Why We Watch

In the last week I've done my normal bit of travel between work and home in the islands, choreographed a fight between _____, scouted and trekked a mountain for ______ and ______ to tumble down, and attended a production meeting. This all sounds like the natural and uneventful work week of a stunt coordinator, because it is.

The more than mundane this week would be the season premier on the sands of Waikiki Beach with over 4,000 in attendance, followed by a premier party with an open bar, strict guest list, television cameras, not to mention the open bar. The week also included an Emmy party for the cast and crew, those that weren't on stage accepting the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series, and again, an open bar.

Here in lies the question; Why? Why all the hoopla over one person's industry than another's'? No one extra showed up for my Wal-Mart closings, heck, I was lucky all the grantors graced me with their presence to collect their checks. I must have luckily evaded the real estate groupies from mauling me in the parking lot asking for autographs and wanting to tell me how much they love one-stop shopping.

I know what your thinking. Your answer will be that TV is an escape, people like non-reality (although a lot of times in a scripted (shhh, don't tell) reality format), entertainment is different, etc. What makes this industry so entertaining, and go beyond the obvious fact that it is entertaining. You tell me, because I really don't know.

My hypothesis would be that the link between entertainment TV and media TV that dictates what and how we view and perceive all things, on television and elsewhere, stems from the same network conglomerates, blah, blah, blah, giving them all the power to influence where we focus our attention.

If the Big 4 started sneaking in Curling matches every now and again, penetrating prime time regardless of ratings, we'd be inundated to the point that a Curling match would be watched eventually, perhaps because the sportscasters that give you your football or baseball nightly education are reporting and building a buzz, perhaps acceptance, of this new, intriguing sport, making you question if you gave it a fair shake the first 50 years you rejected it and laughed at all those Canadians too uncoordinated to excel in hockey. And so it begins, the age of Curling. I would assume it's that simple. Curling will eventually announce a global league, and quietly the Big 4 have a predetermined contract signed years ago giving them a percentage stake in the league, teams, and televising rights. Arena Football ring any bells?

Maybe we just all watch too much TV; oh wait, all that print and radio feeding us this "news" would hook us, because they just happen to be owned by the same company that produces both the show, and the news program that reports on it. Ever heard of Viacom/CBS/Clear Channel...HELLO. It's all there, TV, print, and radio all wrapped up into a neat little package, some might even equate this to a normal d-day attack, and so they push their programming from all angles, and we watch, become entertained, and become addicted. Kinda fun huh. I'm not complaining...

...Season 2 Premier for LOST is Wednesday, September 21, 9pm...As if you didn't know.

Never Forget

With the events of Hurricane Katrina bombarding our thoughts, prayers, and emotions these past two weeks, our forefront is filled with poverty, homelessness, and water damage; all real concerns facing both the Gulf Coast and America for a long time to come.

Yet another sad note to this national tragedy is that it fell on the eve of the 4 year anniversary of the attacks from September 11, 2001, overshadowing an event that has propelled us into a new era in our lives that will forever be stained in our hearts as horrifying and heroic.

I had all but forgotten the day be 9/11 until I sat down to the television after a birthday dinner for Heather's grandmother, in which I didn't so much as acknowledge the day as I said grace, and found The Flight that Fought Back on the Discovery Channel, a documentary on the United flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, PA.

Even after I became intrigued by the title and selected it from the guide menu, I still hadn't put it all together that today was in fact the anniversary of the landmark attack on America, and it wasn't until a few minutes into the program that the whole thing began to sink in. I watched in sadness, and amazement, as actual recordings and family testimonials recounted the painstaking details from just one of the 4 flights that was raped by cowards, and how the plane crashed inverted at 580mph into a field only 18 minutes away from downtown DC.

I watched how 4 middle-eastern disgraces to humanity lied to passengers and made sure the plane crashed to the ground after the heroes from that flight thwarted their attempt to carry out a mission, a dilusioned excuse of a mission to attack US landmarks of power and honor to our country, and having failed still making sure those passengers would die, completely contradicting everything they were supposedly out to do in the name of their God. I listened as heroes arose threw the headsets of family and emergency service telephones as they accepted their mission, and their fate, not allowing what had happened to the 3 earlier flights happen once again.

And as I listened to the actual passenger recordings saying goodbye to loved ones, wishing them love, telling them not to worry, and to take care of the children, and listening to the control tower recordings of the screams from the cockpit as those fathers and sons and husbands and brothers broke down their fear and attacked the terror with furious resolve, unarmed and unprepared, screeches of pain piercing through the headsets of United Control as box-cutters and sharpened pocket-knives slashed those men as they made a desperate attempt, a last stand, to protect everyone but themselves, including this country. Their was a lot of love lost that day, in all of us, but after listening to those tapes it was reassuring to know God filled that fuselage and brought a comfort and calm to 40 people (half of which were from NJ) that no other power could possibly do to allow so many to act so rationally and unselfishly at such traumatic times.

