New Job, Safe, Opportunity?

Hi all,

Just got back from watching SAFE at the cinema tonight with the wife. I had been looking forward to this for a long time (since announced actually) so It was awesome to see the final product didn't disappoint. It had everything I wanted from an action film, an entertaining story with stakes, brutal action, one liners and a great pace. It was cut well and Jason Statham is a complete badass in this, imagine frank martin without the rules, He messes guys up left right and centre in this, watch it if you haven't....Just sharing cos these are the sort of films I intend to make and watching a movie as cool as this just inspires me to follow my dream even harder :)

So finished my first full week as an ICA for a sales and marketing company, It sucked it had to rain all week but I try and enjoy all the moments. They say you fool me once then shame on you, you fool me twice than shame on me.....try 5 times, 5 times I thought since the sun was out and it wouldn't rain, sure enough EACH day without fail it rained/pissed down, halfway through. It's nice to laugh it now but standing on someones door step looking like a horror film fisherman from a stephen king novel doesn't help with my first impressions. My team leader is pretty cool, I've learned to be alot more enthusiastic and know my shit after watching him work the streets. It's quite eye opening and it feels like being in a pressure cooker being apart of such a successful sales team, I was told by the guy who hired me that I beat out 130 other applicants for the role. I couldn't belive how naive I was when I walked in expecting they hire just anyone with good availibility and a desire to learn, so trying to meet and exceed their expectations. So yeah, in short, made a start to the sales career hitting my target for the first week, so hoping next week I double it so I can make it to the next level and start earning what I want to be earning....then camera, computer and editing equipment will be mine!!! (never forget the goal, this job is just a step up the ladder for me)

Had JKD training today, I can only train once a week right now since I finish work so late, But there is something calming about training for me, 3 hours a week that I can forget the world of bills, demands and plans and just focus on mastering a few certain moves of the body. I also talked to sifu about helping him grow the club, ultilising my skills, I'm excited about it and hope to show him the plan next week. More students equal more potential people to learn with/from in my eyes. Plus hammering a tyre 300 times is much more fun when you do it next to someone. The alternating thumps actually remind me of lemmings lol

Also got a call this week from someone I did a student film with who says that the director wants to put me in his feature film that he is working for, a drama he thinks, so I'm looking forward to a callback so I can check out the script. More experience leads to more opportunities. Anyway, That's really all I can share this week so with that note I'll leave you the following calvin and hobbes comic which though always funny, also makes you think! haha :)

A couple new jobs, and work on an ad.

So Last weekend I did two film related jobs, the first was another walk on role on Shortland St, just reading a magazine in the waiting lounge. Easy 5 hours to do one 10 second scene. It's not really news/exciting til I'm prominent or get a line, but I'm letting you know so I reinforce myself that I am doing the work experience I need to get under my belt as an actor, even if it's just background work. Also Last Sunday I did work on an advertisement by Good Oil films (who did the Takara commercial I mentioned a couple months ago) This time they were doing an ad for athletes foot -the shoe shop not the medical ickiness lol,

But we spent most of Sunday dressed in different protest outfits shooting around Britomart and hopefully that ad will air soon so I can share that with you here. I met a girl while shooting called Paz and she was from Chile, She's an environment technician or something like that and she was really cool to talk to. These shoots are always easier if you have somebody you can get along with. This is usually why I don't enjoy the Shortland st shoots as much I guess. She was the second person I've met from Santiago since I moved to Auckland, I never realised that Auckland was a location they'd ever dream of coming. Anyway in regards to the ad I doubt I can be seen in it but trust me, I'll be the first to point it out if it's possible.

Outside of these couple jobs I've been looking on the market for a real job. That market research role has given up the ghost, so no more calls from them so yeah, a short lived celebration I guess.

With no other options left in the market since I have no experience apparently (bs) I've reverted to applying for jobs along the lines of my old GKR karate job of door knocking and working on commission sales. Sure enough, I got a call the very next day from the marketing company I applied for and was due to appear at 2.15pm for my interview.

Ok things are going to be good today, I told myself. Still I left a little late and sure enough Murphy's law hit the fan, First off 1)I was low on petrol but couldn't waste time filling up at a gas station on the way, 2) I had to stop at EVERY red light (unbelievable - I could have run a couple but I'm not spending money on tickets I don't need to), 3) for the first half the motorway was held up travelling at like 30 k instead of the normal 80-100 kmph, so 3) thinking at one point I should take out my cell and let the office know I was running late I reached for my phone but decided against it. If I'm late, I'm late. Sure enough, I look up again and a cop is flashing his lights, just about to take off after pulling somebody over, He would have seen me if I had been on the phone just by looking in his rear view mirror as he pulled back into traffic so another intuitive decision on my part  I guess lol, then 4) when I got to the place I couldn't find a park. I guessed and hoped that ME sales was right (it was so phew) then 5) I had trouble finding 7a. it went 6 then 7b. What the hell? I walked all the way to 1a and asked there where mysterious '7a'would be? (It's like harry potter's 9 3/4 station) turns it out it was in the corner between 5 and 6 (usually its 567 not 57a67b oh well)

