Showing posts with label homebrewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homebrewing. Show all posts
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Blurb #11
I'm going to have a busy week with work at 6am and I'll probably be too tired to blog much unless something fantastic happens. Just a quick heads up then for the start of the week. Film shoot never happend this weekend, but tomorrow night I meet with the producers of the new film I'm doing. I'll leave with some insight on what direction they want me to go with the music. Beyond that, my beer is going to need to be bottled at some point. It went through the fermentation process rather fast so now I need to scramble to find myself a bottle capper. Bye for now!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Hudson River Flicks and The day I almost saw Jennifer Aniston...
Today I was supposed to be an extra in a Jennifer Aniston picture called "The Bounty." I snagged the ad for extras on craigslist probably about 45 minutes after it had been posted and knew that if I hesitated to contact them, then there would be no need to bother. This is, as I've learned, why they post the ad on the day before the actual job. Otherwise, they'd be inundated with emails...well, they probably are anyway, but imagine if they had to sift through several days worth of emails of people wanting to be extras as opposed to just a few hours worth of emails.
Anyway, I went back to steeping the grains for my homebrew and waiting for my friend Mike to show up to help out with the rest of the process, checking back on my yahoo account every once in a while. Somewhere between taking the grains out of the pot and dropping the first dose of hops in the boil, I got an email back from them with a ton of info on the shoot, what I'd need to bring, where it would be, what kind of ID to bring, how to confirm I'd be coming. This is good because it certainly makes them look more legit. At this point, I had the epiphany that this has to be the closest I've been to getting an actual paid background acting gig. I was in. I had an effing number and everything. All I had to do was respond to the email with my name and phone number saying I was legal to work in the US and was non-union. And then, after 10, they wanted me to call the hotline to check in and get info on where to meet the van that would be driving out to Elmont, Queens where they'd be shooting a scene at the racetrack there.
Mike and I got the brew cooled down and pitched the yeast around 4:30pm with very few mishaps (okay, so I did accidentally spill a bit of the beer all over a dish towel, the microwave cart and the floor when I was trying to take a gravity reading before pitching the yeast in). I showed him my new guitar processing software and we messed around with that for a good bit, passing the guitar back and forth. At around 5:30 he headed off and we planned on meeting back up in Chelsea for the last of the Hudson River Flicks outdoor screenings. The movie last night was Pineapple Express.
I figured, when the movie was over, I would call the hotline and check in as they had asked. Hopefully, it would be not too early of a call time and I would be able to get to the van with no problem. Getting to Elmont on my own steam was sure to be a ridiculous adventure without their transportation.
View Larger Map
I used Mike's Blackberry to check my email again, because I hadn't thought to actually write everything down before I left the house, and, since I didn't have a pen with me at the time, I texted the instructions to myself and then saved the phone number in my phone as Jennifer Aniston's. When I called, I was sort of expecting to talk with a human but instead got a pre-recorded run down of the day's events, where to get the van (33rd and 3rd in Manhattan, Dad), what kind of outfits to bring, what colors not to wear, and a whole lot of other stuff that I can't remember right now, because the person on the recording was talking fast, monotone and haphazardly injecting 'um's' in her speech. The first thing that the recording said, unfortunately, was that numbers 160-270 needn't bother showing up because we weren't needed. I was number 258.
I really wanted to be typing this blog about my first experience with background acting in NYC, too. But, regardless, I've finally got a real strategy for getting background work and that I'm sure is a little more legitimate than taking my head shots to another "casting agency." When I called, instead of just dialing option 3, and then dialing 21 like they told me to in the email, I listened to some of the other menu options. This agency apparently casts for Law and Order SVU, and some other movies, Morning Glory included, that I happen to know are in production right now. So they sound pretty legit, and they didn't make me pay to be listed with them. This was an actual gig, unlike the other week when I went into that talent agency WMT casting that turned out to be a scam. So, now I know, the only really good way to get my feet wet doing this is to scour craigslist the day before one of my days off and respond as soon as the ads pop up. There's no use looking a few days in advance. So, now, with this deliberate plan, I think I'm going to implement it next time I have a day off...which may not be for over a week. I work 6am to 2pm tomorrow, have a film shoot on Saturday, 10am to 6pm on Sunday and then, from Monday to Friday, I work 6am to 2pm. If I can survive this, I can do anything...including pay rent.
