meters and foot lighting

I will never be a true Kiwi… and I hope that’s okay. It’s strange giving up your home (i.e. country) and trying to claim a new place. I didn’t grow up here, I can never really celebrate Waitangi Day (I mean, I can participate like a Frenchman watching a 4^th of July parade), and there are just some things I may not ever grasp. Like the metric system. And that pisses me off. Here we have a perfectly good structure of measurement, based on numbers that make sense (like 1000mm = 1m and freezing is 0 degrees), yet I have wasted 31 years of my life with the understanding that this particular distance is 12 inches, or a foot. What a waste.

But pulling out my tape measure every time someone asks me for a length of truss aside, work is still flowing, and I have lit everything from a world touring drag show (where I learned the art of foot lighting from a queen) to a formal dinner for the American Embassy. And so far I’ve been pretty happy just with the fact I had work and a little (very little) money coming in. Until last weekend.

My “Warrant of Fitness” expired on my car about 2 weeks ago. No problem, I pretty much bike everywhere anyway. So I leave my car parked on the street in front of my house and become a dedicated bike commuter until I have the time and feel the need to take care of it. Well, the need arose this weekend when I received a $200 ticket because (as I learned the hard way) it is illegal to park on a public road (read as: in front of my house) with expired tags. Here I thought I was doing the right thing by not driving it… silly me. The piss icing on this shit cake was when I took the car in and it failed the inspection, needing 3 new tires, and a few other piddly things.

Under “normal” circumstances, a vehicle issue of this magnitude would send me sobbing home and hysterically thinking of any way I could ditch my car and get our of this financial mess (for some reason, spending money on a car is one of the few things that will ruin my day). But here, being completely out of my element, with no comforts and no one to turn to, I suddenly became extremely rational (well, after shedding a few tears). I took all the necessary steps to fix it, get my tags up to date, wrote a letter to the city council to appeal that outrageous ticket -- still awaiting response on that one – and realized I definitely need to reevaluate my NZ game plan.

I’ve had this thought before, usually while building a stage, being pelted with rain carried by 140km winds or wrapping cable in mud up to my eyeballs (who’s fucking idea was it to be a rigger in Wellington ANYWAYS??!?!). But this time it’s a little more serious. I don’t know what it means yet but I do know I’m 31, have a degree, and am making less money than when I was slinging burgers and beer.

Hopefully I’ll have a little more clarity in a couple weeks when the other half of my soul gets in this hemisphere. 15 DAYS!!!!

it's a small world after all

 I’ve been working with a couple lighting companies that do theater and event gigs. It’s such a different universe than I’m accustomed to and I feel completely out of my element most of the time. Not only is the lighting style totally different but learning what they call all the equipment and how they run power, and blah blah blah. It can be a little frustrating: I get a list of orders and don’t really understand the “language”, so then I ask a million questions so I don’t fuck it all up, and by the time I’ve got a grasp of the equipment they’re talking about I’ve forgotten what the hell I’m supposed to be doing with it. But I’m getting there, slowly. And I must not be doing too badly because they keep calling me back.

About 2 months ago my friend back in LA told me that a friend of hers was going on tour and would be playing a few shows in Wellington. She gave me his info and I sent him an email saying I was looking forward to his performance and asked if he needed a place to crash. He wrote me back saying he was getting put up in a hotel but maybe we could grab a cup of coffee or a beer when he got to town. Well, I didn’t hear from him again and lost track of the tour dates and finally I just figured I had missed it.

About a week and a half ago I get hired to rig a stage downtown. I’m going about my business and a guy walks up and watches us work for a minute. “Do you break this stage down and rebuild it every night?” “no,” I say. “We’re just changing stuff and adding lights for the performance tomorrow night.” “oh,” he replies. “That’s me… I’m performing tomorrow night. Hi, I’m Jason Webley.” Hmmmm… that name sounds familiar. “where are you from?” I ask. “Seattle.” “Wait, do you play accordion? ARE YOU KELLY’S FRIEND!?!?!?”

We both stand open jawed for a minute and then giggled at the fate of it all. Wellington is a little city – I run into people all the time -- but to run into someone from the other side of the globe makes the entire world seem small.

I had to work during his first 2 performances but got to see his final show. WHAT AN ACT! And, I know what you’re thinking “accordion… really?!” If you ever get a chance to see this guy, grab it and pay any amount of money to do so. Incredible!

