Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

The last week has been one unexpected event after another, with one consecutive theme… a playlist. By now, many of you have probably seen trailers for the new teen flick Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and after I saw it the concept hit me; New York City has a soundtrack all of its own. You have the angry taxi drivers honking, bike bells ringing, tourists yelling for each other, and all the sounds that create the music. I have been trying to block out the city’s soundtrack, and now that I look back at everything I have done it and it feels as though I have created my own personal movie soundtrack. I have a song that starts my day, a song to drown out the subway noises, mellow music to keep me calm at work, and soothing music at the end of the day. It was only something I vaguely considered before, but with the craziness that I have experienced in preparation for the Video Music Awards (VMAs) I have felt the concept being reinforced even more, and this week the work soundtrack was the Bumblebee theme as we hurried to prepare for the big event. Now, not only do I have a play list, but I am also racking up footage for special features with an ever growing and interesting blooper reel.

When I first moved into my apartment I had the immediate image of a classic Hollywood film shot in Harlem. I pictured the fire hydrants opened and water filling the streets and the neighborhood kids playing in the water to stay cool; and when I turned the corner walking down my street I couldn’t help but laugh. What I pictured from my movie references was exactly what I had just walked into. Films are not always that off from real life and it brought a new energy and feel to the life I had been living before NYC. I even found myself walking down 49^th street, and crossing paths with the filming of a mini-series making me feel my life had become like a feature film. Unfortunately, life throws mysterious curve balls from time to time that can complicate any given situation, or even add a sense of screw-ball comedy to an otherwise ordinary life.

I watch films for their bonus features to see what happens behind-the-scenes and to see what types of mistakes make the blooper reel cut. My personal blooper reel consists of experiences and incidents that are beyond my control. It includes a mishap that occurred on the set of a feature film. On this set we were working a shoot at the Burlington Mall during regular operating hours with equipment, cast and crew on the first level, and the second floor open to anyone who was in the mall for the day. As 250 extras were shoveled into a tent in the parking lot and shuttled in large groups indoors for shoots you can only imagine the type of chaos that the production assistants experience while handling such a large number of people. When we finally started shooting we were told to run from point A to point B and left with no other instructions or information regarding what the scene was. When the director called “action” we set off in the direction of our mark. 100 extras ran through the center of the mall next to Santa’s Village. What we didn’t know was that the actors involved in the scene were hidden among the set. Suddenly we had 5 actors with weapons running towards us. I was taken by surprise as one attacked from the left with a skateboard as though he was going to hit me over the head, and another came in from the right carrying a gun. I threw my hands over my face and in the process quickened my pace. I knew that there was an older lady next to me who abruptly disappeared. What I did not know was that in the “organized chaos” that the director was looking for, I had accidentally knocked her to the ground-- Production was paused to make sure she was OK and to inform ‘us’ that ‘we’ were not to actually push people out of the way to escape the criminals we were running from. Had they mentioned that before hand, the incident may not have happened. But, film in all its glory is always “Organized Chaos”, and we are but pawns in the Director’s Vision; oblivious to what is happening around us until after the story is told.

More recently you witnessed a mishap that neither myself, nor the ‘Town Common’ newspaper had any control of . . . We all know that technology has a mind of its own, like the Hal computer in Stanley Kubrick’s, 2001: A Space Oddysey. Even though there are times when we can prevent things from happening, there are other times when technology tells us “you have no control”. Unfortunately my last article, ‘The Wizard’s Curtain’ fell victim to the Sirens of such technology. Even embarrassing bloopers have made appearances. I recently had a conversation with actor Kal Penn (House and Harold and Kumar), I mentioned that I had a hula boy on my dashboard that I named after his comedic character Kumar. I don’t know what possessed me to share this information, but he was such a nice guy and the conversation was so casual . . . and then the story slipped out. Granted, the memory was of a very fun time with a girlfriend I had not seen in many years and seeing Kal Penn made me think of her, but I probably should have kept the story to myself. I will only say that his reaction made me feel much better about sharing. He laughed and enjoyed the story. But I will probably be remembered as “that girl with a hula doll named Kumar”. Not my fondest moment.

Unexpected events happen all the time; embarrassing, stressful and sometimes life altering. But, it is how we deal with the outcome of these events that separates an amateur from a professional. Smile and laugh it off if it is something embarrassing. I feel horrible that I knocked over a fellow extra, and that I divulged information about my hula boy, but shit happens. I laugh about it now and share the stories with friends and family, and I hope it won’t happen again. But I’m sure it will. Even those mistakes involving technology whether it is a misprint or a message sent to the wrong person via text or an email to a friend that you accidentally send to your boss.

Things happen. Life happens . . .

Take every experience and make the most of it. If the outcome is not quite what you hoped for work to improve it the next time around, or in my case I hope to improve my moments of utter klutziness through physical movement and verbal expression. Like Forrest Gump says… “Life is like a box of chocolates. Never know what you’re gonna get.” So pick a chocolate and take a bite.