I have no idea what's going on here, but one thing's for sure: it's a bit.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Segway Tour of Amsterdam with Mao
Yes, we took a Segway Tour of Amsterdam. All thanks go to Andrew for setting this up. The tour was set up by Mao, an American ex-pat who was very nervous indeed to have us use the segways. Particularly Lauren and Laurel. He was real worried about them, so he had another guy follow behind all of us "just in case". Not the greatest pick for security since this bearded stoner guy, originally from San Diego and whose name escapes me, was about 5'5" and maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. Whatever trouble we might get in, I don't think San Diego hippie guy was going to do it.
Riding those things was the one of the most joyfully gay things you can do. Not one person could avoid looking at us and laughing at our helmets, the segways, and everything else involved.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Canal Ride
It's Laurel's B-day, so we were treated to a canal ride. Laurel looks hilariously tired in this photo. Our director Jon, had us sing Dutch songs as we rode around Amsterdam, trying to get others involved. Rachel made a strawberry cakey thing. The canals were beautiful.
I'm still pretty jet-lagged. Rather than spend another night in Jim's Casa de Filth, Matt invited the two of us to stay with him and his girlfriend CeCe. They live in a little studio on the top floor. The view looked like this:
I still couldn't sleep. Tonight, we're staying somewhere else and living off the kindness of the cast. Definitely a big college vibe here.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Day One in Amsterdam
Dunbar dropped me off at the airport with Erica and I said my goodbyes. I know that Erica will only be apart for 3 months, but it's hard top say goodbye to her. Dunbar's been so great in helping me move too, and I will miss him a lot. After they drive off, I am left with my mountain of bags to bring to Europe.
The flight is long, and I find that I am very anxious. It's been 10 years since I backpacked through Europe and I can barely remember what Amsterdam looks like. I watch shows on my laptop and read about Amsterdam and I can't sleep so I don't. Once I get off the plane I find Jon (or Pep as he is known to Boom folk), Lauren, and Amber waiting for me. I've overpacked and have so many bags that I am totally embarassed as we go to an aiport cafe and wait for Laurel's delayed flight.
I drink coffee and await to hear about the big news on my apartment. Everyone in Chicago kept asking me where I was going to be living, and I had no idea, so Jon explained to me that he was thinking that I would live in this certain apartment that had a cat. I mentioned my allergy to cats, so that changed that. Apparently, this also left Laurel without a place too, so once she arrived we dropped off all our bags at Boom in the actor's office, known as "the Shiny". They would end up living under the computer table for the next week.
After the bags were stowed, I was sent over to Dan and Lauren's place. Dan and Lauren are the other two new actors, from Los Angeles, but they arrived a few days ago and already are moved into an apartment together. Dan allows me to try to nap on his bed, but besides the awkwardness of sleeping on a stranger's new futon bed, the room is also very small, more like a large closet, and there is only room for the futon, a fan, and a shelf near the ceiling. I rest more than nap and the four of us meet Pep for dinner and we watch the first show and then get ready for our first big show.
The cast of my first Late Nite:
Greg tries to show me how to put on my microphone. I try to work the mic belt, but can't figure out its logic with my brain pounding from adrenalin and lack of sleep. His method is to palce the mic into the belt and tuck it under your belt, which I find odd, but try it anyway.
The show is a blur, but my first scene with Lauren gets a big laugh, and I feel like I might be okay here. Then we head to our "room" for the night-Jim's filthy bed.
Jim's bed is legend, and people are already telling me tales of Jim getting drunk one night and pissing on the mattress rather than getting up for the bathroom. "Don't worry, he turned the mattress over," someone tells me. Jim and Suzi are in Frankfurt with Tim and Tarik, so we are sent there with Justine, Suzi's girlfriend and her friends visiting from Australia.
