So hungry!

If this blog was a child, it would have quietly passed away from malnourishment a couple days ago, slumped in my closet, the dying cries being drowned out by "Grip Like A Vice" by The Go! Team and the evangelical ramblings of those crazy kids in Jesus Camp.

Here's what I've been up to. The first sentence informs you of what the rest of the paragraph is about, so skip the ones you don't care about.

1. I acquired a roommate at the start of this month, her musings can be read here (along with pictures of our apartment, documentation I have not been able to produce ever since I was robbed). Living with someone has both ups and downs. I can no longer walk around the apartment in my underwear, marveling at my stunning physique in the giant mirror doors in my foyer. My ego may start to suffer from the lack of self-ogling. On the plus side, I've actually had meals and someone to watch movies with, so it's a winning situation. And who knows, she may eventually warm to the idea of me flexing my nearly nude self. Um, a lot of that was a joke.

2. My improv group that has been practicing since May finally has a name and a debut date. We are Bad Data (myspace link) after oh-so-much deliberation and our first show will be at Under St. Mark's on September 1st, with Sherpa. I feel a lot more confident about myself when I'm with these guys (or gals, actually, me and Mitch are far outnumbered) and I think we're on the way to forming a nice solid unit. Crazy, I've been performing with Jess and Katey for almost a year now. A year! I'm looking forward to getting into the performing scene; I feel a bit like Rob in High Fidelity when he finally releases an album he produced after years of loving music. You become a part of what you love.

3. I started interning at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater the first Friday of this month. The internship lasts the duration of two back-to-back UCB classes (usually 4-6 months), the first of mine begins at the start of September. It's a special sketch writing class focusing on writing for Saturday Night Live. I'm way excited about it. Back to the internship, I'm loving it so far. I love being a wee bit responsible for the running of the theater. I feel like I'm earning my keep in a way, that this differentiates me from just being a touristy person stopping by. I feel like I'm paying my dues, I feel as good as I did when I was interning at Late Show. Also, this is as close as I'm going to come to feeling like a cast member in Empire Records. It's awesome.

4. My 401 class with Michael Delaney is another case entirely. We had our first class show (of two) on Monday and it went....okay. I've been struggling, or just getting by, in class, not really making any huge mistakes or getting a lot of notes. Until Sunday. I got a weird note. Delaney told me I tend to always play character games that are fine, but they take focus away from my scene partner and can become dull and boring to the audience. Okay sometimes, but I do this in every scene I'm in, so, no good. It was also a compliment because he said I'm clever and a really funny guy, and that I have the ability to take anything (anything) tossed at me in a scene and justify it immediately. That's good. I just need to learn how to apply that to enhancing my scene partner and not myself.

5. I'm doing poorly with my 100 Film Initiative. I've only seen 53 movies this year which puts me about two months behind schedule. No doubt how busy I've been has affected this, but on the plus side, I think this is a record. I can't think of any other time when I've seen 53 movies in a year, so, go me. Stranger Than Fiction was the last one I watched and I thought it was really touching, so much so it deserved a five star rating (thus causing an even greater rift in me and Ashley's Netflix similarity rating). I also got to see Superbad a good while before it opens and I can say that it is good. Highly entertaining with just enough smarts and true character work to balance out the gross out humor and constant barrage of f-bombs (it distracted me at times, so what?).

6. I bought tickets to see The Apples In Stereo in September. I would have gotten Go! Team tickets but they sold out before I even knew they were on sale. This greatly irritates me since every time I watch a clip of them on YouTube, I become immediately envious of the people in the front row getting sprayed by the sweat being blasted off of Ninja's body by her jubilant jumping and dancing. I mean, they have a great live show, even if the vocals are completely different live than on the record (I'm still not sure if I have the UK or US version of the debut album, or if the supposed changes are even noticeable). The Hives have a date in October not opening for Maroon 5, so I have to figure out when those go on sale and get them. Seeing The Hives live will complete a 5 year long mission of mine.