Work slowed substantially last week, giving me a chance to help out some of my friends and see some of their shows that are part of the Fringe Festival. Friday a lot of the acts got together and put on a fundraiser for Christchurch, which was awesome. For such a small place there is some incredible talent.

Saturday night was Fuse Circus’ last performance and we had to remove the rig from the park after the show. There were many people lending hands and we finished relatively quickly, around 1 in the morning. And off to the wrap party we went, where I partied like one of the carnies and we danced around the fire until sun up.

The head of Fuse Circus told me his plans of refining the show over the next few months and hopefully taking it on tour next summer. And he wants me to come along. Which would be awesome, especially if I got paid.

Starting tomorrow I am doing some work for Homegrown music festival. I’m hoping to score a pass to see some of the shows on Saturday, otherwise I may have to break in (it's been sold out for a while). Then on Sunday we tear it all apart again.

I’ve been doing my weekly check in on The Hobbit. Supposedly they are still on "schedule" to start shooting March 21st. Peter Jackson is still ill so production isn't approving anything that costs money, which includes ordering equipment and hiring workers. My roommate is in the construction department and says she's been doing busy work for the last 2 weeks cuz nothing new can be made. My rigging buddies spend a lot of time drinking tea and polishing steel cuz the equipment they need hasn't gotten approved. Which, to me, means one of two things -- either the start date will get pushed again or when the green light is given to spend, they are gonna need a lot of people and a lot of work done really fast.

So, hopefully in the next few weeks, I will begin doing what I came here to do. Maybe. 

flowers from danny

Only 31 more days til Danny gets here. Maybe he can do what I came here to do.

couchsurfing and kiwiburning

Wow. So it’s been a while. And a lot has happened.

The lease went up on my frat house flat with the great view and we all moved our separate ways. We did have one night of roomie bonding the night before -- drank beer, played mahjong, and actually connected on some similar music tastes. Weird how I lived with these guys for 6 weeks and never really knew them.

I moved my stuff into a friend’s garage and had a variety of couches to crash on until my next temporary move. Decided since it had been a week, I hadn’t heard anything from anyone, it was time to crash the hobbit stages again. So tried my old move of just riding my bike through the gates like I owned the place (hey, it worked last time) but got stopped by security. I explained that I had a meeting with Tony Keddy (you know, the key grip who hasn’t returned my calls in the last 2 months) and acted confused when they said he hadn’t called me in a pass. They had me sign a confidentiality contract and just as they were calling up the office, who should walk right past the gate but the key grip Tony Keddy himself. After the security guard said “oh, there he goes now” I called out “hey Tony.” To which he exclaimed “Jeanne Dear?!?” how the hell he knew who I was is beyond me but the timing was impeccable. So I finally got to meet my (hopefully) future boss. We chatted for about 20 minutes, he explained how oddly this show is starting out, the schedule constantly changing, the complete lack of communication, and he told me he should know more about the schedule next week.

I was running a few more errands and ran right into a baliwood film shooting a car crash stunt downtown. I poked around, found the lighting/grip truck and started talking to people. A lot of the crew was from Auckland but a couple were locals and they quickly took me over to meet the key grip. Her name is Melissa, that’s right, HER! Awesome. She said they only had a few shooting days left but there’s another project starting in a few weeks.

So there was nothing left to do but load up my car and head up to kiwiburn a little early. Put the word out to see if anyone in town needed a ride and ended up with two awesome ladies (and one unicycle) to keep me company. Took our time getting up there and made it to camp a little after midnight. The gates were locked but fires were burning, music was blaring, and people were partying so we hopped the fence and joined the festivities.

In the morning I threw my toolbelt over my shoulder (while still wearing my bright pink tutu) and headed in the direction of construction. I walked up to the people scratching their head around “the man” and told them I was a rigger. In about 10 minutes I was the rigger and people were asking me what to do next. We came to a standstill when we realized we needed more than a tractor to erect the man so I climbed up he hill and began assisting in the building of one of the main music camps.

The next morning I climbed out of my hammock, started making some coffee and getting ready for a morning kayak around the lake when a van pulled up next to me. “Are you the rigger from LA? Get in the van… we need your help with the cow!” 

It felt absolutely amazing to have such a big hand in all this.

