A Bad Promotion, Mean Cabbies, Tuna Fish and a Shopping Cart on Melrose.

So let’s see; the weekend, which means the Usher CD Release Party.  So as a promoter my job is to promote this event through emails, texts, Facebook, Twitter, word of mouth and flyers.  My roommate Dallas had gone to the interview with me so he had to promote for it as well so we planned on going down to Hollywood Blvd on Saturday (the day before the event) and hand out flyers/passes for the event.  Well of course Dallas and I planning to get work done together never happen’s and we get side tracked.  We decide to spend our money and go to Madame Tussaude’s House of Wax (photo album up on Facebook – Real? Fake? Look-a-Like).  It was pretty awesome but creepy at the same time.  At one point I couldn’t find Dallas and when I looked around for him I saw all these people, famous people, but then you realize that none of them are real. Sometimes when you turn around there is one just standing there staring at you and then you realize it’s another wax figure.  These was figure’s are made to the exact scale and size of the actors and they have the actors’ distinguishing marks on them such as tattoo’s scars and piercings, it’s really crazy.  Some of them look so real your expecting them to start a conversation with you or wait till you’ve looked at them long enough and then they are just going to look and you and say Boo and scare the crap out of you.  I even got Dallas to poke them to make sure they were wax, it’s honestly incredible how real some of them look.  After our adventure with the rich and famous we decided we weren’t in the mood to promote so we went grocery shopping instead and then headed back to the hostel.

By the time Sunday hit my phone and my Facebook were going crazy with messages from people that wanted guestlist.  It was great I had over 37+ on my list and I only needed 20 so I was pretty happy.

I had to be at the club by 9:30p that night so Ryan, Justin, Ethan, Mandy and I all got a cab at 9p and headed down to Ecco (the club).

It was pretty awesome when I first got there.  All the promoters got in a line and were directed into the club.  Once we got inside we had a bit of an orientation and that was it.  We had done our job and now we were just able to enjoy the event.  I was thinking “this is great!  Promote al week and then get into  the parties for free. Sweet!”  Boy, was I wrong.   No line up for guestlist/VIP passes = in a line up for over an hour.  Open bar till 10:30p = no running it by the owner so it was cancelled meaning drinks were $11 each.  Usher listening party = Usher is a no show.  Getting paid to promote the events = not being able to get a hold of your boss.  Now don’t get me wrong,  we had an absolute blast, maybe too much of a blast considering we spent way too much money. Using my VISA for emergencies only ended up being I need a rum and diet it’s an emergency lol.  But, it was all worth it in the end. 

We ended up leaving just after 1am as we had drank a little too much and thought it best we just head back to the hostel.  We grabbed some street meat and hailed a cab.  Now let me tell you something about the cabbies here in Hollywood.  THEY ALL NEED AN ADDITUDE REAJUSTMENT.  First off every time I get into a cab and ask them to take me somewhere they don’t even know where it is.  My first night here I was getting dropped off at Ella’s and the cab pulled over and I politely asked “is this the address” he rudely replied “how am I supposed to know I have never been here before, you don’t know where you’re going!”  It really makes me miss the cabbies in Collingwood, they are so much nicer and actually make your ride more enjoyable.  Anyways when we got into the cab after the club all I remember is Ryan arguing with the cab driver.  Apparantly he wanted to charge us a $20 flat rate when we were only a $16 cab drive away.  So the cab driver decides to turn around with the meter running and drive back to the club to over charge us.  We finally calmed him down and got him to drive us back to the hostel which only ended up being an $11 cab ride.

So now lets fast forward as few days to Wednesday.  Dallas and I decide that we wouldn't mind grabbing a bottle of cheap vodka ($12 for 20oz) and listening to some tunes down in the party room.  So thats exactly what we did.  We pounded out Lady Gaga on the stereo speakers and danced on the coffee tables which actually scared some people from coming in the room.  A small speaker even fell from the ceiling but we don't even know where it came from lol.

The next morning was beach day for Dallas and I, ya, ok, let me tell you how GREAT I felt (pure sarcasm here).  I felt like I had been hit by a truck, cheap vodka may be good for my budget but it definately  isn't good for me lol.  We decided to nix on the beach till the following day (Friday) and just allow ourselves to devulge in our own self inflicted illness.  With painful heads and upset stomachs we decided to take the 45 minute walk down to Sunset and La Brea to the grocery store.  On our way to the grocery I really needed to stop for food ( I had the hungover hunger) so we decided to stop at Subway.  Not really that hungry I decided to get a tuna salad feeling it would be lighter and go down better then a sub at this point.  So of course Dallas and I who are both Gemini's and are pretty much the same person are both hangover bitchy; here's what happned - he kept putting his pop on my tray I kept moving it he putting it back.  I took a sip of his pop he took a sip of mine, I took some tuna salad and put it in his pop, he took it out threw it back in my bowl and poured just a little of his soda in my salad.  At this point we pause and stare at each other, like two cowboys ready to draw their guns.  Then very slowly with a smile of satisfaction he picks up his soda and dumps the orange liquid all over my salad turning my ever so delicious salad into tuna salad goo. Not over impressed because it cost me $7 (which is out of my budget), I was hungover and hungry I picked up a forkful of tuna salad goo and flung it at him, I got him right in the face.  If you could've seen the look on his face, it was priceless, man did I laugh so hard, and so did he.  It was on his face in his hair, on his sunglasses and on his shirt, it was all over him.  With a hungry stomach but still laughing histarically we left and headed the rest of the way to Ralph's (grocery store).

