Pre-production

Yesterday was the pre-pro meeting, where we review everything before the shoot, including shooting boards (the camera angles the director wants to capture) and the props for the various sets. Thankfully, this went pretty well.

Afterwards I walked around the city more, and wandered through the West End. This is a residential section of town. The area I saw is all apt. buildings (some are high-rises), but there’s lots of trees and grass, so it’s very leafy and idyllic. I kept walking and found the gay neighborhood. Davie St. is basically just like 8th Avenue in Chelsea.

For dinner we headed to Brix. Shared lots of starters. The mussels were a highlight; they were tossed with sour cherry, yellow curry, sliced bananas and toasted coconut. I had the cinnamon-seared duck for a main course; it was served with pancetta forked potatoes, and a cracked pepper blueberry demi glace. All of the food was really interesting and of course, tasty.

One of our Clients wanted to do karaoke. So we went to Hollywood North Cabaret, a place the hotel concierge recommended (walked past a hooker on the way there). The building looked pretty shady, but we wound up going in. The karaoke bar was upstairs. It is a lounge atmosphere, with about 30 people. Tinsel lining the bar and the stage. Huge 80s-style mirrors covering the walls. I think we were the only non-Asian folks there. Most songs were not being sung in English, though we did recognize some classic American songs: “My Way” and “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.” I sang “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Sweet Caroline” with others. And then I sang "Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)" with one of my clients doing back-up vocals. We were out til 2 am, so this has been the latest night so far. But it was funny stuff, so it was totally worth it.