March 28, 2004 - 7:29 PM

What Kind of Week It Has Been (part 1)

Stretching the memory back a week plus. I've had some college-related run-ins that have been interesting. Two Thursdays ago, I went to the Highland Grounds coffeehouse for a Berklee Showcase where a friend was performing. David Kidd was a singer-songwriter who I produced for my final project at Berklee. I remember during one of our recording sessions that summer, David was talking with his co-writing partner about a new job he had just picked up. Out of idle curiousity, I asked where he had interviewed; his response was "The Atlantic Fish Company".

I did a doubletake. "My brother manages there," I responded incredulously.

"Mr. Kim's your brother?" Dave laughed. "That's the guy I interviewed with. Dude, I was thinking the entire time that he looked like you!"

Dave ended up working for my brother, first as a host, then as a server, and even got another person whose song I mixed during school hired at the restaurant. When I saw Dave at the show on Thursday, I asked him if he rememberd Jen "dirty" Dugan, another server who had worked there while he was there. After an affirmative response, I told him that Phil had married her last year, which brought a surprised smile to his face.

It turns out that Dave just moved out to L.A. a few months ago, so perhaps I'll be seeing more of him around. Accompanying Dave that night was the drummer we had used for the school project, Skye Lewin. I had actually had Skye play drums and percussion on a couple different projects at school, and when he first moved out here over a year ago, I had had dinner with him and several other Berklee-ites. In checking in with Skye, I learned that he was now working for a film/tv post-production company. He knew that I still worked for Enterprise Studios, and asked if we were going out of business. A quizzical "no" from me, followed by the "'but' statement" that we were in financial straights and selling off equipment led him to reveal that his company was actually buying up the second building (Enterprise Two) that houses several of our recording rooms. Strange coincidence.

Also at the show, I was able to talk with one of my old professors who moved back to L.A. last summer because she missed it so much. I explained to her what had happened at my job earlier in the week, and she sympathized, then adamantly ordered me to email her my information plus a summary of what I'd been up to the past couple years. The brief talk we had was reassuring for me, and when I did email her the next day, her response bolstered my self-esteem some more. One of the things I had written was that I was considering going for a job at a mastering studio in Hollywood which is run by a Berklee graduate, GL, and is one of the many landing grounds for new grads when they move out here. Terry replied that she had previously talked with the engineer at the studio about the job, and she was certain that I was way overqualified for the job; as an alternative, she suggested I call a couple of engineers with whom she is friends and with whom I've worked in the past.

The interview at the mastering studio took place on Monday, and I pretty much sabatoged it. But I think GL understood where I was coming from, and I explained the reason for my lackluster interview in a follow up email. Basically, I told him what Terry had told me, and I also explained that my heart wasn't fully invested in getting the job because I wasn't ready to take the step back to a part-time runner position just yet, even though I was interested in learning more about mastering. Incidentally, at the studio, I ran into two other guys I knew from Berklee and who now work there.

In between all these school/work related shenanigans, I saw Dawn of the Dead with Nick and Matt on Saturday night. I've seen the original Night of the Living Dead, liked it, and have been hankering to see the original Dawn because of the great critical reviews I've always seen for it. Now, I'm a pansy when it comes to horror movies, which points to why I've never seen any of the Friday or Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween slasherfests; why I refuse to see Texas Chainsaw; and why I squeal and lower my glasses if I do happen to see a scary flick. I can stomach "horror" movies that are slapstick or ironic (or is it post-ironic?) such as the Evil Dead trilogy or the Scream trilogy (that last one despite the presence of Courtney "Skeletor" Cox), and so Dawn was right up my alley with it's numerous moments of gut-busting laughter and it's general social-commentary-meets-monster-hostage-drama scope. Who wouldn't like that? Plus, c'mon, "brrrraaaaaaainnnnnssssss."

I've found that, in general, I enjoy a follow-up meal after a movie so that the experience can be digested and discussion can take place on the merits of the film. Despite the fact that we had just witnessed much horrible feasting of flesh and masticating of man, we still had appetites enough to eat Mexican food after the movie. Sadly, the food was mediocre; happily, the conversation and company was excellent.

Perhaps what coloured my tastebuds for that meal was the Mexican food that I had enjoyed the previous night. At the show on Thursday, Skye invited me out to dinner with him and a couple of our friends (Alex, who used to work at the Enterprise with me, and Simon, for whom I had just played cello) for Friday. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant on Sunset in Hollywood near Skye's apartment, and they had really delicious platters with huge portions. The copious mounds of food, coupled with the margaritas, and the draining days of teaching, knocked me out early that night, and kept me fairly out of play for the rest of the weekend.

And then I had to teach 4 more days the following week. But we'll do a wrap-up of that in the next entry.

Now Listening To : Caroline Lavelle-Brilliant Midnight
Random Thought : Opening Day is this week! Hooray for baseball (and socks)!

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