Anyway, after I hung up the phone from that disappointing recorded phone call, I rejoined Mike and his friend in Vynl, a club/diner/bar on the corner of 15th and 9th Avenue in Chelsea where his friend worked. The menus were all old vinyl ablum covers. The bathroom door had Justin Timberlake's name on it, as though it were his dressing room. Oh, and Pineapple Express was a pretty funny movie. Kind of ridiculous in a way but entertaining despite that. Here are some pics on the pier where they show the movies, that Mike informed us was actually the pier where the Titanic should have docked...oops.
Anyway, I went back to steeping the grains for my homebrew and waiting for my friend Mike to show up to help out with the rest of the process, checking back on my yahoo account every once in a while. Somewhere between taking the grains out of the pot and dropping the first dose of hops in the boil, I got an email back from them with a ton of info on the shoot, what I'd need to bring, where it would be, what kind of ID to bring, how to confirm I'd be coming. This is good because it certainly makes them look more legit. At this point, I had the epiphany that this has to be the closest I've been to getting an actual paid background acting gig. I was in. I had an effing number and everything. All I had to do was respond to the email with my name and phone number saying I was legal to work in the US and was non-union. And then, after 10, they wanted me to call the hotline to check in and get info on where to meet the van that would be driving out to Elmont, Queens where they'd be shooting a scene at the racetrack there.
Mike and I got the brew cooled down and pitched the yeast around 4:30pm with very few mishaps (okay, so I did accidentally spill a bit of the beer all over a dish towel, the microwave cart and the floor when I was trying to take a gravity reading before pitching the yeast in). I showed him my new guitar processing software and we messed around with that for a good bit, passing the guitar back and forth. At around 5:30 he headed off and we planned on meeting back up in Chelsea for the last of the Hudson River Flicks outdoor screenings. The movie last night was Pineapple Express.
I figured, when the movie was over, I would call the hotline and check in as they had asked. Hopefully, it would be not too early of a call time and I would be able to get to the van with no problem. Getting to Elmont on my own steam was sure to be a ridiculous adventure without their transportation.
View Larger Map
I used Mike's Blackberry to check my email again, because I hadn't thought to actually write everything down before I left the house, and, since I didn't have a pen with me at the time, I texted the instructions to myself and then saved the phone number in my phone as Jennifer Aniston's. When I called, I was sort of expecting to talk with a human but instead got a pre-recorded run down of the day's events, where to get the van (33rd and 3rd in Manhattan, Dad), what kind of outfits to bring, what colors not to wear, and a whole lot of other stuff that I can't remember right now, because the person on the recording was talking fast, monotone and haphazardly injecting 'um's' in her speech. The first thing that the recording said, unfortunately, was that numbers 160-270 needn't bother showing up because we weren't needed. I was number 258.
I really wanted to be typing this blog about my first experience with background acting in NYC, too. But, regardless, I've finally got a real strategy for getting background work and that I'm sure is a little more legitimate than taking my head shots to another "casting agency." When I called, instead of just dialing option 3, and then dialing 21 like they told me to in the email, I listened to some of the other menu options. This agency apparently casts for Law and Order SVU, and some other movies, Morning Glory included, that I happen to know are in production right now. So they sound pretty legit, and they didn't make me pay to be listed with them. This was an actual gig, unlike the other week when I went into that talent agency WMT casting that turned out to be a scam. So, now I know, the only really good way to get my feet wet doing this is to scour craigslist the day before one of my days off and respond as soon as the ads pop up. There's no use looking a few days in advance. So, now, with this deliberate plan, I think I'm going to implement it next time I have a day off...which may not be for over a week. I work 6am to 2pm tomorrow, have a film shoot on Saturday, 10am to 6pm on Sunday and then, from Monday to Friday, I work 6am to 2pm. If I can survive this, I can do anything...including pay rent.