I remember just after the attacks, you couldn't shake the pillar of strength this united country formed, and we stood behind our President as he vowed to take vengeance on terrorists and those harboring such, and so began a crusade that a rational human would realize will take years to develop and may never end. And so our altered lives went on, mourning friends and family lost in the attacks, like Mark Bavis, an NHL hockey scout and great family friend who hit the 2nd tower from the Boston flight. Hearing accounts of the personal close calls and lists of acquaintances lost subsided, memorials were erected, and American pride still stood tall.

Four years later the question you have to ask is where it went? What happened to the pride and passion this country had, the fire that had every other nation in the world wanting to be our ally? We all remember exactly where we were when we got the news of the attacks that morning, as clear as day, yet for some reason a lot of people have repressed certain memories, put that fire out, want the troops removed, and taken down their flag.

It's truly a shame in this great country that the tide of compassion and strength is an event-spurred, short-lived one that takes tragedy or an election to create, and that we lose sight of the greater good until we're asked to respond via an attack or natural disaster. Then, and only then does the majority get onto the caring-and-giving-is-good bandwagon until the media decides the ratings are no longer worthy of the reporting, and the celebrities retreat to their mansions having never actually given any money of their own and the dis-banding of America begins, usually it's some POS public figure creating the wall of us-against-us vs. The us-against-them we see during the unification period.

The most incredible difference between 9/11 and Katrina was the way the people responded under intense situations; we took for granted that the people of 9/11 handled themselves and the situation so well; I'm sorry Katrina victims didn't use it as model behavior. The North East? Who would have thought. Forgeta bout it!

www.honorflight93.org

The New Chapter

I'm now a Stuntman and the Assistant Stunt Coordinator for the TV Show LOST on ABC. How's that for getting your attention.

For those of you who are actually still checking my blog, the beautifully faithful, I have to apologize profusely for the dead silence you've experienced on this site over the past month. But as far as good juicy info is concerned your all in luck, because there's a directly adverse correlation between the volume of content on this page and the amount of drama going on in my life. This lapse in content would therefore equate to a whirlwind of news for all you faithful, all two of you that is.

I don't even know where to begin so bare with me as I babble through the last several weeks getting you up to speed, as informative and unliterarily inspiring as possible, but much like the end of a good Bond movie, don't fret, for my literary prowess will return in posts to come, so stay tuned.

Falling into the Stunt Business

Ok, so not much longer than a month ago I posted ...AND They Pay You to my blog regarding a CNN Money article that talked about stunt driving as an unorthodox six-figure career. My wife's father caught wind of the article and offered a window of opportunity to come work for him on the TV show LOST, on ABC. Her father creates, stages, and directs all action sequences as the Stunt Coordinator, as well as all hiring, and as I can now attest to, there's no shortage of people hounding him to break into the stunt business.

Preparation for the Unprepared

Faced with a difficult decision, Heather and I deliberated over the idea of leaving an established network of great friends and family, leaving a home we had moved into just three days prior, leaving secure, enviable careers with time vested, leaving the mainland USA, and doing all this within a 2-3 week window as the second season of shooting had just begun.
After much prayer and consultation, and prayer, we truly felt this was an opportunity seldom seen and seldom taken, but anyone that knows us understands our tout for taking the road less traveled, and knows our desire for the extraordinary, and extraordinary this was.

So the idea was sold, but pulling the trigger and would be a trick in such a short amount of time.

We needed to re-pack our lives and somehow get them into storage (on the other side of the mountains), prep and ship our belongings and car, somehow get goods to NJ, somehow get rid of a car, somehow get out of the lease on the house we just signed, gracefully leave my job abruptly and somehow keep Heather's, all the while saying goodbye to everyone over there on our way out the door.

Like a couple thoroughbreds just out the gate, we were off to conquering the world one task at a time, and enlisted the help of family and friends to get it all done. Stealing a line from a classic 80's epic, the list of leg-workers in our court to make this all happen is long and distinguished...And so's my... Anyway, my brother Chris flew out to help with everything, from getting needed work done on the cars, to buying the 2nd car we needed to get rid of, to helping us pack and move our belongings across WA, to taking some of our belongings back across the country on his road trip back, and just about anything else you can think of; a true go-to guy, no questions asked, and he did it with no regard for his own time.

Heather's family was no exception to the go-to column, and I just started jotting down some names and realized just about everyone in that clan had some part to play in getting us to flight-ready status, and however minuet it may have seemed to them then, looking back it was certainly instrumental. From the cross-state hauling to party-planning, it was HUGE and Heather and I brag to each other how amazing our network of family and friends is.

We don't take for granted all the love and support we had from so many and cherish our time with each and every one of you. It brings me to tears thinking about the blessings God gave us in our relationships and it won't soon be forgotten the impact you've all had on our lives.
Believe it or not, things were shaping up quite well and although the inevitable unforeseen circumstance arose, it was tackled accordingly, and we stayed the course towards our move to Hawaii. Did I mention the show was in Hawaii and that's where we'd be moving to? Guess not. We were moving to Kona, on the Big Island, and going to commute via plane between the islands to Oahu for shooting; guess that tid-bit is worth sharing, huh.

With only a few days left and most of our tasks completed, it looked to be smooth sailing up to flight time and the last things on our agenda had to do with parties and get-togethers; they called these celebrations of us finally getting out of their town "going away parties", but they can't fool me, I know the truth.