Anyway, Long story short, got past the interview, second interview, 2 training days and now today was day 1 of my 6 day evaluation. So all going well, WHEN I hit my targets next week I will have the job as well as a cool paycheck and then finally FINALLY be able to get my Camera and rid of some debts.....It's been a long road, I tell you.   I've spent the previous week up til doing this job, thinking positively about attracting money, when today 'out of the blue' I got a letter in my mailbox from the tax refund place I signed up for once in 2009, and got 2 checks worth a bit of cash. I think things are gonna be all right now :) In related news, 2 weeks ago my computer's hard drive died a peaceful death, it suffered little and beeped out it's last squeak. I think if i don't upgrade it I'll just buy a mac....whatever's easier to edit my future film with. No matter what, I can't forget the main goal. Become a local action star.    But bills come first, and I love jobs with personal development, targets, uncapped earnings and team work. Today was great, I can't wait to try my hand at my future....

So yeah, thanks for following the blog, I promise I will do something big at some point this year, til then I'm just keeping up with everything via my wife's laptop and trying to give 200 percent to this job so i can make a big income, fund my crazy dream so yeah *high five!* Out of the unemployment market, ready to become a shark :)

Splash!

(also came across a cool saying that I wanted to share with those who like inspiring quotes
 After the game,
the king and the pawn go into the same box.
Italian Proverb

don't let anyone get you down, we're all the same at the end of the day and are just the product of our choice....)

A wise man once said, wake me when it's over.

June the 4th. Time is flying by. Not much to fill you in on, but trying to keep a record of this transitional time. Looking for work has its perks (not many), the main one being a lot of free time. So, in it I like to play Alpha Protocol on Xbox, snap some necks, shoot some bad guys, otherwise in quiet times I try to learn guitar, I can play some of my fav Placebo, Audioslave songs now as well as little ones by dido, avalanche city, johnny cash, and other fav songs like hurt, father and son, white Christmas etc. Getting better :)

  

Landed a job finally, Its a casual 4-6 week contract with a 4 hours a night doing market research,  the good news is I got to work for 3 days, the bad news is the shifts have fizzled out. They said they'd call me. I'm staying optimistic but my bank is rolling it's eyes.

I've also put my name down on a number of 'extra' opportunities but not getting picked, I'd update my photos but I'm sans funds. Still, I hope for something or some job to turn up soon, if I'm another 'NO' closer to a yes then this employment field must be pretty barren of yes's.  I've had department stores, sales jobs, courier places, and all sorts turn me down. I can see why others stay on benefits for so long. (I'm not btw, I don't qualify since my partner makes a certain amount which is BS but hey, I'm not in charge of the country)

Wifey and I visited One tree Hill yesterday for some 'us' time. A little disappointed there was no tree as such, but as I don't keep up with national history I'm sure I missed something somewhere. Anyway, was a good trip, below are some photos. (wife doesn't want me to share ones with her in it apparently)

Hmmm.

Mt Wellington (home) from here.

Yes, I'm up to something ;)

Rocketman :)

Also, now that my little catch up on WWE (bought wrestlemania 28 and have a poster lol) is over I have been rewatching some favorite movies I had as a kid in a vain hope to emulate that experience with my own work. Over the past few weeks I have been watching Arnold films. He's just so cool!

I've watched Jingle all the way, True Lies, Total Recall, Last Action hero, Twins, Pumping Iron (doc) and Eraser lately, so now I'm off to hopefully buy copies of Predator, Commando and Kindergarten cop soon.

Growing up he inspired me as much as Stallone did, one of thing things I admire about him (not sure if mentioned this in a previous blog or not) is that he liked to set a goal and then conquered it. He wanted to be a bodybuilder, but not just any bodybuilder, he wanted to be the best in the world. They said no, but then he did and became 7 times Mr Olympia :) After succeeding in that he turned his attention to hollywood, they said no, your name is strange and you're too big, but putting in the same amount of work ethic and mental drive as he did in the bodybuilding field he succeeded in becoming a hollywood legend. :) after that he set his heart on politics, and become Governor of California for a number of years. The dude's my hero ;) I'm so looking forward to Expendables 2 :)

 Watched Men in Black 3 yesterday night as well with Melody, It was really good storywise and the end was a nice happy twist, really proud of Jermaine's portrayal of the bad guy Boris (above) really funny, and good to see a kiwi actor keep his footing with legends like Will smith and Tommy Lee Jones, was some really cool effects in this film. Some of the jokes were flat but overall we had a really good time.

The Jeet Kune Do club opened up their new Gym today so I went to the opening and I'm really looking forward to training again. Gonna be a ring with ropes and everything, will probably catch some members with a sharpshooter for fun :) Oh well, just need to get the cash. On that note, I better go and look for jobs lol. Till next time, adios!

ps. I'm not angry about being unemployed, I think being broke now karma for later when I get rich (i'm sure of it) so like Donald Trump said ,"Don't get mad, get even" ;)