Anyway, after I hung up the phone from that disappointing recorded phone call, I rejoined Mike and his friend in Vynl, a club/diner/bar on the corner of 15th and 9th Avenue in Chelsea where his friend worked. The menus were all old vinyl ablum covers. The bathroom door had Justin Timberlake's name on it, as though it were his dressing room. Oh, and Pineapple Express was a pretty funny movie. Kind of ridiculous in a way but entertaining despite that. Here are some pics on the pier where they show the movies, that Mike informed us was actually the pier where the Titanic should have docked...oops.
 |
| Hudson River Flicks |
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Brooklyn Flea, DMV, West Village and Chelsea, a packed couple of days...
Sunday, I went with friends for falafel after the service at the Unitarian church. It was good cheap stuff served up in a little hole in the wall by a rather nice Arabic gentleman. I got a combo with hummus, tabbouleh and a stuffed grape leaf all crammed in with the falafel in a pita. Awesome stuff. My new friends from the UU are really cool. Just in the past few weeks we've been heading out immediately after church and having lunch/brunch and just chatting. The group was smaller this week than last but great times nonetheless. Afterward, when the crowd of us dwindled to just three of us, we cooked up a plan to go over to the Brooklyn Flea Market...well, it was sort of my idea because I knew that I was in need of that one last piece of equipment for home brewing...the all important fermentation lock. Mine went missing somehow in the move.
At any rate, my new friends were game for a stroll despite the already oppressive heat so we headed up Cadman Plaza towards the bridge. The Brooklyn Flea Market is underneath the Brooklyn Bridge...like directly underneath it, so we had very little trouble finding it. We were almost there when we asked directions from someone at the nearby farmer's market. The pictures are here:
I'm already thinking about going back when the weather gets better because it was far too hot to do much besides stroll around and check things out before we had to get out of the sun. The Brooklyn Brew Shop, that has a tent there, promotes all grain brewing and sells bags of pre-mixed grains to get you started...and they make it sound so much easier than any book I've read says it is. I think I'd like to check out what they sell and give it a shot.
We stopped at a grocery and grabbed some cool beverages after and went on our way, then I came straight home and did errands around the house and got so tied up in that, I forgot that my cousin and I were going to see a movie. I was so far into cleaning my room and all the cat hair that I ended up going ahead and trying out my desk against a different wall and reorganizing everything. Now, I've got designs on actually getting rid of some old documents and throwing away some extra weight.
I just feel like if I can do that, it'll start to feel like my life is more in order and I'll be more productive in everything else I attempt. Another extension of this notion is that if I can get my NY driver license and fully move my accounts up here, I will be even closer to organizational nirvana. (I know that this is a ridiculous way to look at things, and am fully aware that I will soon find something else with my life that is not in order and may spend the rest of my life chasing perfection as such, but bear with me for a second here. I'm trying to tell a story). So Monday morning, I went to the DMV with just about every official document that proves I exist tucked in a folder in my shoulder bag and a determination that no line could staunch...even if said line started at the front door of the building and snaked down a hallway to the elevator to the 8th floor. I freaked for a second but then I realized the place opened only fifteen minutes before I got there so they were probably still trying to slowly funnel people up the elevators. The line upstairs couldn't be that bad. It wasn't except for the fact that the guy behind me felt the need to sing whatever was on his iPod and crowd my space every time the line moved forward.
Now, I won't even bother going into the utter frustration that exchanging an out-of-state driver's license has been. Suffice it to say that it's a bureaucratic mess. See here the list of acceptable documents for proof of ID and birth date.
Once I was out of there, it was only about 10:00am so I walked down to Madison Square Park, freshened up in a Starbuck's and then figured I would head down to the West Village, sit in a coffee shop for a bit and then, walk around taking pictures like a tourist. I managed to sit in Christopher Park on 7th Avenue for a bit and rest, and then, finally, I was able to get some pictures of the Chelsea Market, the building where my main job is. I've been avoiding it so long because, knowing how annoying the actual tourists can be, I didn't want to contribute to the mayhem by stopping in the middle of the walkway taking photos or otherwise gawking. It can be crazy. Sometimes I wish us NY 1 employees had a private back entrance to the place so we wouldn't have to weave between strollers and zoom lenses to get to our elevator.