My camp mates (most of whom I met at kiwiburn two years prior) finally showed up Thursday night. It was like I instantly had a family. The whole weekend we ate together, played together, relaxed together, laughed until we peed together. We did our own individual stuff too but always had a home base to return to. It was the most I have ever felt I belonged. Started off most days with a baileys and coffee, then progressed onto brunch with vodka orange juice, and ending with drinking tequila straight from the bottle. We had a few amazing capoeira lessons (from our german guru who had never done capoeira a day in his life), some cuddle puddles, amazing music performances (not just the reunion tour of the incredible duo One on One, but also the impromptu Sound of Music Sing-Along), collective body painting, the great corn hunt, and even naked interpretive dance. An incredible week with beautiful people and probably my best burn experience yet.

Coming back to “reality” this last week was difficult (it always is) but luckily I got to bring back a piece of my burn family, Sam. We had a couple more nights of couch surfing before moving into the new temporary home – he’s living with me for the month he’s in Wellington. The other people we’re living with haven’t moved in yet but a few of their friends from out of town were crashing here for this giant city-wide party, the rugby 7’s. There is no furniture in the house yet so it was like a slumber party. I was kind of excited to experience the 7’s cuz it turns out it has very little to do with rugby and everything to do with people dressing up in crazy costumes and getting really drunk. But, as luck would have it, I got the call for my first “real” job over the weekend.

So I spent most of Friday night building truss and hanging lights and ALL of Saturday night (until 9am Sunday morning) breaking down truss and taking down lights. It’s incredibly nice to be working again, and even nicer to be makin money. I worked for them again today and they may have a few more days  for me this week.

 

I have progressed beyond my reception duties at the SPCA. I’m now doing the photographs for the pets for adoption and lost animals and putting everything up on the net. I actually enjoy going there now.

Word on The Hobbit is grim. Peter Jackson got sick and was hospitalized (although I think he’s out of the hospital now) and the shoot date has been pushed… AGAIN! If this thing actually ever gets made…

But I did receive a phone call last night from a guy I emailed months ago. He’s the key grip of this Spielberg film called Tintin. He had forgotten to get back to me before and just gave me a call to say he’s going to be needing people soon. Good to hear :) 

progress

 It is absolutely astonishing to think how one act, how one week, can change EVERYTHING, if you let it.

Last weekend I met some people from a local circus troop (think cirque du soleil, not elephants and clowns) and I offered up my services to help rig and build the set for their upcoming show.  Tom, the leader and creator of Fuse circus, was more than pleased to have an actual rigger on board and I was thrilled to actually do my job. Especially if my job involves hanging upside-down from truss, putting a gigantic birds nest safely on it’s perch and humorously oversized flowers 25 feet in the air.

The art director (actually, she was the entire art department) and I hit it off from the get go. My kind of lady – wears a tool belt, drives a campervan, not afraid to put down a few beers, and does long ocean swims. Awesomely enough, she, her brother and his girlfriend are moving into their new house in February and they have a couple extra rooms to fill -- just when I need to move out of my current place. Not only that, but she is doing construction on The Hobbit.

Last night was the indoor dress rehearsal where they invited friends, family, neighbors and the like. Did I forget to mention that their warehouse was part of the Weta Digital complex? Needless to say, I made some great contacts, not only from Weta but also the guy who hires all riggers for stage shows both in Wellington and Auckland.

I also got a couple of paid work days, too. A friend of my current roommate works for a company that does lighting design for museums and expos. They just got back all their stuff that had been at a show in China for a year, so I got the pleasure of cleaning off 365 days of Chinese dust from a ton of gear. It was boring as hell but nice to break up the monotony of working for free.

Tomorrow marks the day that pre-production of The Hobbit starts back up after their long holiday break. So I’ll be lurking around the stages to see what I can drum up. It feels like everything is coming together.

 

clouds

Clouds have descended upon my city… upon me. I’ve been here a month now and, don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited, but the reality of my loneliness has officially set in. usually when I felt like this back home I buried myself with work: I kept occupied and made some money in the process. But work in New Zealand is still on holiday. I need to be at the SPCA more but nearly every time I go in I get stuck working reception – which I loathe. And it’s not that there’s a shortage of things to do, just a shortage of people to do things with. I’m ready for work and I’m ready for Danny to be here. I want so much for this to be our town, to find our place, to start our new life together, that it’s kind of holding me back.