7. Comic books are great. I spent The Great Flood Day last week (right?) reading the start of Bill Sienkiewicz's run on New Mutants and I haven't been let down. The art is solid (better at the start than towards the end) and Claremont's characterization is a thing to study and emulate. The man was a genius. Reading these issues for the first time (yep!) makes me love Cannonball and Wolfsbane even more. And yeah, shame on me for reading them for the first time. I got most of the 80s spin-off books at random times and usually in bulk, so I never made it through all of them.

8. I'm G.I. Joe crazy right now and the 25th Anniversary of the relaunched Hasbro line is the reason. The action figures that are coming out/have come out are breathtaking. Seriously. I spent a whole afternoon reading about the Joes on wikipedia and have decided to buy back issues of the Marvel Comics series. I wonder what happened to me and the Joes. I've been a fan for as long as I can remember and they stood the test of time, outliving TMNT and existing alongside Star Wars and the X-Men until the comic ended in 1995. But then they just sorta faded away, I guess my outgrowing toys (in the playing-with-them capacity) and the disappearance of the comic and cartoon erasing them from my mind and day-to-day existence.

9. I've been included in a sketch group that is tentatively called Zartan (after I realized that every member of Cobra's code-names would be a great improv/sketch team name). I performed in a sketch a couple weeks ago at UCB's "Liquid Courage" (a show where anyone can perform a sketch, as long as you sign up and, you know, have a sketch prepared). The goal is to do this every time "Courage" is offered and eventually start performing at other venues and putting things on YouTube.

10. Things that annoy me: FedEx/delivery people not having pens when they deliver something and need you to sign for it. Subway rides to Brooklyn.

Hopefully this was enough to keep the child that is my blog alive for a little while longer.

Slippery People

Awesome picture from Spider-Man 3. Too excited. Good comics this week that, yeah, I'm not going to review. Okay, I should write an entry dedicated to the last issue of the Vaughan/Alphona Runaways. Yeah, I'm sure I'll do that at some point...

Saturday afternoon I went to improv practice in a short sleeve shirt and my corduroy suit coat. Today, right now, there's a whole mess o' snow blowin' outside the window. This insane shift in weather reminds me of Tennessee. How I miss home.

The new apartment is going well. I have it all to myself and will have it all to myself for the forseeable future. I'm acting like this is a good thing even though I still have absolutely no, no, no nonono way of paying for it. Okay, I can pay for it and will but the eating is now becoming optional. Oh, and don't expect pictures anytime soon since Thuggy McRobberson took my camera. But the framed pictures of my favorite bands/tv shows have started going up and now that I know I'm roommateless, I can conquer the living room.

I've been having a great 2007 (is the beast dead?) this past week and a half. It's crazy how meeting someone can change your outlook and whatever; I finally feel like I'm meeting people and all that...like I have a social life. It helps to have a person to be social with (no way I'd go to a birthday party in the Bronx alone). I've gone record shopping too, thanks to being with someone who knows their way around. I found actual Squeeze CDs, albums, not the greatest hits...but the money problem from the previous paragraph keeps these things from coming home with me. That's fine.

This has been a great couple days for improv. I saw TJ & Dave on Friday night, which was mighty inspiring. I can only hope to one day be that intelligent and dedicated; until then I'll keep playing creepy clowns and imposter astronauts from the USSR. Which is what I did this weekend during my two practice sessions and 201 class. It's nice to see myself improving, although a couple times this weekend I pretty much blanked out during some scenes because I really had no clue what was going on, which is a problem I haven't had before. So I guess when one problem disappears a new one hops on.

I got to see Davis and his wife Amanda last night, extremely randomly. I didn't even know they were up here for spring break, so it was a pleasant surprise. Make note: I enjoy visitors and now have a pretty gnarly place for people to stay at. Yes, gnarly.

I'm extremely exhausted (another aspect of being social and wanting to spend time with someone) which is both well worth it and, um, tiring. I'm exhausted which is tiring. I just typed that, albeit with a big ol parenthetical statement in there.

I don't have internet at home yet. That'll be fixed at some point.

Boring blog, but things are going well.

Home is where I want to be.