Anyway, enjoy these pics!
At any rate, my new friends were game for a stroll despite the already oppressive heat so we headed up Cadman Plaza towards the bridge. The Brooklyn Flea Market is underneath the Brooklyn Bridge...like directly underneath it, so we had very little trouble finding it. We were almost there when we asked directions from someone at the nearby farmer's market. The pictures are here:
 |
| Brooklyn Flea Market |
I'm already thinking about going back when the weather gets better because it was far too hot to do much besides stroll around and check things out before we had to get out of the sun. The Brooklyn Brew Shop, that has a tent there, promotes all grain brewing and sells bags of pre-mixed grains to get you started...and they make it sound so much easier than any book I've read says it is. I think I'd like to check out what they sell and give it a shot.
We stopped at a grocery and grabbed some cool beverages after and went on our way, then I came straight home and did errands around the house and got so tied up in that, I forgot that my cousin and I were going to see a movie. I was so far into cleaning my room and all the cat hair that I ended up going ahead and trying out my desk against a different wall and reorganizing everything. Now, I've got designs on actually getting rid of some old documents and throwing away some extra weight.
I just feel like if I can do that, it'll start to feel like my life is more in order and I'll be more productive in everything else I attempt. Another extension of this notion is that if I can get my NY driver license and fully move my accounts up here, I will be even closer to organizational nirvana. (I know that this is a ridiculous way to look at things, and am fully aware that I will soon find something else with my life that is not in order and may spend the rest of my life chasing perfection as such, but bear with me for a second here. I'm trying to tell a story). So Monday morning, I went to the DMV with just about every official document that proves I exist tucked in a folder in my shoulder bag and a determination that no line could staunch...even if said line started at the front door of the building and snaked down a hallway to the elevator to the 8th floor. I freaked for a second but then I realized the place opened only fifteen minutes before I got there so they were probably still trying to slowly funnel people up the elevators. The line upstairs couldn't be that bad. It wasn't except for the fact that the guy behind me felt the need to sing whatever was on his iPod and crowd my space every time the line moved forward.
Now, I won't even bother going into the utter frustration that exchanging an out-of-state driver's license has been. Suffice it to say that it's a bureaucratic mess. See here the list of acceptable documents for proof of ID and birth date.
Once I was out of there, it was only about 10:00am so I walked down to Madison Square Park, freshened up in a Starbuck's and then figured I would head down to the West Village, sit in a coffee shop for a bit and then, walk around taking pictures like a tourist. I managed to sit in Christopher Park on 7th Avenue for a bit and rest, and then, finally, I was able to get some pictures of the Chelsea Market, the building where my main job is. I've been avoiding it so long because, knowing how annoying the actual tourists can be, I didn't want to contribute to the mayhem by stopping in the middle of the walkway taking photos or otherwise gawking. It can be crazy. Sometimes I wish us NY 1 employees had a private back entrance to the place so we wouldn't have to weave between strollers and zoom lenses to get to our elevator.
Anyway, enjoy these pics!
 |
| West Village and Chelsea Market best |
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Homebrew Supply shop, where are you?
Another productive day off. Which makes it feel not at all like a day off. I finished the music for film score number 1, for the NYU student, did a little laundry, cleaned, (finally got my package from zZounds, the long-awaited sustain pedal for my keyboard), did some online banking, dropped off a book at the Brooklyn Public library, picked up some random things I needed from the grocery store, and even worked a little on the new film score for my friend from NY 1. Oh, and some of you may notice that I have finished the tedious task of putting tags on all of my blogs to more easily categorize each entry. Just something I wanted to do for a while. There are blurbs, entries on why I moved to New York, entries about music, jobs, posts with pictures. You get the idea.
