Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Creepy Photographer

Outdoors photo shoot

The rest of our time in the desert was nice and peaceful. I don't know if I was kidding about never going there again, though.

Friday, July 06, 2018

Stay Woke!

Speaking of being too tired from tasting for TaskRabbit; I had a number of recurring clients. Which was nice! They would just message me when it was time or tell me at the end of the task, when they wanted me to return. Inasmuch as I was flattered that they liked my work that much, I get bored doing the same thing. One of the things I enjoy about doing all the jobs I do, is because no two days are alike. Some clients have a tendency of

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

My Experience with Central Casting and Calling Service

Happy Pride, to those who observe it!  (Pride is about celebration of the LGBTQ {Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer} community).

Apart from getting jobs through the app, Taskrabbit, I didn't want to neglect my reason to breathe, acting! I looked into calling services. A calling service is a company that help casting companies like Central Casting place background actors (extras) in roles. There are several calling services in LA, where I am based. I assume they are available in cities like

Friday, August 11, 2017

Hollywood And Beverly Hills Tour

Our time in Vegas is running out, we won't be able to meet up with Tortoise. I called and let him know that. We made our way to the bus station. A little waiting and we were on the road back to The City of Angels. Calvin picked us up from Union Station. He took us to the famous Phillippe's for breakfast, downtown LA. I was too tired to care, so I waited in the car for them. We took the food home. There was so much

Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Don't Let the Door Hit You

Before I kicked Rene out, he had asked to take pictures of the apartment to show his spiritual adviser. He had all the pictures he needed! Remember he had even shown me that he saved my Craig's list post? He had the camera facing me when he asked to take pictures. I could tell that he was trying to take a picture of myself to show his spiritual adviser.

Monday, August 01, 2016

Kiss Me Where it Counts

It's a new day! A new week and a new month! Are you ready? I know, I am! Happy August!
         Who am I going to rent my living room to? I need to make some extra money and I need it NOW! Muscle Head didn't work out; is Rene gonna be the one? I had found out that Rene is not a woman, he seems to be certain I'm going to like him because women tend to. I need to make sure from day 1 that he knows this is not going to be that kind of deal!

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Muscle Head

It's the last day of January, I get a message from a friend of mine; remember her? She sent me a number of a guy to call regarding a job. I called him right away! Someone tells you to call someone regarding a job; you call. Or you don't, depending on whether you're looking or not. Sometimes, you do it to keep the peace but you don't really want to be hooked up that that person or don't really want that specific job. Personally, I feel weird being hooked up like that. I don't want to walk around with an aim on me because I owe someone a favor, you know what I mean?

The guy called me right away, the first thing he asked me was whether I am Fillipina. the friend who had connected me to him is Filipina. My friend had told me that the job was going to pay a certain amount per hour. The guy quoted me a different amount. $2 less. If I'm going to work a 12 hour shift, that's $24 dollars, I'm losing! Multiply that by 4/5 days a week. That's at least $100 per week! I didn't want to challenge him and make it awkward but I did ask him if that was his best offer. Always negotiate! Why not? Negotiate when looking for an apartment, buying a cellphone, getting a cellphone plan, internet plan, whatever! Negotiate! Unless you feel really good about something! The guy told me that I first have to prove myself, thereafter, we could talk.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

The Great Pretender

Back to real life. I still had my place to myself and was loving it. Well... I was spending more time away from my place than there. Four months into our relationship, Cavin had already asked me to move in but I was enjoying him courting me. Moving in was going to be a totally different stage to where we were. Also, when you ask for something, very specifically, as I did my apartment and get it.You want to savor it!

One day, while doing a random side job, I bumped into a guy  I had once worked with. He is from Africa. We had a mutual friend. That friend and I are no longer friends. I saw the guy once since the movie we met working on and he seemed like he was avoiding me. I thought that it was before when we met, I would joke around and his response was always, 'you're crazy!'. Maybe he didn't want to be associated with crazy people. If that's the case, good for him! Crazy people are crazy! I did say hi, but I got a feeling he was brushing me off.  That's ok. It didn't hurt my feelings. Now, here we are, more than a year later, I bumped into him again at this side job. It was late at night and pouring rain. I now have a car. When we met, neither of us were driving. We both took the train and the guy disappeared on me when the ticket police came in because he hadn't paid to get on the train. This was before I saw him again and he didn't seem interested. Back to the day of the side job; I didn't see him that evening until we were on our way out. He was sitting in front, I was one of the last people to walk in, he must have seen me but I can't say for sure.

