The Dangers Of The Oldies Behind The Wheel.

Like I said in an earlier post, I've been rocking out to Thriving Ivory. In one of their songs they have some lyrics that go like this "So, call me California, call me what you will." Ummmm...I can't remember the last time I called someone California. Is that a new type of slang?

Thou shalt not take the name of a state in vain.

Anyway, so the other day my brothers and I were cruising through Salt Lake. We were stranded in the middle of the intersection as the light turned red because of all the traffic (you know how that happens on occasion, I guess I wasn't paying attention). Then this genius of an old man in a golden crown vic, pulls behind us, completely blocking all lanes of traffic. So, of course people start honking at the poor sucker. All I can see in my rear view were his bony knuckles, and beady little eyes that seemed to just be glazed over.

Anyway, I'm just minding my own business inching along, when we all feel this little bump from behind. I tell my Bro's that we've just been hit. They don't believe me. Then, "Whack!" We get hit again, this time they felt it! It's the senile old dude behind us, I tell them. And once again, we get bumped! I look in my mirrors and the old guy has barely even changed his expression. It looked like he was day dreaming, or watching T.V. So, I put on my blinker, so we can get out and talk to the guy, and then he bumps us, again and again, and again! I've got my head out the window yelling at the guy to knock it off, and that I can't go anywhere because of all the traffic, and to just take it easy! But again, he acts as though nothing is even happening.

So, after a few moments we pull over to the curb, hoping the guy will pull over next to us. Not a chance. He goes on by with out even looking over. So, Zak jumps out of the car and chases the dude's car down. (Now, again there was a lot of traffic, so he was probably clicking along at about 2 mph). Zak tells us later that when he finally stopped the guy and made him roll down the window, that the guy just started shaking. And as Zak grilled him about hitting us 6 times in a row, the guy denied all of it, and said that we were hitting him! But Zak wasn't buying it. So, then the old guy changed his story and said someone behind him was hitting him into us! So, Zak helped him remember that there wasn't anyone behind him! Anyway, needless to say, the old man had no idea what century he was in and simply drove away, leaving Zak quite upset and confused on the curb. Another eventful day in downtown Salt Lake.

Thankfully no damage was done.

What a dumb California.

Rhett

My Muscles Are Growing Mom.

Today I was doing a little bit of editing, and I leaned back in my comfy chair to get in my mid-morning stretch/yawn.  As I arched my back and contorted my body into the strange action of stretching, I heard a very distinct ripping sound coming from my arm.  I looked down, and to my utter amazement I saw that I had torn open my shirt!  I was totally floored!  My muscles had actually torn completely through the fabric!  This entire week I had decided to get myself back in shape, so I've been doing push-ups.  And I guess all the pain I've been going through is paying off!  You always see ripped dudes in cartoons ripping their shirts, but this was me, in real life ripping my shirt with my now huge pythons. 

Or it could be that the shirt I was wearing is about 10 years old, but I don't think it had anything to do with it.

When was the last time you flexed your muscles and your shirt was ripped to shreds?  It's a pretty gratifying feeling.

Rhett

Are We...Dancer? and Thriving Ivory

The new killers song is good, but the lyrics are bit on the strange-make-no-sense side.  "Are we human? Or are we dancer?"  I never knew we had the choice.   

Burke and I have also stumbled upon a cool little band, Thriving Ivory.  They've got a different sound, and the vocals are crazy sounding, in a good way.  So, check them out.  

Rhett

Rachel Bilson Paparazzi

This past weekend my brothers and I were simply cruising around town checking out some of the sights of Salt Lake City.

I wanted to show them some cool "hole in the wall" stores, so I took them to a little place Candyce loves called "Decades." It's basically a bunch of really old vintage clothes and a few rockin flower covered suitcases.

So, I'm just browsing the merchandise when good ol' Rachel Bilson walks by me. I had what's called "instant face recognition" occur. So, I went and grabbed my brothers and told them who she was. It took them a minute to even know who I was talking about. Had I not been married and been forced to watch the O.C. with my wife, I would probably not have know who she was either.

Anyway, so we devised a plan to get some photos of her talking to us, without letting her know we were getting photos of her talking to us.

