two full days

hey guys - only a couple of days left until we head back until the heat ridden south. we're looking foward to it - mom's cooking sounds great!

a good bit has happened since last post .....

I forgot to add that I went to the BIG BROTHER house, which is just built on the CBS lot. We got to see the master control where they had 40 cameras watching every room and the place where they film the live show. It was really weird; it felt like i was watching humans at a zoo.

Last friday I went to the Ellen Show and saw them putting in lights for the new set they've built. It was kinda boring, but cool to be on the NBC lot. The set will have some cool features to it, Ellen wasn't there.

Saturday I got up and went hiking with Natalie, a friend I've met from class. She's like an avid runner, i didn't know this until we began to climb a mountain, she bearly broke a sweat.
We went 7 total - elevation im not sure of, but it was high. the view at the top overlooked the ocean and santa monica/malibu. i really enjoyed the hike, it's good to get away from the concrete of downtown.

Saturday night my Lighting teacher invited me to the Hollywood Bowl, where she is the lighting designer. She got me a parking pass and a backstage pass - the works. I went to the Lighting both and hung there for the first part of the concert. The LA philharmonic was playing Tchaikovsky and the USC Trojan marching band came out to play the last song with fireworks in the background. I love the Bowl now - I told Mom it wasn't a big deal but the music and the atmosphere was great. Most people came early and brought a picnic basket - everyone had wine. Afterward I got to look around on the stage at the LED lights - these were recently installed and really give the bowl a nice, bright even layer of any color.
I hate that I'll be gone; Dave Matthews Band/Robert Randolph are playing August 28 - I'm sure she could get me back stage for that one.

Sunday Eric and I woke up and helped out on a small shoot in West LA. Our Bible study leader was shooting some stuff for a workshop he's doing soon. He's kinda playing off of "The Office" it was really funny, can't wait to see the final product. Sunday night I helped out at Mosiac, I'll miss everyone there - really great people who know how to serve.

Today I had my last class in Lighting Design - now the class is full of women. not sure if that helps or not..haha we're getting ready for the shoot on wednesday - music video for Thalon. that's about it, last day at DPI is tomorrow, shoot on wednesday and leave on Thursday.

here are some pics of the Hollywood Bowl -
 
                          



See you guys soon!

7 days

well it's been awhile since I've had time to post anything
alot has happened since I really wrote...


my mom and her friend, my aunt and cousin came for a few days...it was really good to hang out with them, i'm glad I had some time to spend with them. i picked them up from the airport and we went to eat at "the ivy" in beverly hills - way too expensive and the food wasn't that wonderful (mine was good...but everyone wasn't thrilled) i'll pass on that place again. we walked down the street to a store called "kitson" this is suppose to be a store where a lot of celebs shop and what not...the girls told me. i did believe them because of hug hefner and kathy lee griffen - e! news was there as well. i then proceed to take them on the greatest tour of LA ever done - all the beaches, the hills, downtown, hollywood, celeb homes, city lookout, etc...little pay, haha, jk i really enjoyed it

we went over to chris' apartment that night (eric and I) for our first real LA party....thankfully the bouncer let us in without any questions - considering it was chris and the rest of the 7 people didn't mind that we were there. we did enjoy hanging out - learned how to play texas hold'em

the next day my mom and I had good trip down to MEXICO - we drove to san diego and I had to drive into mexico, just to say i've driven across the boarder. I'VE DONE IT and i'll never do it again. it took milliseconds to drive into the country - 4 hours to get back to the US. we got a little turned around because the only sign we could make out was "san diego". well the signs stoped after a while and we had to rely on my compass in the truck - we knew to head north. hundreds of mexican children were asking for money - they would come to the truck and put their hands on your window, some would do stunts or juggle...anything to get money.

mom and i didn't get out of the truck - we had some choc. covered cashews to hold us over for the wait in line. i really did enjoy our time though - even in mexico as we got back in to san diego, we drove to cornada island - this place is beautiful. we took a pic in front of a hotel where thomas edison personally installed the lighting system - mom liked the fact that marylin monroe starred in a movie filmed at this place.

on monday our class had a field trip to California Edison - the power company for LA. there we had class in thier light lab - it was really nice and very state of the art. that's about all of i have to say about it. i met up with the girls again (with eric) and we went to sharkey's for dinner then went to see Monster House in 3D (good film - it was fun)

The girls left on tuesday to return home and I went TeenNick to observe the filming of a show. they were shooting segments with Courtney Cox and Tim Allen to air on television - this was to promote the upcoming film ZOOM. it was cool to see these guys up close, and the set was decorated very well.