The parents got in to NYC at midnite Monday night/Tuesday morning with the Pathfinder full of the winter coats (too late), shoes, records, most of my DVD library, and a couple hundred comics. We went to sleep and woke up early Tuesday morning to go to the management place to sign the lease and have my Dad turn in his guarantor thing. The Pathfinder is so crammed full of stuff, I have to sit up front on the gear shift/in my mom's lap for an hour while we wade through horrible BQE traffic. We get to the management place and are firmly told, for the first time mind you, that it's a no go. My dad lives in TN and can't be a guarantor due to crazy NY law. I make enough money to qualify for a $500 a month place, which does not exist. I haven't been at my job long enough. Blah blah blah, nevermind the fact that the landlord is fine with it as is the broker. But still, harsh no and no guarantor means no apartment. Something they could have informed me of when they asked for one or when I said I had one. I guess they just assume that all guarantors live in New York. I guess that's what Staten Island is for, guarantor colonies.

The frantic call goes to the broker after this meeting since, hello, I am homeless on Thursday and only have a two day window to move. Plus Pathfinder full of junk. Broker shows us to a crack den, a two bedroom crack den no-less! Broker shows us to an okay/small two-bedroom with all sorts of tools and half-finished projects in it! Not ready yet! Broker shows us a crazy inconvenient two bedroom that's a bit bigger but insanely ugly and, also, not finished (a door was off the hinges). In the midst of this insanity, it becomes apparent that we have to look at one bedroom apartments, so broker takes us to a nice little neighborhood to a privately owned house/building that rents out the floors. Bottom floor, huge bedroom, a foyer and living room of equal size, adorable green colored living room, new appliances, retro-ish cabinets, pink tile bathroom...lovely. The guy living there was moving out that day, so it was a tight fit but it would work. Broker got the rent down a hundred dollars and, oh, UTILITIES INCLUDED.

After lots of soul-searching, we took it. I started moving in around 9:00 PM, 12 hours later than planned. We got two Pathfinder loads in before heading back to Brooklyn for the last night and to finish the cleaning. We woke up early Wednesday morning, finished packing and cleaning, and had our final run in with the landlord. My mom called him and left him a harsh voicemail (deserved) and told him that we need our security deposit back. He showed up and saw that, wow, no holes in the apartment. The damage we inflicted by not keeping the door or window open when showering was apparently not as bad as he knew it would be.

Then he starts in on giving me a life lesson about Saturday. In front of my parents. I'm not having this.

"You have to understand that I have 60 days to show apartment!"
"You have the common courtesy to call me, like you said you would, before you do. And I don't appreciate you insulting me like that, especially in front of people you're trying to rent to."
"Hey! I sixty eight years old!"
"Then act like it! We just want our money and to go, drop it."
"You need to learn respect, blah blah blah--"
"I have two parents to tell me this stuff, I don't need to hear it from you."

My parents are holding me back, which is odd since it's usually me and my dad holding Mom back. He starts in with my mother,

"I show apartment to black lady, I no rent to black lady--"
"Which is a great policy, by the way. Real nice" I was done with his racism. He started in on me again and I realized that this was retarded. I slammed the keys on the counter.
"I don't have to listen to you anymore. I'm done."

I left the apartment and took the toaster and rug down to the Pathfinder. My parents were in there for another half hour. They finally come out, we load up, and apparently he's not sure about the security deposit since there are scratches on the stove. That were there when we moved in. That we have pictures of. That also come from using the stove. This is a landlord that expects you to, seriously, hover at all times in the apartment and eat take-out in a Mind Bubble so as to not get anything anywhere. I hope he is chopped up and left in a garbage can by black people, which is the reasoning he gave to my parents justifying his renting habits.

We got the final load to Astoria and unloaded it and began the unpacking process. Things are good. It's not convenient train-wise...at all really, but it's a place that feels like home.

And after the last two days, that's all I want.

Bad/Good

It's hard coming up with pictures, so here's a cool Talking Heads one.

This weekend has been one of the most turbulent of my life, in both good and bad ways.