At the end of the gig, he walked really fast when I tried to say hi. I got the same vibe I did the previous time. I caught up with him when we got to the elevator. We exchanged a few words and on our way out of the elevator, I asked him if he needed a ride. It was very late, dark and cold. No longer raining. He asked if I was driving. No, I am walking. I wanna give you a piggy back ride, smdh! His face lit up when I offered him the ride. I thought to myself, aren't you glad you talked to me now, even though your pedestrian ass was avoiding me? When we got to my car, his face lit up even more. He told me he loved my car, it's so cool. It's a solid car blah blah blah. He asked what I had been up to, why he hadn't seen me in so long. He told me how proud he was of me that I bought the car blah blah blah. I dropped him off on Wilshire where he was going to take just one bus home as opposed to buses and trains as he would've if I didn't give him a ride.

As he got off the car, He thanked me very much, asked me to take his number, so we can keep in touch. I'm sorry but I can give you a ride because I am kind and like to help when I can  but that doesn't mean just because I have a car, all of a sudden, I am good enough to be friends with you. No. I am not blind. I saw your ass avoiding me like the plague! We're still not friends, but I did my good deed for the day, we're good! Bye! This is all me in my head, of course! I took his number and told him I would call him when I got home. I never looked at that number again!

I booked a job where were were going to play spectators in a baseball game. It was a late shoot so we had to pile clothing on. We may be in Southern California but it does get cold here too sometimes!

Here we are, on set, filling in paperwork, who do I see? The ride guy! Great! Did I avoid him? Nope! What for? I did my thing, when our eyes met, I waved hello. When he saw me again, he told me I'm full of games. I asked what he meant. He told me I promised to call him and I didn't. I was like, 'oops!'

A Vuvuzela on set. Memories of Fifa World cup 2010

I saw the nice girl I once carpooled with who lives not far from my place on set and we sat next to each other. It was nice catching up. She had a lot of interesting stories. She had vacationed overseas, fell in love and someone fell in love with her at school 'for no reason' that she didn't love back, she was in love with the vacation guy.

Dummies to fill in empty spaces. Last time I worked with these was in Johannesburg

Come to think of it, a lot about that set reminded me of home.

While walking around, settling in, I noticed that the lead was none other than Terrence Owens. What? I used to watch his Reality TV show back in the day. I actually, had seen an episode he did of Celerity Wife Swap not too long before I saw him in person. I was the only one star struck! Nobody else around me knew who he was. He's an athlete turned reality TV star. I don't know him as an athlete, cos I was in Africa then and had no business watching baseball haha. 

I tried to steal a picture of T.O. but you would have to zoom in and squint to make him out

It was an ok night, we stayed on set for 7 hours.I hopped in my car and drove back home without giving anyone a ride. My friend had used her parents car, so she was fine. Had I known he was going to be there, we would have carpooled again. She followed me home until she was familiar with the area, then she sped off. That child drives fast. I'm not a grandma on the road , but I drive speed limit. boring!





Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Halloween Carnival

Prior to the desert trip , it was Halloween. Calvin wanted us to go to West Hollywood. That suited me perfectly because it's up the road from my apartment. I made a little something for us to eat. I had never cooked for him before, so I thought it was going to be nice to make something for both us for dinner, seeing as he was going to be coming from work and it was around dinner time. I made something quick, rice with a couple of veggies and pilchards. I love pilchards, all kinds of fish anyways!

My First time cooking meal for Calvin
The food came out great! I took a quick shower and put on my new dress! Remember the one he bought me in this post ?

Selfie before Calvin gets here!