I left on wednesday for Monterray, CA for SPIRIT WEST COAST. this was a huge festival with many Christian artists and speakers. I volunteered to be a camera man for one of the stages - i got in FREE. Crowder, the Myrid, downhere, Casting Crowns, newsboys, jeremy camp, joy williams...etc... it was good just spending some time to pray and relax. the last night i climbed a hill that overlooked the festival - while the newsboys were playing. it was cold, but amazing to see 30,000 people worshiping. THE LIGHTS WERE COOL TOO... they used versitubes for two of the night concerts. on the way back i drove down CPH (california pacific highway) and saw what looks like a miniture version of new zealand ( im guessing ). the ocean water crashed onto the mountain side that i was driving on...it went by too quick
dave ramsey also helped the time pass - mom gave me the cd's of his siminars and i'm goin to be a millionaire at retirement. that's right folks - be a millionaire by the age of 65!!!! *PLUG he is really good to listen too, had great ideas that night i went and helped out at MOSIAC / it was good to see those guys again...i love the people there after church we went over to ben's house and hung for a short time.

monday...class

monday night .... HILLSONG UNITED so i drove by at 5 and saw the "mile long" line...i tought about skipping it, but i knew that would be a mistake - and did God show me that he helped me make a good decision, oh yes so i was in line myself ( eric at work ) and i met a hispanic girl who is a senior in high school... she was good at talking, so it was akward at all. turns out the line was so long the the 4500 seat center filled up - so they were putting us into another room to watch a live feed of the concert...man, waste of time?? as we were walking - my friend saw her pastor behind the gate and he let us in, took us through a back door and we were in the main concert room. YES!!!! she goes to church there, so she new all the back ways and we finally ended up on the floor to see HILLSONG UNITED. WOW, how crazy was this - i expected to not even get in. i got a cd that is not even being sold in the US yet, MIGHTY TO SAVE. heck yes


so tuesday i went in to work and began editing a demo reel for one of the Lighting Designers. we went to Bible Study that night (small meeting), but good. eric and I went to see Talladega Nights afterward....hmmmm...not the best of Mr. Ferral. it was good, but just a one timer we did see a friend that we know in the film...he was a sheriff at the first winning race.


today went to work and class .... about it i did get done with that reel
Check it out HERE

love you guys - as my Dad would say - 7 days left

WEs

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Photo Album HERE


I'll write later...here are some pics of a very busy week.

hey guys...sorry no post in a while...been busy

mexico
teen nick
big brother

i'm headed to Spirit West Coast right now in Monterrey, CA

wes

just for laughs

Here's ole Hough Hefner - saw him and Kathy Lee Gifard in Beverly Hills today.

My mom, aunt, cousin and one of my mom's friends came to the city today. They'll be here until Tuesday. They were the reason I was in Beverly Hills. more later

it's hot

yeah so there have been a lot of power outages because it's so hot. people are cranking up the a/c and i guess the power companies can't handle it. we've been fine - the a/c is struggling though, it gets pretty warm in the apartment during the day. today it hit a record of 97 degrees - Death Valley area was at 125 degrees. I'm sure it's not as bad as the South, I know it's not..haha

Well yesterday we went to Vinice Beach and got boogie boards. It was pretty fun, Eric kept getting some good waves. Oh yeah, that's the best thing about the beaches out here, the waves are a lot bigger than the Gulf. so we left and ate at Sharkey's....go figure we eat there at least twice a week, they have the best nachos. We came back and took showers and then went downtown to film some stuff - we're filming shots of downtown and cars to make video backgrounds. we'll use them for The Well and we could also sell them online, people are always looking for these things. While we were filming on a bridge, a homeless person walked by and yelled jibberish really loud. He repeated himself and left. crazy.... so we left and followed all of the dance music and lights futher into downtown. some company blocked off a couple of streets and was throwing a huge rave. it looked really cool because all of the lights we're bouncing off of the buildings. i'd say 10,000 people we're there. we decided not to attend.

this morning we got up and drove about 45 min. south to Saddleback Church. Doug Fields was preaching this morning, maybe Rick Warren was writing a book. The church, of course, was huge. You have the oppurtunity to choose three styles of worship that they offer. we went to the "main" service so we didn't have to watch a big screen with the pastor. I did like the church - friendly people and good music (they played a lot of island music) And this guest artist Sarah Kelly played a couple of songs. She was really good - I also found out she has directed a few films. We came back and I watched Miss Universe - I could tell when the girls messed up, because I watched them in rehersal. Somebody forgot to tell me when the rehersal for the swimsuit section was though -

A couple of things - Anna found a really good pizza place in Echo Park - they have Chicago style pizza and the atmosphere is really laid back, relaxing

my good friend Jason Banks sold the first car of his life on Saturday. this was the second day of his "salesman" position and he got sticker price, very uncommon he says. so if you are in need of a new GM vehicle or any used one, see Jason in Starkville, MS

Ok - Below are some pics of the lot I'm working at. Sunset/Gower


A "Morgue" set in the basement of one of Stage 14- the day prior this wasn't there and I walked in the next day and saw this...haha


The Lindsey Lohan Movie


The LOT


A veiw of the Paramount water tower from the parking garage

Also - the film Eric and I worked on "Prayer Warrior" just got a trailer edited. PrayerWarriorWebsite
Here is the link to the trailer -> TRAILER
Eric shot most of the stuff you see and I assisted in certain aspects.

have a wonderful Monday!
wes