Zak was coordinating from within the store via his cel phone. Burke and I were on a conference call with him at all times. I was in the back seat of the car parked in front of the store. I had 300 mm zoom lens at my disposal. Burke and Tay were just outside of the front door. The plan was, that Burke would be talking on his phone about not knowing where to eat in this po-dunk town. And when Rachel walks out, Tay would walk up to her and ask if she was from around here, and if she knew any good places to eat. Zak's code for her going outside was "let's eat at KFC."

The plan was flawless in it's preparation, and equally as impeccable in it's execution.

We waited for about 30 minutes at our posts (Girls really know how to take their time while shopping). Rachel was with a small group of people that we referred to as her "Posse, Entourage and sometimes Clan." We had nothing better to do, so don't think we're too desperate. Well, go ahead and think whatever you like.

So, finally over the conference call we hear the words "Let's go eat at KFC. I repeat let's go eat at KFC!" I quickly started snapping off photos like my plane was going down. As she came outside, Tay approached her with surprising confidence and delivered his line without hesitation. She simply said she wasn't from around here, and put on some big sunglasses.

We watched them get into a car, and quickly pursued them. I have no idea why we were following her. What were we actually going to do? More than likely nothing. But it was still fun. Some of the people with her hopped into a BMW with no license plates and led the way to another store, while Rachel and the rest of her posse followed.

Anyway, after a minute of watching them again we decided we were pathetic and went to a movie. (We saw Disaster Movie. It is undeniably the dumbest film ever made). I'm not sure why people freak out over movie stars. Maybe it's the mystic, the unknown, or maybe it's the...ummm I can't think of anything clever to write, so I'll just stop right there.

So yes, it was an intense hour in an otherwise fairly mundane October afternoon.

Rhetty

Salt Lake City...land of the free.

So here I am on a sunday afternoon blogging,  I never thought that would happen because sunday afternoons are for naps and eating.

The move to SLC went pretty smooth, but still pretty frustrating.  Why is moving so lame?  I think, for me, it's the idea of packing up everything you own only to unpack a day later.  It's the same kind of lameness that goes with washing your work clothes only to get them dirty...or washing your car and the next day it rains...or getting lost and having to backtrack where you've already been.  It's like that line from Seinfeld: "that was the longest possible way to get to where you already were!"  That's what packing feels like...what's the point?

Leaving the valley was harder than we thought it was going to be.  Even though we were packing for weeks, it still seemed to happen so fast.  In a matter of a few hours we rented a 24 ft truck, packed up rhett's house, the studio, my apt...and we were on the road.  Well, at least rhett, candyce and my mom were.  I decided to stay one last time in my apt and sleep on the couch and drive through the canyon in the light of day to see the fall colors.

Have you ever slept on a couch that is 2 inches too short?   It's lame to say the least.  Because the whole night you think that if you turned your head just right then you could straighten your legs.  You try that for a few hours before you realize it's a hopeless effort.  And before you know it, it's 5:45 am and time to go unpack.

I set off through the canyon in the blackness of morning...not even being able to see the trees.  I was drinking my last Stewarts Orange and Creme that I had been saving for a good time.  My random playlist treated me to songs of John Denver, Kenny Rogers, and Barenaked Ladies...which seemed to fit the mood perfectly.

It's weird, you can't really leave somewhere without leaving a piece of yourself behind.  And better yet, you can't really choose what parts of you stay and what parts you take with you.  You also leave people behind but take with you everything those people taught you, shared with you, and gave you.  It really is like a rebirth.  Everything around you is new, you have no where to go, no one to go see, you can't find a grocery store, even though you know there are still people that will help you only a phone call away, you can't help but get that alone feeling, time passes more slowly, you pay more attention to the people and things around you because your survival depends on it...I actually found myself looking in a phone book to find the nearest DI just so I could go there, sit on the couches, stare at the weird people that the DI attracts, and feel a little piece of something that, for some reason, reminds me of the home that I just left.

Your reminded of the people you love, the people you've lost, people you never got to know, people you've left, people that you will never know, people that have changed who you are, people who you hope that you've changed...experiences you had, experiences you never had the chance to have, experiences you turned down, time you wasted, times you cherish.

Then after all that, tomorrow it's back to work.  I've got a full day shoot that can't be postponed.  I'd like to sit back for a second and breath...but you can't stop.

here's to you Cache Valley,