BAD: I actually had a near violent altercation with my current landlord. A month ago when it was decided I would be not renewing my lease, he said he would always call me when he was going to show the apartment. I said that would be fine since I wouldn't be home most of the time. Whatever. The less time I have to deal with him, the better. I find out on Saturday that yes, he has been showing the apartment without telling me from my ex-roommate who was home for just such a pop-in. WTF mate? So on Saturday, the doorbell rings furiously for a couple minutes. A couple minutes because I always try to wait it out and see if he'll just go away (this should not be etiquette with a landlord; in this case it's necessary). He wouldn't so I went downstairs to find him with a trio of Asian men. He's showing the apartment. I let him in and ask, "oh, is this the first time you've shown the apartment?" "Yes! Yes! First time, of course!" "Oh, well, I just heard from Jon that you showed it yesterday, and you didn't let me know." "F***! I don't have to let you know s***! It's in the lease, I have 60 day! 60 day, I can show whenever I want!" "That's fine, you just said you'd call me as a common courtesy."

This back and forth continues until we get to the apartment. Upon reaching the top of the stairs I say "Just show the apartment, I don't want to talk about anything else." This makes him really mad but it's necessary to say since every time he enters my life, he veers off topic and ends up spending 15 minutes telling me why I should leave the toilet seat down.

We enter and he says "You know what, I don't like you so much, and I tell your mother this." Whatever, I go back to my room and sit there while he shows the apartment. He gets to my room and says, "Here's bedroom, this guy lives like this. Filthy." He then starts telling me how horrible a tenant I've been, how I have "a shitty face" and how I need to learn to respect people. The Asian men are pretty speechless. "Don't rent from him, he's a horrible landlord," I calmly tell them. I then tell the landlord "You don't respect me. Might I remind you of the time that you instructed me about answering the phone for 10 minutes? Or when you busted into my apartment the morning after I was broken into and interrogated my sleeping guests? And how you think I should call you everytime I leave the apartment or have anyone over? If I should have that courtesy, you should have the courtesy to call me and let me know when you're showing my apartment." "F*** you! You respect me, I could be your grandfather! You need to learn respect!" "If you're so mature, then why are you yelling at me and telling me I have a shitty face?"

Note that I was remaining calm and seated and saying all of this passively, to further illustrate how insane he is.

"F*** you! You are done and I am glad to never see you again! Horrible!" All 3 Asian men peek their head into my line of sight, smile awkwardly and say "Sorry!" I say, "No, that's okay! You guys seem great and I hope you find a great place. Have a nice day!"

They all leave. I'm infuriated. But I know I totally got the better of that altercation.

Then today the real estate broker we're using, who is an incredibly nice and gracious guy, calls and says that just in case the apartment falls through he has a small two-bedroom/kitchen/bathroom apartment for us for significantly cheaper. Okay...but, you know, Hal has an apartment full of furniture that won't fit into an apartment that doesn't include a LIVING ROOM. I'm not going to be homeless on Tuesday, but things are stressful and...ugh.

GOOD: I had my first practice session at UCB this morning (noon-3, so afternoon I guess) and it went great. I was working with 12 new people and being instructed by Gavin Speiller, one of my UCB heroes. So, you know, joyful joyful. I got some nice notes and I'm starting to learn more about game (Bill Bellamy?). I got all the apartment news in between and, due to my lack of sleep and general grunginess, I felt horrible going into class. Somehow, though, I managed to have what I thought was my best class so far. I took Shannon's notes and only played characters of either high status or overblown confidence, and it was a ball. I got to do my Jon Daly (of Mother) impersonation twice; he's the default guy for cocky confident improv in my warped mind. So much fun and I really felt myself starting to learn more about game and second beats and how to interact to back line support and tag outs and whatnot. Back line support is something that, while I'm nowhere near sure if I'm really good at it, I really enjoy. I like actively listening to a scene and then trying to figure out what I can do to toss something new in or help out my teammates. This is what I want to do: I want to be the guy that comes in, moves the scene along (with or without laugh) and gets out before it gets all clustery. I'm learning how to do this while also learning how to diversify my characters. NERD ALERT.