And I just finished cleaning the kitchen. I still have a few things on my mind that I would like to try to accomplish at some point. One is to get a fermentation lock for home brewing. The one I had disappeared during the move and it's sort of an essential piece for home brewing. So, I decided not to order one from the homebrew shop at home because they cost a dollar and some change and I have this aversion to paying more than the cost of an item to ship it. Also, I thought I'd give searching around here for a homebrew supply shop another shot. And wouldn't you know it, between now and the last time that I looked online, some enterprising individuals have taken it upon themselves to open one up, right under my nose. Brooklyn Homebrew opened up back in July right here in Sunset Park but they've been blogging about their intentions to open up in the area for a few months prior and were even featured in Time Out New York (also right under my nose as I subscribe to the mag and never saw the brief blurb about them).
I decided to scope it out today and see if I couldn't also get some grains to use with the kit I have. I went down there after my short trip to the Brooklyn Library, only to walk by the address with a quizzical expression on my face. By the Google Maps location, I was already skeptical that any business could be in this location, because it's a street block and not out on one of the avenues, but upon passing the location twice (so as not to look strange stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and staring), I was convinced it couldn't actually be there. It's a freaking brownstone the address they give on their website! No sign out front either, so I opted not to go up and knock, but instead to come home and do a little more research. So, I wound up finding this. Apparently there is another brew supply outlet in the borough but they are part of the Brooklyn Flea Market which only happens Sunday (by the Brooklyn Bridge) and Saturday (in Fort Greene). So this Sunday, I think I'll head up to High St. and check it out. If I can't get a bubbler there, I'm in trouble.
For tonight, I'm deciding between watching Harry Potter 5 (again), watching Zodiac (which just came from Netflix) or working more on my music for the new film score. Any of the above choices are going to be coupled with pouring another glass of ice water and wiping the sweat off my brow. One thing I didn't check off my list today was to get a fan. I could just go down to this store that just opened up near the corner of 8th and 42nd and buy one right now, but I just don't want to get ripped off or pay more than $25 for one when I might be able to find one on freecycle.
All I know is that the sooner this humidity is over, the happier Tim will be.
And I just finished cleaning the kitchen. I still have a few things on my mind that I would like to try to accomplish at some point. One is to get a fermentation lock for home brewing. The one I had disappeared during the move and it's sort of an essential piece for home brewing. So, I decided not to order one from the homebrew shop at home because they cost a dollar and some change and I have this aversion to paying more than the cost of an item to ship it. Also, I thought I'd give searching around here for a homebrew supply shop another shot. And wouldn't you know it, between now and the last time that I looked online, some enterprising individuals have taken it upon themselves to open one up, right under my nose. Brooklyn Homebrew opened up back in July right here in Sunset Park but they've been blogging about their intentions to open up in the area for a few months prior and were even featured in Time Out New York (also right under my nose as I subscribe to the mag and never saw the brief blurb about them).
I decided to scope it out today and see if I couldn't also get some grains to use with the kit I have. I went down there after my short trip to the Brooklyn Library, only to walk by the address with a quizzical expression on my face. By the Google Maps location, I was already skeptical that any business could be in this location, because it's a street block and not out on one of the avenues, but upon passing the location twice (so as not to look strange stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and staring), I was convinced it couldn't actually be there. It's a freaking brownstone the address they give on their website! No sign out front either, so I opted not to go up and knock, but instead to come home and do a little more research. So, I wound up finding this. Apparently there is another brew supply outlet in the borough but they are part of the Brooklyn Flea Market which only happens Sunday (by the Brooklyn Bridge) and Saturday (in Fort Greene). So this Sunday, I think I'll head up to High St. and check it out. If I can't get a bubbler there, I'm in trouble.
For tonight, I'm deciding between watching Harry Potter 5 (again), watching Zodiac (which just came from Netflix) or working more on my music for the new film score. Any of the above choices are going to be coupled with pouring another glass of ice water and wiping the sweat off my brow. One thing I didn't check off my list today was to get a fan. I could just go down to this store that just opened up near the corner of 8th and 42nd and buy one right now, but I just don't want to get ripped off or pay more than $25 for one when I might be able to find one on freecycle.
All I know is that the sooner this humidity is over, the happier Tim will be.
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