My first film. Is not quite done.

I have just finished shooting my first five minute film! Go me.... how stressful. But now that it's over, I'm sitting in my living room with two of my roomies, watching the blinds gently move in the breeze, and relaxing. It's sooo wonderful. I just finished watching Ikiru by Kurosawa.. it was really interesting... Christy has been reading a book that we used in my shoot yesterday called "Teenage Romance, or how to Die of Embarrassment"..... it is so funny... it looks kind of like a kid's book but there's some rather...uh.... interesting stuff in there. It's keeping us entertained.
Friday we went to a taping of Brad Garnett's (the brother on Everyone Loves Raymond) new show "Til Death". It was really fascinating to watch how everything works and to see the actors go through the scenes. Brad Garnett is super tall. Crazy really. It kind of made me think that acting for tv is not really all that hard. I mean, it is, in a sense... but seriously... they do so many takes and they have alot of cameras so they can hide screwups.... but I guess it's not really a matter of whether it's hard or not...... it's a matter of who you know.
Saturday was spent helping my friend Tabitha on her shoot. She needed a party scene, so a group of us went to where she was shooting and spent the day there. We met a LAFSC alumni who has been on the last two seasons of Star Trek and has done some other stuff.. nothing major, mostly little stuff... but it was still cool. Then Sat. night we went to the Hollywood Bowl to see John Williams in concert. The Hollywood Bowl is huge... it's this concert space that is outside and built up the side of the mountain. Artists perform under this big dome like structure at the bottom. It was so cool. I was sitting there thinking: "I am sitting at the Hollywood Bowl, under the Hollywood sign, listening to John Williams conduct the Star Wars theme -- it doesn't get much better".. He did some more obscure stuff at the beginning but he also did Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws (they showed footage of the movie to go with the music and I screamed when the shark came out of the water.. everyone around me made fun of me because the screen is so far away..... I hate sharks!!), Star Wars, Superman, Jurassic Park, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Indiana Jones... it was so great.
Sunday we went to church at Ecclesia, the church I'm calling home while here in LA, and saw both Tony Hale and Danny Bonaduce so that was kind of fun. But the worship and the sermon were sooo great. The pastor preaching that day (there are 5 pastors and they switch around) was so completely excited about what it means to forgiven by God. She just made everything so fresh and new... it was so refreshing. After church, me and some of my roomies got everything together and from 3 till 8:30 we shot my film! It was nuts. It was so new to me, but thankfully the people helping me out knew quite a bit so they were helping me out. I had so many things go wrong with this first film it was crazy. But that's another story for another day. Let's just say that even though I have now a week to edit it, this is the first time I haven't felt completely stressed out roughly since I got here... this first film was such a weight! I would have shot it today since we have today off... but one of my actors actually had to go to his internship today.. so sunday it was.
Anyway, I'm on my roomie's lappy becuase my internet card isn't working (my life in a nutshell .. I don't know why everything messes up for me) .... so I should let her have this back.
Maybe I'll go watch another movie or hit downtown LA... there's an amazing music store here that I still have to check out.

intern-ing

I have an internship! Yippee!! I am the new intern at Film INDependent. I met with my intern advisor person on Monday, she let FIND know that I was interested, they called me on Monday for an interview... I called them back on Tuesday (I didn't get the message until Tues.) and then had an interview today and they hired me on the spot. So that's cool.
Check out their website. They're cool. And the people I'm working with are really cheerful and outgoing so that's really great. It's also a small atmosphere so that's wonderful.
I'm not going to get really cool opportunities like some other internships where you can go on sets or something like that, but God obviously has a plan for me at FIND so I'm just going with His plan. And I get to go behind the scenes at an Indie Film Festival so that's really cool.
So yeah, good news. And I am supposed to be filming my first film this weekend while also going to a sitcom taping and a John Williams concert. And church. I'm really excited to go to church. sigh. I feel like a baby that's just thrown into the pool and expected to swim...