I don't know if I have mentioned but Dallas is an Aussie so we have different terms for things so when we get to the grocery store he starts calling the buggy a trolly.  I said no a trolly is something you ride a buggy is for groceries.  He said no a buggy is something you ride and a trolly is something you push. We are going back and forth like this for 5 minutes when I hear giggling.  This woman was standing there listening to us bicker and thought it was hilarious she couldn't stop laughing.  Dallas even asked her if she thought it was a buggy or trolly but she was laughing to hard she couldn't answer.

Anyways an hour later and $200 worth of groceries (most of them being different flavours of noodles) we are ready to head back only to realize that there is no way we can carry all of our stuff on the bus, and it would be way to heavy to carry home but a cab was way out of our budget. What do we do? M - Dallas maybe we should just take the buggy.  D - I was just thinking the same thing.  So that was our decision take the buggy.  All of a sudden the buggy stalls it wouldn't move and the wheels would just move from side to side. Dallas pulled it back, it was fine, pushed it forward and stopped, it literally got retarded on us.  Well, they have these magnetic things all around the property so that you can't steal the buggies. Smart for them bad for us. Now what?  Dallas sees a buggy beside a car and decides to pick it up over the magnetic thing.  VOILA!  We move all our groceries into that buggy and begin our 45 minute trek back to the  hostel.  Do you have any idea what it is like walking down Melrose Ave. pushing a shopping cart full of groceries while everyone else is walking around with bags from clothing shops.  Yup, definately not the most popular kids on the block that day.  We might as well wore sings on our back that says "Kick Me!". 

We did make it to the beach the next day.  Dallas and I went down to Santa Monica the next day and check out the fair on the Santa Monica Pier and just sat and watched the water it was a really relaxing day, a little chilly but really nice and chill.  The only bad thing was we ordered burrito's, fries and onion rings for lunch.  Not really the greatest idea I have had since I left Canada.  We were both in the bathroom for quite a while.  I kid you not (for those with weak stomachs do not read any further) it was like a machine gun and then a bomb explosion and then a trumpet played.  There were a few minutes I thought I was going to die.  I couldn't even eat dinner that night I was still full (if you could even call it that) from the burrito.  NEVER AGAIN!

Well thats it for now.  I don't have much else to talk about but I think I have given you all enough to read this entry.  I will try and post something in a few days.  I am off to go buy the boyz some chocolate bunnies and we apparantly have an easter egg hunt at the hostel tonight so that should be fun.  

Take care, Happy Easter, and remember to love your Collingwood Cab Drivers.