I put on my nice perfume and waited for him to arrive. Poor Calvin was stuck in LA traffic! Sorry, boo! That's what I go through whenever I am the one doing the drive to your house! He finally arrived.... Dressed to the Nines! I had never seen him in a suit before! We had been to church together and everything but this time he went all out! He had on a nice lilac shirt and a nice suit, and a nice fedora. Fedoras are his thing, he also likes suspenders. I was besides myself when I saw him at the door! My mouth was literally on the floor! Good thing the floor was gone and all the poopage was gone! Calvin took off his Jacket and looked so Broadway in his fedora, moustache and suspenders. He looked like he was about to jazz dance.

I considered using some of the photos for headshots, so I asked Calvin to take a few 

We sat and ate. He enjoyed the food and paid me plenty of compliments on the fish, he was like what's in that sauce? Usually, he can tell you what's in anything from the smell, sometimes taste, this time, he couldn't and I loved it. Hell, I couldn't either. I added a mixture of spices and sauces.
I love this dress, The cleavage window gives me life

After eating, he was laying on the couch relaxed, I was full too, I didn't care if we what's the past tense of forgo? didn't go to the Halloween festivities, I was ok just chilling with my beau at home. He told me that he wanted to have something to tell his colleagues the following day at work, we had to go. Ok! Let's the thing was kind of a big deal, millions of people were at the event, there was going to be live music and the street was closed off for the event. Might as well go, right?

The stage behind me. Halloween Carnaval

The WeHo Stands for West Hollywood
As you can see I was in flats at this point, I took off my shoes when I realised that we had to do a little walking. There was no parking closeby, between the streets being closed and the fact that we arrived kinda late, we had to park far. Not that far but far enough for me to get the itches when walking. Nightmare of all nightmares! If only, I knew beforehand when this dog on itch was going to take place! I've had it all my life and I still don't know what triggers it. At this point, I suspect that it has something to do with walking after having just taken a shower. I need to be those people who shower the night before for the following day but uhm, that doesn't make sense to someone of my weight, with a couple of folds and the vjj. All that requires a little freshening up before going out. Or if you're going to have company.

We walked around the Halloween street, did some people watching. The outfits were crazy, as you can guess. I needed a few stops to calm down the itch that wouldn't go away. The air was nice and fresh outside and I think that makes my skin sting, ugh, who cares! Calvin felt bad for me, he wanted to scratch it. I have never had someone try to scratch it for me. It was a nice gesture but it felt very strange. I asked him not to talk about it or entertain it, let's focus on the fun night we were having. 

Eventually, we headed back to the car. I sat in there and felt the tingles wash away. Perfect moment ever! Then we drove home. 

We got home and chilled. Always nice being in my man's arms!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The Winning Attitude

After my best day ever at Let's Make a deal, all the winners were taken to the back to do paperwork. There were about ten or less of us. The whole process took no more than 15 minutes. When everything was done, I submitted my stuff to a lady who first congratulates you then confirms your prizes and your contact details. It was only then that I really heard what I had won. All I saw before was the gigantic TV. I was so excited all over again! In the end, we went outside and caught up with the rest of the people who were in our episode. Some people congratulated me, some of the audience stuff told me that they were not surprised I got picked, that, it was a matter of time. That was a nice compliment! Some haters folks told me that I got picked because I flirted with the producer. OK, losers, why don't you flirt with the producer next time and see if you will get picked. Not only that, if you do get picked, let's see if your sour ass will actually win! A lot more goes into winning  than flirting with a gay producer. Like, come on now! Naysayers! Some of them are my associates. I just smiled through it all. When they are ready, they will win too! I was going to offer one of them a ride home but they whole thing turned me off, that was a winning they just turned away right there by being naysayers.
After winning big on Let's Make a Deal

I can't tell you how many times, I will decide in my head that I will offer someone a ride, even if it's to the bus stop and they will do or say something that just makes me go, maybe not today! When that happens, it's a lesson to me as well that, by being negative,  I am closing doors I didn't even know were already open to/for me. Be careful what you put out in the world. You think that it's hard for you to get things or find someone or whatever, meanwhile, someone overheard that you are looking for a job, OR, saw you and immediately thought, '(s)he would be perfect for the job I am recruiting for!' as they make their way to you, you say something funny about someone, or something you have no business saying and they thing, 'meh, maybe they're not that perfect for it after all.' I'm not saying don't be easy going and don't make jokes, just be nice. And be happy for someone when something happens to them. They say that if you are around when someone wins something, you are that much closer to winning yourself. Winning includes all kinds of winning, as you well know. If you're not happy for someone when they win, you've just made a U-turn from winning, now, you're that much further.
Getting ready for Let's Make a Deal. I took this picture thinking, I'm gonna post this on my blog when I tell them about my winnings. And it all worked out!