week one: week crazy

My first celebrity has been spotted............... Jada Pinkett Smith!!! Oooh aaaah. I know. Things are just so cool here in LA. I didn't meet the woman or anything, but we happened to turn down the wrong street coming back from church (something that has been happening frequently -- we have a hard time with directions here) and she was talking to some people on the sidewalk! It was pretty rocking. The church we went to was so great -- the worship was rocking (a lot of musicians in this place) and there were so many people who were just out there -- tattoos and the like -- but with a passion for Jesus. It was so encouraging for me to find such a thriving Christian community here!!! Please continually pray for the ministry here in Hollywood -- I have been more exposed to on-fire Christians in the last week here than I have in a long time. It's so great.
We've been really touristy this past week... we went to Hollywood Blvd -- toured the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, went to the Chinese Theatre (where celebrities have put their hand and feet imprints in cement), a wax museum, and the Guiness Records museum... We also went to the Getty Museum which is this beautiful art museum at the top of a mountain looking over smoggy LA. Tonight we are talking with Tony Hale -- he plays Buster on Arrested Development. I just finished Season One ---- this show is HILARIOUS. So good ---- too bad it just got cancelled. Yet another amazing show that Fox has ousted. Stupid Fox.
This week I'm being thrown into everything. I start filming my first short film on Saturday --- EEEK!! I just learned how to work a camera on thursday! :) I am supposed to be getting a call for an interview for my internship --- Chris (our awesome internship contact person) is calling Film Independent to see if I can get an interview there. They do the LA Film Festival and do alot of workshops and stuff like that for independent film makers. So I'm really excited about that. We'll see where it goes!
I am really starting to feel at home here. I'm loving LA, even though it's rather overwhelming.
Also --- hurrah for Mariska Hartigay for winning an Emmy!!!!! Hooohaw!!!!

CALIFORNIA: new home

I have arrived in the city of Los Angeles Unscathed and Unharmed and Unbothered by big bad VISA people. For those of you praying for my entry into the United States as a student, I thank you – God really does want me here! On Thursday night I got a call from the director, where she said “I just got a call from [the Point Loma guy], and they have just issued you an I-20.” “You're kidding me.” (that's me sitting at the computer stunned).
“No, he is taking it to the post office himself and sending it overnight!”Friday afternoon around 2:00 I got a envelope containing my I-20!!! The day before I have to leave. Seriously. God's providence? So confusing but so great.
So I have arrived with little to none hassle from the government. The flight was rather uneventful... I watched The Sentinel. Fun times.So then I got there and got on the shuttle.... and the shuttle guy wanted to (instead of dropping me off) show Hollywood to me personally, with the hopes of getting lucky. Which he repeated to me multiple times. I couldn't help thinking, “What the HECK am I getting myself into here?”But since he wasn't getting lucky I guess he just decided to drop me off at the wrong place. Which he did. So I was in the middle of Park LaBrea apartments complex (which is HUGE by the way.. we have gotten lost numerous times already), carrying a huge traveling backpack, a laptop bag, another normal sized backpack on my front and wheeling a suitcase around Park LaBrea in all the hottness and such. Gross. When suddenly I see a face that I think I recognize --- it's Nicole, the girl who was supposed to be my roommate but is not longer! Good ol' facebook... so her and her nice family helped me get to where I needed to be and then they helped me get my stuff up to my apt. Nice. My roomates are really nice girls. The two girls I thought I would get along with really great are not living with me... but it's okay. Everyone's kind of spread out through out the park so that kind of sucks --- there's three apartments in my building that are occupied by LAFSC students, but the other apts are in other buildings, some of which are a little walk... but we're making do. Things since then:I am now settled in somewhat. The phone in our apt isn't connected yet so you can't call... and since we don't have a phone we don't have wireless in the apt yet.. so going on the internet is random. We are also hugely busy these two weeks as we do all kinds of touristy things. I have not seen a celebrity yet... but I know for sure that I will, because we are living in the HUB of things here. Don Cheadle (of Crash and Hotel Rwanda fame) actually lives in Part LaBrea so we will probably see him. And across the street from Park LaBrea is The Grove (where we went today)--- a really ritzy shopping area where many celebrities chill out. So the chances of seeing someone is pretty good. Last night a whole bunch of us went to the Santa Monica Pier but we didn't leave until like 9 at night and didn't get back till 12. According to my body it was 3 in the morning.. so that was interesting. But Bekah and I stuck our feet in the ocean (my first experience of the Pacific Ocean!) and we watched some people catch things with their fishing poles. One guy caught a stingray which was pretty cool... and then another guy was reeling something that seemed quite big..... turned out to be a bra!! Only in LA.Today we went to The Grove and The Farmer's Market (a really cool place just FULL of ethnic foods and all kinds of fun stuff) and then bought some groceries. Seriously do not like American moneys. Just not pretty.The next two weeks hold many classes and whatnot. BUT we are also going to The Egyptian Theatre and all the cool places around there (and there are really cool places around there..) as well as going to the Hollywood Bowl and watching John Williams conduct his own music!!! John-freaking-Williams!!! So awesome. Should be fun.Now I should go try and find ice to put on my swelling lip. I smacked it on a fire hydrant..... don't ask. Oh yes. The second day here and Steph is burnt. Way to go.

Let me off!!

Good news: I still have three days before I leave.
Bad news: I went to the Lewiston border, and they told me that either I was a) taking someone's job that they could get paid for (when I explained that I was doing an unpaid internship) or b) since I'm going to school, the school should be able to issue an I-20, and since they can't do that then they are a uncredited school and I am not permitted under immigration law to go there (when I explained that I'm going to school but getting credit in Canada). I hate the American Government!