xoxox

LA LA LAND with a little bit of 90210

It's been awhile since my last blog so this might be a bit long so hopefully you can sit through all of it. The last thing I wrote about was Santa Monica and Venice beach.
Alright so a few days after that my girl Ella calls and says she had the day off and asked if I want to meet her down at Santa Monica on Tuesday. So I am up early, on the bus and at the beach by 10:30 am.  What a beautiful morning it was. It was so hot, one of the hottest days since I had arrived and there was a music video being shot on the Santa Monica Pier Bridge.  We found a vacant spot on the sand and sprawled out - for 4 hours - I wasn't ready to leave when Ella wanted to but by the time I got off the bus I was glad she did because I was a little red.  Well actually, I looked like a lobster, but now I am a nice brown :)
A few days later (Thursday) my flat mate Dallas and I decided to rent a car for two days so we could get some resumes out.  We hired a car from Rent a Reck, and what a Reck it was.  It was two shades of green,  the gas pedal was stiff, every time I hit the breaks the back end of the car clicked, there were only five radio stations 3 spanish stations, one new station that repeats its songs and one 80's station which is the one we stuck with (it totally suited the car), there wasn't even a spot for a tape or a cd to be played, all the mirrors had to be adjusted by hand, the key was bent and there was no power steering. LOL it was a wreck but it got us through LA, which by the way is a horrible place drive.  I love driving but all I wanted to do was take the car back to the hostel and leave it in the underground parking until we had to return it.  Everyone runs red lights, people pull out in front of you and cut you off left right and centre and everyone honks constantly and don't forget the no power steering.  The guy at the car rental place said "when turning left and the light turns red don't turn right away because people will run the reds and when it is green don't pull out right away make sure everyone is done running red lights. But DON'T BE AGRESSIVE. It's easy you shouldnt have a problem"  ....? after all that how can I not be aggressive.  LOL.
We drove down to Venice beach and got some lunch and then headed towards West Hollywood where we wanted to hand out resume's.  Well, having a car gave us some freedom and we got really side tracked.  We drove through Beverly Hills and Down Rodeo Drive.  It is a completely different world there.  Everything is so prestine looking.  It's so manicured with it's white buildings, spotless sidewalks and every designer store you can imagine.  Even the cars were high end, we were definately slumming it on Rodeo lol, it was worse slumming it through Laguna Beach in a Dodge Charger with Pauly.
Anyways we decided to drive through the hills. So we drove through windy hills and up streets that were so steep I thought the car was going to roll back so I leaned forward hoping it would help.  We got lost in Bel Air (I think it was Bel Air).  The streets were so narrow and so windy, we kept hitting dead ends and I could barley turn corners because without power steering ShitHeap (the name we gave the car) liked to make wide turns.  I had to come to a complete stop turn the steering wheel all the way and then proceed, it was awful, I almost hit someone because the car turned so wide.  Very cautiously and white knuckled we made our way to Mullholand Drive (we never got to handing out resume's that day) My Vertigo kicked in sometimes, it was like I could feel the hight all around me but it was well worth it.  We drove to a viewing point and looked out over The Valley,  the Freeway and the Hollywood Sign.  It was really beautiful.  Did you know that Hollywood was originally Hollywood Land?  A landslide came and took out the word Land so they just left it lol.  Now you know.
After a long day of driving I finally get to park ShitHeap and have a beer, or so I thought.  Justin my other flat mate asked if I could give him a lift so back in the car I get. Perfect. Rush hour.  Within five minutes I got pulled over by the cops, GREAT.  COP: Hi there my name is officer so and so may I please see your liscence and registration?  Do you know why I pulled you over? ME: Absolutely not (I hand him my liscence and rental papers)  this is my first time ever driving in LA and I just rented this car today.  COP: Where did you rent this car from?  ME: Rent a Reck COP: haha I can see that (he keeps laughing)  ME: Trust me I would love to rent something nicer  COP (hands me back my liscence and papers) you see that sign there you cant turn left here. you have really pretty eyes.  Be careful or someone will give you a ticket. Have yourself a nice day  ME: (looking at Justin)  It helps being a girl.  JUSTIN: Fuck Emmie they would've nailed me ME:  I know ahah.  So I turn around pull up to the light and make a right JUSTIN: Emmie you can't turn while pedestrians are crossing! . As he says this he looks out the window and the cop was standing there smiling shaking his head.  HAHA what a day.  The next day Dallas and I actually get out to job search but barley got out any resume's due to the fact nobody would take them because we were looking for cash work and nobody was interested.  Another day gone and no job so what do we do haha party.  There was a party at our hostel that night.  It was a blast.  We met these three really rad Aussie's, Amy, Kate and Garth, all siblings traveling together.  They will actually be back here in a few weeks and want to meet up, they texted me today so I am pretty stoked.  The party was great everyone had a blast. Though I was really confused the next morning when Justin was all dressed up from the night before, I thought he was going to work but that wasn't the case.  He ended up passing out in the party room and had just made it upstairs with swollen eyes.  And I mean swollen eyes. Have you ever seen anyone with swollen eyes before?  i thought I had until I saw Justin on Saturday morning.  His eyes were these round balls sticking so far out i thought they would pop out of the sockets; I'm surprised he could even blink lol it was so funny.  Then I hear a very confused half asleep voice from Dallas's bunk "why am I naked?"  and then me going "how did I get to bed?" it was so funny but so painful.
That night I went over to Ella's for a girls night and some drinks. A few drinks later her, Nathan (her new flat mate) and I head over to the Bungalow (hostel) for some drinks, Justin and then off to the Saddle Ranch for a crazy night of music and drinks.  SOOO MUCH FUN but so much pain the next day lol but well worth it.
Sunday was a chill day for all of us, Justin and I were hung over after two nights of drinking and Ryan had gone to a Rave on Saturday and drank with us on Friday so we were limited to a day on the couch with junk food and movies.
Then it's Monday. The begging of a new week and time to get myself a job.  As much as I wanted a job bartending I knew it would be next to impossible. No bar would hire me without a Visa which I dont have.  So what do I do Craigslist.  Man do I love Cragslist.  I looked up and out my picture to any promotion, or promo model add in the Los Angeles Area.  20 emails and 3 hours later I had 3 interviews.  Guess what.  I GOT A JOB!  Two of them to be exact.  One is for this promotion company promoting the high end clubs in Hollywood and promoting big parties. Dallas and I both got the job together, and the address of the head office is 90210 Beverly Hills!  No joke!  My first task is promoting this Sunday nights event at Ecco Nightclub. It's Usher's CD Listening party and the man himself is going to be there.  Fucking amazing.  My other job is working at private celebrity functions. They are B and C celebrities but it's still a pretty cool job.  The best about both of them is they are cash paying so it's golden. I am super stoked.  Plus the owner of the second one is friends with Mr. Hugh Heffner and I have been invited for Sunday Poker at the Mansion.  Yup thats right the Playboy Mansion.
Well I hope you have enjoyed yet another one of my entries.  I have to go get ready as Dallas and I are going to two night clubs tonight, no line no cover to check them out and start promoting.  LA LA LAND is right!!!