Vegas Baby, Vegas

Needless to say, being prepared days in advance of something doesn't sit well with me, as it leaves nothing to do at the last minute, and what fun is that? So, Las Vegas sounded like the perfect solution to filling that gap of 2 days before my move across the Pacific.

Some close friends and my brother Chris (one of his many road-trip stops) were making a long weekend of Mandalay Bay to celebrate monogamy induced through marital bliss. This was by no means in my cards on several levels, but an expense-paid invitation was offered that Thursday afternoon for a Thursday afternoon flight to Vegas, returning directly to Portland, OR, to catch up with Heather at her moms. Again going back to my Carpediem'esk' outlook and unrational behavior in both mind and body, this sounded like a perfectly normal way to fill the next 36 hours, so I hung up the phone with the group and literally ran to check the ferry off Bainbridge Island for the very last time.

The trip lived up to most of it's expectations and my boy Greg Gellas can officially say he spent more money in one weekend than a brain surgeon makes in a week, and we can all say we partied in the number 1 club in the country (and it only cost $437 for the 7 of us just to get in; again thanks to Greg for that bill, covering both the cost of admission and for greasing the bouncers).

Times in your life when you can rendezvous with great people from across the country in one place are few and far between and our time is too short not to capitalize on every opportunity we come across to share in those experiences with them.

Not having slept made the flight back to the Pacific NW a Godsend, and we spent the next day-and-a-half tying up loose-ends and saying our goodbyes. Monday morning, August 8, we were sitting on an Aloha Airlines flight that capped one chapter and was flying us towards another, that we had absolutely no preconceived notions on its parameters or, well, on anything, anything at all. All we knew is that we'd be living on an island neither of us had ever been to, chasing a career path neither one of us has any experience in, but we did know we willing to make a go of it, and that's all either one of us could expect from the other.

LOST, Somewhere in Hawaii

As fast as things happened in our preparation to get to HI, things were moving equally as fast once we got here. Heather and I both got laid immediately. Heather and I both got laid immediately...get it. Having not met anyone from one half of Heather's lineage ever before, this a new experience on so many levels I can't even begin to tell you. Heather's dad, Mike, and wife Stephanie, were gracious from the get-go and as quick as we were introduced to Kona that we were off to work in Oahu, which was a pleasant surprise.

Not knowing exactly what I was in for and having never been to a Hollywood movie set, the first thing I learned upon entering the set was that I will forever be over-dressed (not only on the set, but on the island, any of them). But on the same token, being introduced as the Asst. Stunt Coordinator and looking like I can tie a tie leads people to believe that I know what I'm doing, and that I've done it before, and who am I to correct an assumption. By day two on the set people actually asked me for advice and how to handle the stunt-related topics, and that coupled with the main ingredient for stunt work (or 90% of all movie and TV work for that matter), common sense, allows me to play the part quite well; this is Hollywood after all.

Within two weeks Heather and I were doing our first stunts as doubles, Heather for Michelle Rodriguez "Ana-Lucia", and myself for Henry Ian Cusick "Desmond", both new to the show this season. I also worked as an animal (hint, hint). Heather will also be doubling Evangeline Lilly "Kate" and I'm slotted to double Dominick Monaghan "Charlie". With any luck at all we'll be doubling even more characters as they're introduced, pending their physical stature is up to snuff with ours (aka. we're lucky enough to resemble them on a bad day). Utility stunt work, doing stunts not as a main character, will also fill some days. I'm gradually making myself recognizable with the in-people and continue to build a foundation to take over the industry on.

Cops is Missing Out

It's been just under a month since we've been here, and all I can say about the Island of Oahu is our TV show LOST wouldn't be the number 1 show out here if COPS filmed here more. In the first three weeks we've gotten $8,000 of stuff stolen out of our truck, a hit-and-run accident, and I was attacked. The funniest part about all this is that every time the police show up to handle the report (not the crime, but the report) they always tell us how bad an area we're in happens to be and that they couldn't believe we didn't know better than to be there. My rebuttal stands firm at the fact that if those areas are so bad, why aren't they more heavily patrolled.

The fact is that the worst thing about Hawaii are Hawaiians, or locals, whatever the nationality may be, because actual Hawaiians are actually a small minority of the population here, being primarily filled with descendants from the Indonesian and Asian worlds, with a few generations of ancestry on the islands. Fortunately where I live on the Big Island and most areas on the other islands don't deal with these kinds of atrocities nearly at all, making the distinctions between Oahu (although the North Shore is less deserving of this lashing) and the other islands much like those between the cities of Manhattan vs. The Bronx. Oahu can be spoken in the same breath as Puerto Rico or Jamaica, whereas you can't travel beyond the tourist locations and feel well protected from the elements.

For the Future

I don't even know if this has brought any of you up to speed, but it gets but a few of my thoughts shared with you and unfortunately I wasn't able to give you the play-by-play you deserve and will be getting in the future, and maybe now I can get back into a rhythm of sharing on some of the other fun topics wearing on me...Like people who complain about Natural Disaster clean-up efforts!