Good news: Looks like I need a DS2019 (an exchange visa) to get across the border.
Bad news: I don't know if LAFSC can get me a DS2019.

Good news: LA is three hours behind us, so the LAFSC director still has all day today to place calls and talk to everyone and anyone who can help me and see if I can get this DS2019.
Bad news: I only have three days before I leave.

Good news: Everyone I've talked to has told me that they are praying for me (thank you).
Bad news: So far, nothing (and I really mean nothing) has been going well, and I've been met with obstacle after obstacle after obstacle. It's getting much harder to stay composed and not lose it completely.

America "the beautiful"

This is supposed to be the time where I rest up and get completely and utterly excited/nervous/queasy/fluttery/exhilerated about leaving for LA on Saturday. Instead, I'm stressed/tense/weepy(very very weepy)/worried/tired. Not the greatest conditions for leaving the country. IF I can leave the country.
On friday, I got an email from the school that's been working on my 1-20 (student visa) informing me that Homeland Security will not allow them to apply for said visa and that they're sorry but there's nothing more they can do. I felt like a big rock somewhere in my head suddenly plummeted to my feet. I sat there stunned, not really sure what to think. When I got home from work, I placed a frantic call to the program that I'm going to and they assured me that they're going to do all they can.
I leave in 4 days. I still don't have a visa.
My family and LAFSC (the program) are still placing many phone calls, hoping someone SOMEONE can help me get across the border. There is some hope and I'm still putting my trust in God because I know this is piddly stuff for Him. But there's still a good 50% percent chance or more that I will not be going to Los Angeles this semester. Just thinking that that might be a possibility is a huge blow.
So pray. Pray that something comes through. And if nothing comes through, pray that I can still (by some grand great miracle) make it across the border.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." I don't think I've ever really gripped this verse until now. I don't know how many times I've been repeating it as I try to fall asleep.
Thank you to all those that have been trying to help.

a highway proposal

So yesterday, T and I are driving to London to see "Please Give Generously" -- a delightful, thought-provoking show by JonH -- so we're booting along the 401, when this van of young men (good looking young men might I add) come up beside us. I happen to look over at them and the driver gives me a cheerful wave, which I copy equally as cheerfully.
We keep driving.
We happen to pass by them a couple more times, accompanied by some "peering over at the other vehicle" by both parties. We then notice that these boys are from Quebec!!! Les fils francais!!! So we get a little more excited about this little car tag game we have going on..
Then one of the guys puts a sign on their window saying "Where are you going?" We point to the sign saying LONDON and our exit that seems to be too-quickly approaching. They then furiously scribble something else down and speed up beside us: "Do you want to go for a drink?" Oh goodness. The possibility of going out for a drink with French boys. But due to the fact that we were on our way to a play that was starting within the hour, we made grand gestures of pointing to our watch, shaking our head, and yelling "NO TIME" (though they couldn't hear us). Then we had to exit so we waved goodbye while silently crying inside.
Sometimes I wonder about all the missed opportunities I've had and what would have happened had I taken them...

Learning to be humble...

I need a miracle right now. That's what I'm needing.

This is the part where I start freaking out

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

what's fun in Ottawa on the August long weekend

. visiting my sister!!
. realizing on a 4 hour relaxing train ride that, contrary to popular (my) belief, Ontario actually is quite beautiful.
. museums. We went to the art gallery and the photography museum and it was WONDERFUL... so many beautiful and creative works of art, naturally with a few disturbing and "interesting" ones thrown in there. It was also nice to be mendering through the art with someone who appreciates it just as much as you do.
. beautiful beautiful glorious sunshine/weather! Praise be for temperatures below 30 degrees!
. Jamaicans. The greatest thing in the world is... love! (said at the Jamday festival about 30 times in 10 minutes)
. falls. Water ones to be exact.
. the transportation system in Ottawa ... never ENDING fun there :) People are so interesting.. and many of them speak French in that there city
. BUSKERS! What a great form of live/risky/fun theatre! We watched people juggle all sorts of various objects; develop intricate rhythms using basketballs, brooms, trashcans etc; get out of a straightjacket and chains that are tightly wound around them; balance on a bike that's on top of a tall pole and then stand up and juggle; and of course many references to how much you should pay them for their show.
. scrumptious food at the Elgersma/Ott residence
. parks. Lots of parks! I think we hit 8 parks in total. In one there were the falls, another held Jamaicans, another held a big lake, in another we watched a movie, in another we watched a play, in another we waited for the bus, and the last two were parks that we cut through to get from point A to point B. Beaucoup des gardins dans Ottawa!!! But watching a play in park was definately a very cool experience.... how can you not appreciate art when you're surrounded by God's art?
. watching 'Omagh', a powerful film about the bombing of Omagh by the real IRA, and renting it from this FANTASTIC movie rental place that has rooms FULL of mostly foreign/independant films! A little piece of heaven!
. gelato. Enough said.
. the Parliament's sound and light show. Ooooo.... ahhhhh. Makes you feel patriotic while you contemplate "what if we actually DID have a purple-coloured Paliament Hill.."
. Miss Tiggy Winkles. Seriously the BEST children's store in Ontario. Serious.
. doing all of the above with my sister!

