kobe’s Superbowl party tonight but since big #8 cancelled his appearance on Kimmel it doesn’t look likely. We’ll have to settle for Pauly Shore’s.

Tomorrow, if Jake is off, I kind of want to go check out a park, like Runyon Canyon, where all the hipsters go to exercise. You always see it on television shows, with vantage points that look out over the entire city.

Oh, if you have 5 bucks, check out several of the ways to help out with earthquake relief in Haiti by clicking here. It can be as simple as texting a number, and it’ll make you feel good.

One special shout-out to members of the Epic team back in Evansville…good luck with the CPOM Go-Live! Wish I was there. No, no I don’t.

‘Till next time,

D