The day of winning, I went to my car, ever so happy, turned on the phone and called  Calvin. I told him about my amazing day. He doesn't watch TV, has no idea who Wayne Brady is, but was still happy that I won. I was going to spend the weekend at Cals, as usual. Instead of going back to my house and then really getting stuck in traffic on my way to his, I decided to drive straight there from Hollywood, which is closer to his than Beverly Hills anyway. I rocked up in scrubs, haha. It was all good. Cal bought me a dress and I had a change of outfit at his house as well. It all worked out.

Not too long after all this happened, Brian and I were ok, he was back to talking about himself, telling me about the women who yearn for him, the one he wants more than anything else in the world, his ex-wife. What, Brian was married? Yup! He was 24 and was already married and separated, I guess. His wife is gorgeous. Apparently, he really loved Brian, he was with him even though he weight double what he weighed when I met him. He lost a lot of weight. When I found out that that girl was an illegal immigrant when he met Brian, it all made sense! I'm not saying he married him for citizenship, I'm just saying! It's very nice of Brian not to divorce her until she got her citizenship. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, people pay a lot of money to marry people for citizenship. Don't come after me, Immigrations; I'm just a blogger!

Brian was still shopping on Rodeo, he was still calling his mom a b*tch and his brother an *ss hole. I didn't even know he had a mother, until I asked one day and he told me that she was a btch. I also didn't know that he had a brother but apparently, Brian was adopted and his mom favors her biological son, who's a New York attorney blah blah blah. Brian made reservations at my place for a few days, his payment didn't go through, you know the usual, I locked him out. You know what's funny? He never came home that night! Or at least, he never bothered me, maybe he came home, realised he had been locked out and left. I don't know, I never asked.

A few days went by, I went over to my boyfriend's and locked the house again. I had no communication with Brian because, again, he owed me for the time he had already stayed at my place and for the time he was locked out. He started leaving me rude messages, talking about Sh*t, and f*ck and all kinds of stuff. He told me that he had my money, I just had to open up for him. I didn't want him to pay me under the table, I didn't want to have to deal with another situation whereby I let him come by and he actually, only had so much money and he was going to pay me the rest later. Whatever! I was done! I wanted him to do everything by the book this time or nothing at all.

I got a call from AirBNB, Brian had reported me to them. I don't know how the report went about but AirBNB has access to the emails I had been sending to Brian over the time he had stayed at my place and they saw that he wasn't a stellar tenant. When they called, they told me not to worry about payment, would suggest that I kick him out because, clearly, he had overstayed his welcome. they would take care of the money he owed me. Air BNB was going to pay me and would in turn get their money from Brian. After the clogged toilet, I found out, I had to throw away more stuff from the smell, so I told Air BNB about it. They told me that they would take care of that as well. That was covered in the insurance the landlords get through being with Air BNB. That was music to my ears. They immediately transferred the money Brian owed, including the days he had been locked out. They seemed very understanding about the entire situation, at least my side of it. I was happy with how they handled it. They asked me to fill out a thing about the toilet deal, attach pictures and receipts, etc and they would reimburse me. That's where all the pictures I didn't show you went haha. Within five days, I got paid for that too. They asked me if I felt ok to have Brian come over to fetch his stuff, that very evening. I told them that I didn't feel unsafe. I refuse to feel unsafe in my own home!

I filled Calvin in on what had transpired. He told me to call him when Brian was over, just so that he can be on the phone should anything transpire. I thought that was sweet of him. I didn't anticipate anything transpiring. Crazy as this sounds, Brian was respectful, in his own way. And I appreciated that. I didn't want to have the police there to embarrass him when he was moving out. We did have some good times and some good laughs. Brian was in and out in no time. He called me when he was done to hand over the key, shook my hand and thanked me for letting him stay at my house and being so understanding for the time that I did. I wished him luck with everything, locked my doors, took my clothes off and walked around naked again now that I had my house back after so long!