This is tough to write about without sounding catty, but trust that I'm just trying to be honest when I say that Jim's room is filthy. There's a deep funk in the room, certainly from the dirty clothes and sheets, and who knows what else. A naked girl is drawn on the wall, her vagina drawn carefully in the foreground with her saying "Fuck me, I'm Dutch and unemotional." The grey stain on the wall by the end of the bed is what I imagine to be dirt coming off the grey pillow cases, but turns out to be a collection of what Jim grabbed from nose during his night's slumer. A giant, booger cloud. The bed reeks of, well, Jim. I ask Justine for some different pillows, move down the bed so my head is not near the booger cloud, and fall asleep. If it weren't 5am and I hadn't been up for over a day, I don't know if I could have slept on that bed. I've had my own filthy days, but no one ever had to sleep in it but me. I wake up around 1:00 the next day, my first day in Amsterdam behind me.
Getting ready to sleep in the filthiest bed ever.
The "new kids" post-show.
The flight is long, and I find that I am very anxious. It's been 10 years since I backpacked through Europe and I can barely remember what Amsterdam looks like. I watch shows on my laptop and read about Amsterdam and I can't sleep so I don't. Once I get off the plane I find Jon (or Pep as he is known to Boom folk), Lauren, and Amber waiting for me. I've overpacked and have so many bags that I am totally embarassed as we go to an aiport cafe and wait for Laurel's delayed flight.
I drink coffee and await to hear about the big news on my apartment. Everyone in Chicago kept asking me where I was going to be living, and I had no idea, so Jon explained to me that he was thinking that I would live in this certain apartment that had a cat. I mentioned my allergy to cats, so that changed that. Apparently, this also left Laurel without a place too, so once she arrived we dropped off all our bags at Boom in the actor's office, known as "the Shiny". They would end up living under the computer table for the next week.
After the bags were stowed, I was sent over to Dan and Lauren's place. Dan and Lauren are the other two new actors, from Los Angeles, but they arrived a few days ago and already are moved into an apartment together. Dan allows me to try to nap on his bed, but besides the awkwardness of sleeping on a stranger's new futon bed, the room is also very small, more like a large closet, and there is only room for the futon, a fan, and a shelf near the ceiling. I rest more than nap and the four of us meet Pep for dinner and we watch the first show and then get ready for our first big show.
The cast of my first Late Nite:
Greg tries to show me how to put on my microphone. I try to work the mic belt, but can't figure out its logic with my brain pounding from adrenalin and lack of sleep. His method is to palce the mic into the belt and tuck it under your belt, which I find odd, but try it anyway.
The show is a blur, but my first scene with Lauren gets a big laugh, and I feel like I might be okay here. Then we head to our "room" for the night-Jim's filthy bed.
Jim's bed is legend, and people are already telling me tales of Jim getting drunk one night and pissing on the mattress rather than getting up for the bathroom. "Don't worry, he turned the mattress over," someone tells me. Jim and Suzi are in Frankfurt with Tim and Tarik, so we are sent there with Justine, Suzi's girlfriend and her friends visiting from Australia.
This is tough to write about without sounding catty, but trust that I'm just trying to be honest when I say that Jim's room is filthy. There's a deep funk in the room, certainly from the dirty clothes and sheets, and who knows what else. A naked girl is drawn on the wall, her vagina drawn carefully in the foreground with her saying "Fuck me, I'm Dutch and unemotional." The grey stain on the wall by the end of the bed is what I imagine to be dirt coming off the grey pillow cases, but turns out to be a collection of what Jim grabbed from nose during his night's slumer. A giant, booger cloud. The bed reeks of, well, Jim. I ask Justine for some different pillows, move down the bed so my head is not near the booger cloud, and fall asleep. If it weren't 5am and I hadn't been up for over a day, I don't know if I could have slept on that bed. I've had my own filthy days, but no one ever had to sleep in it but me. I wake up around 1:00 the next day, my first day in Amsterdam behind me.
Getting ready to sleep in the filthiest bed ever.
The "new kids" post-show.
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