Seriously.

No one should ever have to pick at a twenty-year-old elastic band with a scissor in order to get it pried off the paper that it's supposed to be binding.
I think I'm developing a phobia of gross stoneage elastic bands.

C'est tres bonne!!!!

Newly found directors that I'm completely excited about: The Dardennes brothers.
Mmm. Okay I only just saw my first of their movies on the weekend -- Le Fils (The Son). But by spending much of my time reading movie reviews (I recommend www.lookingcloser.org or www.phantomtollbooth.org for great Christian movie reviews!) I know that their other movies --- Rosetta, La Promesse, L'Enfant --- are equally as acclaimed. And, well, I loved The Son, so I am very much looking forward to exploring their other stuff. Watching The Son, I just sat there in rapture through most of the movie because it is exactly the type of art that I love: SHOW, don't TELL. Everything about the movie is so natural and the acting is phenominal. It's not a completely easy movie to watch --- you have to be patient with it and allow it to tell you its story in its own time. And it doesn't leave you with this cliche, neat and packaged ending -- it's complex and unsatisfying. Yet it's satisfying in it's "unsatisfyingness". The journey is entirely worth it. It restores my faith in film that can be a work of art as well as carry such deep meaning for Christians and non-Christians alike.
Now if only I could do something that creative and meaningful.

manicured little hands in everything

I was listening to the radio on the way to work this week and I was bopping my head to a song that was fun and summerish. Then the song ended and the DJ person said something along the lines of "and there we have the new song from Paris Hilton!" I almost drove off the road.
Curse you Paris Hilton for putting your voice to something that's summerish and boppable.

the big man in town

So as I was walking to work from my car today (it's a little bit of a hike from the parking lot to work) I saw a group of men wearing business suits standing around a parked car chatting it up. Across the street a police man was sitting in one of two unmarked police vehicles. It was a curious site, especially in this area of town, but I soon forgot all about it.
About two hours later, my coworker Paulette noticed the A Channel News van driving up the street. It would be the first of many TV news vans that started parking all along our street... City TV, CBC, CBS, OMNI... you name it. Why, do you ask, were we suddenly flooded with press on our lowly little street in downtown Cambridge?
Stephen Harper was in town.
Yep, turns out the big PM was at the David Durward Centre today to announce the sum of money that they are offering to the people who contracted hepatitis C in the tainted blood scandal.
One of my coworkers figured out why all the press was here, and after a parade of black cars cruising down the street confirmed it, Paulette, Amanda, and myself decided to walk up there and see if we could get a glimpse of the Prime Minister. We sat outside the Durward Centre for about an hour, waiting for him to get out... but there were lots of policemenand men in suits and glasses to keep us entertained. Talk about a feast for the eyes. Mmm mm mm. Then at about 12 o'clock the cars all gathered around the door and the body guards started talking more in their cool little earpieces, and then there he was! Stephen Harper! He stopped before he got in the car and waved at the small group of us that were gathered (at a safe distance away --- the police made sure of that), and we waved and clapped and some man yelled out,"Thank you for going to Afganistan Mr Harper! You're a good man!" Then the PM got in his car and the parade of shnazzy looking black cars rolled out.
And we went back to work.
I love the little moments of excitement we have at work.

You'd think I was rich...

Oh my word. In a month I will be living here.

down with stuff

Getting ready for Los Angeles is making me feel materialistic.

boom

There is a big thunderstorm going on right now. I wish that I could be out right in the middle of it and not have to worry about getting electricuted or pnemonia. Also, I hope that the power goes out. Because then maybe I can go home.

!! Great Big Show !!

This is GREAT BIG SEA!!!!!!!! In real life!!!!!!!! Last night Trish and I went to the Molson Amphitheatre to join the we-love-Great-Big-Sea masses for a night of hardcore music!!!! It was so fabulous.. completely unforgetable. Their vocals are even better live, and the energy of the crowd was so amazing! We were their second/third largest show --- such a rush. My throat is sore now, but man, was it worth it. I loved every minute of it, including the drunk people in front of me.

My family. My life.

These pictures were taken over the past couple of days as my entire extended family on my mom's side gathered for my Opa's funeral. The pictures in Tim Hortons are with my cousins from South Dakota. The time spent with family made me so thankful and blessed for the people that God has given me to love and to be loved by. I couldn't ask for a better group!

The Lord gives...

Today my Opa went to be with God.
I will miss him very much but I am so thankful that his pain is gone and I know he's much happier now.

I love you Opa.