Friday, April 15, 2016

Let's Make a Deal!

I tell ya, after the toilet incident , I opened all the windows and then turned on my air purifier and closed everything to make it clean the air as much as possible.

We survived!

In the midst of it all, I got an opportunity to go to Let's make a Deal, the game show hosted by Wayne Brady. I remember thinking, and when I thought this my heard skipped a bit, OMG, I could get picked and win stuff! I thought to myself, sht, now that  I know what I know about the law of attraction, it's entire up to me whether or not I can go home a winner the following day from the show. That thought made me very nervous! The thought that you can be, do, have whatever you want in life can be very scary. When you really think about it! I thought to myself that I should visualise that before going to sleep that night. It was already night time. I planned what I would wear the following day, something that would stand out. Then I thought, inasmuch as the show has a dress code, at the end of the day, it's not what I will be wearing that would get me picked but my believing that I would. Every time I thought about that, my heart would beat funny. It scared me a little!

I decided I would wear my red scrubs for my costume to the show. I quickly went to bed and, contrary to what I had planned, I decided not to think or visualise my being on the show. It was making me feel very scared and nervous and I didn't want that kind of vibe while thinking about it. I just thought about the best thing that happened that day and went to sleep. Lo and behold, I dreamt, I was on the show, got picked, was standing on stage in my red scrubs and just as I was about to pick a curtain, number one, two or three, I woke up! That made my stomach turn. OMG, was this so much in the back of my mind that I dreamt about it? You know what? At least, I dreamt I got picked. It was a good dream.

I put on my red scrubs, nice smelling perfume, I wanted to smell good for Wayne when standing next to him. I got in my car and headed to studio. We stood in line, they asked us our names and what we do for a living and took photos of us before putting us in the waiting room. People had come to play! They were wearing their best costumes. I was just focusing on breathing and being in a positive, clear mind frame. A lady I was standing behind, who was absolutely adorable, older lady, who was petite, she had a beauty pageant  dress. I paid her a compliment. I also saw a guy I had worked with before. He was so desperate to win a car. Everyone wants to win a car!

They gave us numbers and we were supposed to sit in numerical order in the holding room. The tiny lady disappeared for a second and came back with a long face. Apparently, she won like a $100 from the show a year or so ago from their quick deals and she couldn't play for the next three years or so. That left her really depressed. This lady was sure she was going to win a car that day! I felt bad for her but told her that if she is meant to win a car, she would still win it. That show isn't the only way people can get cars for free, she shouldn't give up on her dream of winning a car. She didn't car about my words, she just wanted to wallow in self pity. I didn't want to go that road with her, so I started talking to my guy friend. He was so nervous, he couldn't even hear me talk. They say there are people in the holding area who are watching how much energy we have and those are the people who decided if you will get picked or not. My friend was just throwing energy all over the show. I thought to myself, wow, ok!

People know why they are here. I know that it's good to be energetic to attract things you want into your life, however, you shouldn't be desperate, because that will only draw things into you life that will make you more and more desperate. I wasn't there to preach all that to people, I was there for my chance to win as well, so  I took a few breaths and thought about random stuff that had nothing to do with the show because the thought of the show was freaking me out. I don't know why.

They loaded us into the show, sat me somewhere and then moved me and put me next to a guy in scrubs. The guy in scrubs was a nice guy from New York, a paramedic. We talked about his vacation, and all the shows and studios he had been too. His friends are TV producers so he went to the best shows, ones that are hard to get tickets too. Lucky fish!

One of the producers, my favorite, Chris, I think is his name, he is so cute, I have a crush on him. Once, he made announcements before the show and then asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand and asked if he were single. He told me he is but plays for the other team. I know he does, he is obviously gay, but so cute. Everyone laughed, he asked if I had a brother. This was forever ago!

