Auditions, Karoke, Filming: Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday:
I auditioned for My Blueberry Nights. Lisa Lax, the casting director, said that I was good, but I was moving out of frame. Hopefully, I can at least be an extra, if nothing else. Getting paid to act is the coolest. I ran into Naseera Lewis (What Goes Around), Trent Dee (21 Grams, Divine Manipulations of the Threads), and Anthony Bocco. I also ran into actor/filmmaker Timm Scalita (Heart +Strings, Last Call Lovin') and actress Cherina Black (Love of Angels, A Cop, A Snitch, and a Stripper Named Shane). I ran into a young lady named Kim who is a theatre student at the University of Memphis. She is a phenomenal theatre actess and she is trying her hand at the film game. I wish her the best.
Later, I went to Jordan's for karoke. My first song was Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dyin". Later, I tried the Ohio Player's "Love Rollercoaster". Next, I teamed with Ritchie "The Mayor of Frazier" Pierce (Almost Made, Sex and Death) and performed "Nuttin' But a G Thang". My last solo number was Sugar Ray's "Every Morning". Then, I teamed with another Jordan's regular, Uncle Ricki, for Warren G and Nate Dogg's "Regulate".

Saturday:
I didn't really have any plans, so I went to Oak Court Mall, went to the comic book store, and chilled out. I called Rod Pitts (www.pittstopproductions.com) on a whim, and he informed me that there was a wrap party/get-together at the home of director/actor Keenon Nikita's mother. I told him that I would be there. I saw Miami Vice at the Paradiso. Good film, but the ending seemed a little rushed. After that, I went down to Peabody Place and chilled out, bought a few things I didn't need, like a Boondocks t-shirt and the debut album of my favorite rapper, Common. It's called Can I Borrow a Dollar? I had to have it for the collection.
After all that merriment, I had to pick Rod up from the Gibson Guitar Factory, where he had been photographing a fashion show. I heard it was the bomb. A lot of Pittstop Productions people were involved in the festivities. I was trying to budget. After navigating several one-way streets and closed roads, I finally made it to the Gibson and we rolled out to Keenon's mom's house. It was cool. I heard I missed an appearance by THE Travis Stone (Ray, Delusions), but it was okay. Until Rod told me we had an 8AM call time on Tricks the next day. He said that he had forgotten. Thanks, bro! You're the greatest! Needless to say, we called it a night.

Sunday:

I overslept a little, but I rushed to get decent, and by the time I made it to Rod's house, he was already at the location. He told me to get some lights from his crib. I made it to the police station on the U of M campus. We shot a jail scene. Actor/writer/director of Tricks, DeAara Lewis, was there, as was her sister Raven and our sound man, Czarchus. Deneka Lewis, another Lewis sister, was in a scene along with Jon Sparks (www.jonwsparks.blogspot.com). Sparky's lovely wife was also there, along with Tommy Kha aka Song for photography. It was good to see the little smart aleck. We talk bad to each other, but I think there's some respect there...maybe. I think I may have upset Sparky's wife with my assessment of Lifetime. I called it the Whiny Chick Channel Feminists, please don't protest or take off your bras and burn them in front of me....wait a minute, what am I saying? Okay, back to the shoot, it was quick, it was fun, and we bid adieu to the Sparks and moved on to J2, a clothing store on Highland. The scene there involved DeAara's character and the male lead played by another Keenon (not Nikita). The owners graciously let us use the store on the day it was closed. I had to get on a chair and a phone book with LaDonna holding it to plug this light in. I got a slow clap for my efforts and a quick on-camera interview with Rod for my efforts. I am so glad I didn't fall, because Rod can be evil with the camera. The shoot was hot because we couldn't run air conditioning because of sound issues. Also, one of the gels started smoking under this softbox light. I yelled, "Hey, it's burning" and had to watch the light. Rod and DeAara kindly admonished me for yelling. We didn't want the owners kicking us out. We made it through the shoot, and then we rolled to the Shelby County Justice Department headquarters aka "201 Poplar" for a quick scene with Deneka. After that, Rod and I rolled back to his side of town, got some energy drinks and flavored water from Walgreen's (Yay!! Walgreens!!!) and called it a night.

Today, me and my wrestling crew are going to a live broadcast of the WWE's "Monday Night Raw". I love my wrestling. It should be fun. I can feel the excitement in the air. Oh, yeah, shout out to Deneka Lewis for saying she read my blog and that she thought it was funny. Be easy, readers.