Coworkers, Machetes, and Purchases: The Weekend Wrap-up plus a Manic Monday Recap

Friday:


I got a new phone on my lunch break. It's an LG phone, and it is sleek, black, and sexy. I am instantly cooler with this phone in my hand. I also got a case for it, and I upped my text messages. I also FINALLY have a phone with a camera on it. I am slowly getting the hang of it.

I went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant called El Molinos with my coworkers JR, Andrew, Bridgette, Keneetha(KD), and Yolanda (LaLa). It was cool. They drank alcohol, but I didn't. It was cool. My coworkers rock.

Saturday:

I got a haircut early in the morning (shoutout to Cartrell at Jabo's on Germantown Parkway), then I did some grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. I also got my friend Denna her Christmas gift, a Barbie doll from the line based on the movie Grease. This Barbie was based on Stockard Channing's character from that movie, Rizzo. I even called Denna to make sure that she didn't have it. We do that. I'd rather have the right gift than a surprise.
Later, I went to sleep, then I got up and started looking for clothes for my shoot that day. While searching for a loose fitting army jacket, Christian called me. He is in the group Free Sol and he also acts. He tells me that I ALSO need to find a black bandana. I began to get a little stressed, but I kept looking for the loose fitting army jacket. I tried looking in different thrift stores, but I could not find one that fit me. Most of them were mediums, and I'm a big guy. I found a large green jumpsuit, but it was tight in, ahem, a very sensitive area. Needless to say, I was not ready to sacrifice my ability to conceive for this movie, so I passed on it. By 2 PM, I started searching for the black bandana. Basically, I went to the Eastgate shopping center. Men's Wearhouse, Stein Mart, and Casual Male were all busts. My next stop was Michael's, a craft store. I went in and asked a clerk if they had bandanas, and she said "Sure. Aisle 14". I said, "Bless you", and got a brand-new black bandana for $1.96 including tax. God bless you, Michaels!!

Later, I made it to the set. They had an army jacket. It was a medium, but it was not too tight. Oh, yeah, the name of this film is Cigarette Girl. Christian, his roommate, and I were the Dead Grass Boys. Our characters lived in a future world and smoked toxic dead grass to get high. Christian was Prophet, the leader. I didn't have a name, but I did get a nice black machete. I began fondling it, and the crew took pictures of it. Christian's rommate and I had to rough up the runaway girl, played by Ivy. She looked kinda like this comic book character named Tank Girl. She said that was one of her favorite characters. She was all punk rockish, but hella cool. We will probably film more this weekend. I also had to wear makeup because we all had these symbols on our foreheads, and stuff on our cheeks and eyes. I was very fidgety, I never had eye makeup on before. Everybody laughed about it, including me. I will try to be better next time.

Later, after filming, I went to Hastings. I bought a used copy of Shoot 'Em Up for $7.99. I also bought Showdown at the Cotton Mill, a kung fu film, as a Christms present for Paul "P-Dub" West. My last used film, The Lookout, was priced at $1.99, but Hastings has this promotion where if you buy 2 used DVDs, you can get a third one for a penny. That's just so cool!

I saw the new Tyler Perry film, The Family that Preys. It had a solid cast: Sanaa Lathan, Rockmond Dunbar, Taraji P. Henson, Kathy Bates, and Alfre Woodard. It was very entetaining, and Bates and Woodard worked well together. Tyler only had one overly preachy moment, but it fit. There were a few too many coincidences that wrapped the movie up, but it was okay. I will give it 3.5/5 on flixster.com. Sanaa Lathan's character was very mean, and treated her husband(Rockmond Dunbar)like dirt. I hated to be a sterotypical African-American, but we were all yelling at the screen. It was a very enjoyable film.

Sunday:

I chatted with Rod about movies for a minute, then I met up with Denna to get passes to an advance screening of Lakeview Terrace, the new Samuel Jackson film. Jackson plays a cop who disapproves of an interracial couple that moves into his neighborhood. Kerry Washington(Ray)plays the African-American wife of Jackson's white male neigbor. I hope it's good. Sam has got to learn to say no. You don't have to do EVERY film that's offered to you. Denna and I chit-chatted for a minute, then I went to Borders. They had the Afro Samurai comic. Afro Samurai is a manga, or Japanese comic. It was turned into an anime, or Japanese cartoon, and it aired on Spike TV a few years ago. My brother gave me the DVD of the series on my b-day a few years ago. They have revamped the original comic story, and put it out in America for the first time. I look forward to reading this book. Afterwards, I went back home for a minute, then I got dinner, some yogurt from TCBY, and then I saw Kung Fu Panda for $2.50 at the Bartlett 10. It was funny. Jack Black was awesome, and so was Angelina Jolie. Iam McShane was the voice of the main villain, a tiger. I will give it 4/5 on flixster.com. Finally, I went to Hastings and bought a used copy of a graphic novel (JLA:The Nail) for $7.49, then I bought The Lookout and Hitman for Rod Pitts for $1.99. I also bought Confidence for the same price. However, because of the Hastings promotion, I only paid a penny for The Lookout. Good times, baby, good times!!

Monday:

I was a little bummed after work because people started talking about relationships. That talk only reinforces my loneliness. I went to Borders. They had a 40% off sale on DVD boxed sets. I bought Spaced, a series that aired in England on the BBC, their broadcasting system. Spaced is about a group of twentysomething slacker geeks and their misadventures. It is supposed to be full of pop culture references. Also, many people in the cast went on to play in the films Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, which were directed by Edgar Wright. Edgar Wright also cocreated and directed Spaced. I love both of his fims, so I am interested to see his earlier work.

After that, I went to Sonic, then I went to Wal-Mart. It was almost midnight, so I hoped that I could purchase the new Raphael Saadiq CD. The clerk said that the new CDs weren't put out until 2 AM, so that plan was a bust. I ran into Kinshasa Qualls, an old friend of mine. We chitchatted for a minute. She recently started working out. I need to start doing that again. I finally gave up and went home.

I really hope Lakeview Terrace is a good film. Oh, well, at least it's free and playing at a theater near me, the Wolfchase Galleria inside the Wolfchase mall. I apologize for writing a book, but a lot happened to me. Be easy, readers!!