This episode, Chris came out and made his announcements, told us how to get picked on Let's Make a Deal and he talked about how his tucked in shirt was bothering him, he then pulled it out (that's what she said!). In the end, he asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand and asked if I could help him with that shirt. I wanted to tuck it in for him, if you know what I mean, haha. He laughed and said, 'I remember you! You asked me if I was single before! And I told you I play for the other team. Come over here, let me give you a hug!' That was a special moment for me, cos I like that guy. He dresses so cute, he always has something super expensive on, like a watch or something. Anyway, I told him; I love you! thank you for the hug! and ran back to my seat.

The show started. The paramedic and I would play along and guess what the contestants should pick and we always picked the winning box or curtain or whatever.

In between takes, Wayne goes to the back, the DJ plays music, some dance, hoping someone will notice them and pick them, some dance because the music is so fun (ME!), some sit down and talk to their friends.

Towards the end of the show, just after commercial break, Wayne says, LAST DEAL OF THE DAY! WHO WANTS TO MAKE A DEAL? Everyone goes, MMMEEEE!!! as usual! Like, who doesn't wanna make a deal? Even the lady who can't play wants to make a deal! Wayne goes, 'You! Lady in Red!' F*cking hell, you guys! I GOT PICKED! Sshhhhtttt! I tell ya, I had gum in my mouth, they don't want you to have gum in your mouth on TV, They even collect it in cups before the show, but I get away with it, because I don't chew and blow bubbles during the show. I freaked the freak out, getting picked! I screamed, swallowed my gum, and ran down those stairs towards the stage! It was the happiest moment of my life, I tell ya! Whew! My heart beats fast, just thinking about it!

Wayne: Hiiiiiii
Me: Heeeyyyyyy
Wayne: What's your name?
Me: My name is Brook! OMG, I'm so excited! Thank you!
Wayne:......looks at me
Johnathan: Ok, you have to pick one right now
Me: One what? What's going on, Wayne?
Wayne: You have to pick one!
Johnathan: Three....Two......
Me: OMG (makes the sign of the cross), Number TWO! (clearly confused as to what's going on)
Johnathan: Sorry, you ran out of time
Me: Wayne, what just happened?
Wayne: You had three seconds to pick one and you ran of time, I'm so sorry.
Me: I am so happy! You don't understand. Being picked here today, is one of the best things that's ever happened to me! Whether I win or not, I am still so very happy!
Wayne: Brook where are you from?
Me: Johannesburg
Wayne: Johannesburg, South Africa?
Me: Yes, My brother met you in Johannesburg, you were there for your comedy shows, he talked to you!
Wayne: Tell you brother I said Hi! I love South Africa, we go there a lot!
Me: Will do!
Wayne: We were joking, we haven't started yet....
Me (collapses on stage! for real!)
Wayne: I have two boxes for you, a small one and a big one, which one would you like?

During this time, I look around, look at my paramedic friend and at my guy friend who wanted to win a car, his jaw was on the ground, he was still so shocked that I got picked. I looked back at Wayne and caught a glimpse of myself on the screen. You guys, everything happens so fast when you're going through something like that. I am surprised I remember so much of it. I try to be in the moment but some moments are much bigger than us. It's moments you never ever imagine they will happen to you. Here I am, a girl from A small town, Uitenhage, who used to get teased because my family lived in a farm, standing in front of Wayne Brady on the stage of Let's Make a Deal, a CBS show, in Hollywood. Like, how did this happen? Who ever thought that that girl would have a moment like this? A moment where are the cameras on the set are focusing on her, where she is the only one on the screen because the moment is all hers? I didn't have to pay anyone for this, I didn't have to beg for it, I didn't fight for it! It was given to me. That's why we just can never give up on life because you never know when that moment will be for you. It could be right around the corner!

Me: Oooohhhh! Whew! (makes another sign of the cross!) Big box!
Wayne: (opens small box......)
....guess what was inside? a Zonk! There was a bowl of cereal in the small box. What does that mean? I WON! I picked the winning box!
They opened my box and I had all kind of goodies in there from a 60inch 3D TV, an iPad, Bluetooth headphones to a year's cable subscription.

YOU GUYS, I WON ON LET'S MAKE A DEAL!

Remember my dream, where I was standing on stage in my red scrubs? It came true!