Okay, done feeling sorry for myself. Now that that’s out of my system…

Met a friend of a friend who flew into Wellington on new years eve. I took him out for a few beers then on to the evening’s festivities at a dinner party. Perhaps actually eating dinner would have been a good idea, or maybe lunch even. But no. All that was in my belly was alcohol and whatever breakfast cereal was left from 12 hours earlier. Needless to say, I don’t remember exactly what happened – I know there was vomit and definitely one epic fall. I feel like I regressed at least a decade and haven’t been that humiliated ever.  Total rookie mistake. *shame*

Since then I’ve been taking it pretty easy: going on bike rides, drinkin coffee, layin on the beach, drinkin coffee, exploring more local hiking trails, and drinkin more coffee.

I had a chat with my dear lady friend yesterday who has this incredible ability to make me feel guilty and kick my ass into gear. So hopefully in the next couple of days, when the weather clears (and so does my head), I can start some intense photography projects.  Thanks for the tough love, Kelly… I needed that.

a (surprisingly) very merry christmas

A few days of sleeping in my car (parked in downtown Wellington) was all I needed to expedite  finding a more permanent situation.

So I found a room… for 6 weeks. It’s not an impressive place, it’s not even a clean place. It’s a flat that two early 20something boys live in -- use your imagination. But what is impressive is what I’m paying. And of course, the view.

I LOVE THIS CITY! I’ve been here less than 2 weeks (and it has rained nearly the whole time) but still. I feel like it encompasses  the best things from every city: the art culture of New York (with only 3% of the people), the café scene of summertime Seattle,  the music venues and bars of Austin, the landscape of Malibu (only green),  the beaches of the Caribbean,  and the walk/ride-ability of no place I’ve ever been. EVERYTHING is less than 15 minutes away by car, but most people would rather walk, even in the rain.

I started volunteering at the SPCA last week (only a 5 minute walk from my house) to keep myself occupied during the holidays and until work really starts. Plus, it gives me that unconditional animal love I need without the rest of my family here. It’s mostly cleaning cat boxes, feeding rabbits, doing laundry, and answering phones but occasionally I get to help syringe feed some newborn kittens or comfort a scared puppy. I love it.

And Christmas has been surprisingly non-depressing. Maybe because it’s warm and the sun’s out. Maybe because it doesn’t really feel like Christmas (I don’t even have a tree). Or maybe it’s because I have met some amazingly awesome people who have allowed me to so freely come into their lives. I just had Christmas brunch with a whale scientist/magician… seriously. It feels kinda like I’m dating – I don’t want to seem desperate but I honestly just want to get down on one knee and propose to these people to be best friends for life. But I won’t… yet.

wineries on the beach and a volcano picnic

My last weekend  in Auckland was lovely, so lovely I actually regretted leaving... a little. Christmas in the park was a fascinating experience – listening to carols about sleigh rides and snow (in the dead of summer) sung buy some incredibly famous performers (I assumed they were famous by the reaction of the crowd, I had never heard of any of them). The following day I caught the ferry over to waiheke island, a magical land with water so blue it’s surreal and wineries on the beach.  After a swift dip and a couple wine tastings, I got a call from my favorite kiwi grip who was about to go catch his dinner. He swung by to pick me up and after a quick “tiki tour” of his favorite private coves we motored out to the middle of the bay and dropped our lines in the water. Before my line even hit the sea floor, he was reeling in an impressive red snapper. But the wind quickly picked up and nothing else was biting so we called it a day.

I FINALLY got to meet up with an old friend of mine to have a breakfast juice concoction (she had invited me for tea) on my way out of Auckalnd. It was short but sweet and we talked about the upcoming kiwiburn festivities.  The timing with work might make it a little tough to get out there but I’ll do everything I can.

Had a meeting with a grip company in Taupo that afternoon. Murray, the owner, was a little off-put by me seeking out more Hobbit contacts; apparently he got fired from Lord of the Rings and there’s a little bad blood there. But he showed me around his shop, pointed at things I was all too familiar with but then said incomprehensible words (I think I need a kiwi to english grip dictionary), and we swapped production stories over coffee.

It was a little late to continue my drive to Wellington so I had my first night sleep in my station wagon on the edge of the lake, a boat ramp actually. I looked all over for signs saying no overnight parking but didn’t find anything… until the next morning when I got up to brush my teeth. Whatever, I got away with it.

A brief picnic at the base of a volcano then next stop, my new home town