Santa Monica and Venice Beach

Yesterday our (Justin, Ryan and I ) plan was to go to the beach.  Ryan was planning on being up around 8 to hit the gym and then be back by 10 so we could head down to Santa Monica.  Well if you knew my roommates you would know that them getting up means "Emmie can you set the alarm because we have to be at the office for 10 so can you set the alarm for 7 and wake us up" "Oh and can you take my suit to the dry cleaners" lol. But the trick is actually waking them up.  You see they set there alarms as well but it just wakes me up on top of my own alarm and then i have to yell and shake them which doesn't work half the time; and Justin's alarm is a rooster,  KILL THE FUCKING ROOSTER!!! HAHAHA!!!  So after about 3 hours of trying to wake them up and a missed gym session by Ryan, and me spraying Justin with a spray on tan we finally leave around noon with an added person (Sakita) and headed to the bus stop with an hour bus ride out to Santa Monica.

Santa Monica is beautiful. You walk over a bridge which looks out on to the water and the mountains. On the other side of the bridge is a pier where a fair takes place with a huge roller coaster and a huge ferris wheel and the pier is just infested with people.  The beach itself is just beautiful, there are shops and condos all lined on the left side and the right side has a bath for walkers, runners, bikers, bladers, skateboards and to the right of the is the beach which is about a mile till you get to the water which is speckled with sailboats and lined with mountains. There are swings and palm trees and a gym for gymnasts which line the outer part of the beach its nuts. I have not seen anything like this on a beach before.  It was great just walking and looking around at this thing they call a beach which is beyond any beach I have ever been to.

Our whole goal was to go get to Venice beach so after we had our beach side burgers we kept walking toward Venice.  WOW! What an amazing difference between Santa Monica and Venice you don't need anyone to tell you where one ends and the other starts.  It's like Ghost Town (Frontier Town) on the beach.  It's incredible.  Big painted hippie vans are the first thing you see when you hit Venice with the faintest smell of Pechoullie.  Mom you would love Venice beach, you would be calling Aunt Pat to come out and move there with you haha.  It's got artists, and music, hippies, dancers, a side show - they had a two headed turtle- drum circles, food, henna tattoos, you can rent a bike to ride on the path, jewellery makers, tattoo and piercing shops, smoke shops, restaurants, music, clothing stores hat stores, almost everyone had a dog,  homeless people with signs saying stuff like "Why lie, need weed" and "Punch me in the face for $1". There are also these shops that you can go in and buy weed legally as long as you have a medical card for it.  I have never heard of that before, its fucking crazy.  I saw the biggest drum circle I had ever seen and it never stopped it just kept going, I also saw a loan drummer just sitting on the beach just playing his drums.  It was amazing. And this goes on everyday.  It was beyond anything I could think of  of what a beach is like.  It was amazing everywhere you looked it was something different, there was so much going on that if you looked one way you missed what was going on the other way.  There were always crowds of people looking at something.  We walked up to one crowd and asked what was going on and a lady said "that extremely built guy is going to jump over 11 people". Well that extremely built man started running and he jumped over 11 kids.  Crazy.  Have you ever heard of Muscle beach? You know in the movies you see the big muscle heads working out on the beach.  Well it exsists and it is actually called muscle beach. YUP who knew. I thought people called it that because of the muscle heads but its the actual name. Beside that is this stage thing with bleachers facing it and there were techtonik dancers showing there moves. Goodbye Wasaga Beach strip lol, you will never be the same.

By the time we decided to catch a bus back we had walked over three miles or more.  By the time we got home it was just after 7 and Justin's spray on tan looks like he has an obsession with Zebra's lol I did a really bad job but it looks really funny.

Well I am off as I have to pick up the dry cleaning and run to the store and then come back and do nothing.  I'm loving this life!