I also got to know someone a lot better this weekend, which definitely goes into the good pile. Seeing this person made the nasty of Saturday tolerable and forgettable. No matter what, come Tuesday I will be entering a new and long-lasting phase of my life in New York City and it's one that, judging by this weekend, I'm both ready for and looking forward to.

2nd Verse/Same As 1st

I know everyone wants more out of me than just a blog about a panther. For everyone who I don't get to bug on a daily basis (a good 98% of the people I know), here's some stuff.

I hate apartments. More like, I hate the process of getting an apartment. Credit checks, faulty faxes, landlords, security deposits X2, it's such a hassle and a very complicated process. Just give me a key! I want to live in Astoria!

Me and my roommate met our real estate guy last night and he took us up to an office, leading us straight through the Democratic Party of Astoria's meeting. Nothing like going up stairs and opening a door to see a room full of people listening to one person speak about real issues. Or something, I didn't hear what they were talking about, I was attempting to bury my face in the floor while walking to the office. Our real estate guy was then yelled at by some dude in the office for disrupting the meeting. Crazy awkward and it moved us along a centimeter in the mile that is getting this apartment.

Last night was probably the most fun I've had in a long while. I met up with Jessica and her travel buddy Cubby to go see a very enjoyable show at The Magnet Theater. This was my third time there and it was indeed a charm. Cage Match followed at UCB, where two more of my 201 classmates were waiting in line. I'm liking this "seeing people I know" thing. Who knows, maybe I'll give up sitting by myself? Reuben Williams was half there, but Joe, Sanders, Eric and King were a fantastic foursome. Beverly Hills gave a solid show as well; I really enjoy seeing them and see them grow every time. It seems like they've really started to hit a stride in their performance.

The post-show events were even better; I love meeting new people (that's a change) and the people I met were indeed great. I'm going to see the Yes Andersens (Magnet team) again on Saturday night. Definitely looking forward to it.

Sunday is my 201 improv practice session and class, so it'll be an eventful day. I'm starting to get more involved in UCB, asking questions and actually talking to people. This is quite possibly the best thing to happen to me since being up here and I feel like I'm starting to come into my own. I realized, well I realized it a long time ago and this is just proving a point, I realized the other night that I need something to get lost in and something to devote all of my waking hours to.

In high school I did this with my circle of friends; we were all so incredibly tight and it seemed like we spent an enormous amount of time together. Serious jobs and adult obligations being nonexistant in high school, this was easy. I did this with the Features heavily for the first year of college and then less so throughout. Promoting them, going to all their shows, making mix CDs for friends. The movie theater became my obsession when I worked there only because it was impossible to not become obsessed, working there as much as I did. I blogged about it, wrote two episodes of a sitcom based on it, and documented my life there with my wee little spy camera. This did not happen at Payless or Books-a-Million. Moving on. MTTV became my primary focus and will forever be the obsessive thing to which all obsessive things are measured against. My work there got me to New York, so the days where I would do three or four live broadcasts on top of going to class and working paid off. UCB is becoming this and I know it's going to provide as many opportunities as MTTV did.

Now for the namesake of the blog, conversations I had last night have rekindled my love of a certain era of music, one that I immortalized in an iPod mix back in January. It's called "2nd Verse/Same As 1st" and features 20 highlights from 1976-1981.

1. The Ramones "Judy Is A Punk"
2. The Jam "In The City"
3. Talking Heads "Pulled Up"
4. Television "Marquee Moon"
5. Wire "Ex-Lion Tamer"
6. Devo "Uncontrollable Urge"
7. Elvis Costello & The Attractions "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea"
8. The B-52's "Rock Lobster"
9. The Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen In Love?"
10. The Clash "Clash City Rockers"
11. Gang Of Four "I Found That Essence Rare"
12. Squeeze "Slap & Tickle"
13. The Undertones "Teenage Kicks"
14. XTC "Making Plans For Nigel"
15. Echo & The Bunnymen "Do It Clean"
16. Liliput "Split"
17. The Pretenders "Tattooed Love Boys"
18. Pylon "Feast On My Heart"
19. The Soft Boys "I Wanna Destroy You"
20. Mission Of Burma "Outlaw"

I listened to this today. And all of Marquee Moon. Good times.