I've been robbed!! But... in a good way??

My life is always interesting. Even when bad, negative things happen to me... it almost always ends up for a good reason, or a good outcome.

Last night, I was shopping for groceries at Safeway.
I put my carry-along with my wallet and everything up on the roof of my car... and promptly forget about it as I leave the premises. Not until noon today do I realize that, "SHIT! My wallet is gone!"

Of course no one has turned it into Safeway's management - which is fine as there was no money in it. BUT... I hated to lose business contact phone numbers (not too many).

I call my bank first to let them know that my bank Debit / Credit card was lost and supposedly stolen. I explain very quickly, but very carefully, that ALL my forms of ID were in there - Driver's license, my ID, bank card, passport, medical card, and everything... Gone!!

The bank guy on the phone says, "Can I have your bank card number please?"
"NO!!" I tell him... "But you can call the guy who stole it and ask HIM."

He then asks me for my other information and we continue.

He looks up my information and asks me when I made my last bank transaction. I told him... last night at the Safeway store. And that I made a deposit the day before for $65.

He thinks for minute... then comes the funny part...
He tells me that I now have a Credit of $114. in my bank.

I said, "Do you mean someone STOLE $114. from my account."
He says, "No. Someone just put $114. INTO your account."
I then tell him... "In that case, I like this thief and want him to continue to use my card."
HA HA!!!

The bank guy takes me seriously and doesn't say anything else. I then remind him that I am calling to cancel my bank card and to get a new one. He doesn't seem to understand why.

I explain that I do not want someone ELSE shopping with my money.
He agrees.

He tells me that he will send my new bank card to my bank near me, and that I can pick it up this Friday.
Sounds good.

He then tells me, "You will need to bring 2 forms of ID with you."
I think for a moment and ask him, "Did you and I just have a conversation about what was stolen?"
He says, "Yes."
I said, "Then you will remember that I just told you ALL my IDs are stolen. Every one of them... all licenses and cards."
Bank guy thinks and asks, "Do you have a driver's license?"
Me, "NO!!"
Bank guy, "How about a birth certificate?"
Me, "NO!!!"
Bank guy, "Do you have any other forms of ID?"
I say, "What do you not understand about the words 'ALL MY IDS' are stolen?"
He then says, "OK, well then you can just go in and talk to the bank manager, and she can probably help you and give you your new bank card."

Argh! The stupidity of humankind.

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An addendum to this story: It turned out that the bank dork on the phone (and yes, sitting in a chair in a far-away country), could not read the data correctly. It turned out to be a deposit that I had made myself, about a week previously, which for some reason posted to my account late. But bank dork read it as a brand new bank posting. Nice.

Mark Ryden's art kicks ass

A note for art fans...

If you haven't checked out the bizarre, disturbing, yet strangely captivating art of Mark Ryden...
do so immediately.

Awesome work. http://www.markryden.com

Hate bad movies? Try acting in one...

It's venting time...

So I'd been working with this group who are doing a TV series that they are hoping to sell.
(Being Veronica Craven and “In The Cellar.”)

Fangoria magazine has some contest for filmmakers to submit a short 15 min. horror film to "win.“ The prize is the winner being included in a DVD-released film. (Whoop-d-doo)

WE, the involved parties, get nothing. No pay, and no rights to sell the film.
Neat. But our TV group decides to participate. The film was to be called, "The Necklace."
From there it got ugly.

I go to San Francisco to shoot the scene I'm in.
I read the script the night before, that the director had written.

I quickly realize that not only does the story really have no focus (other than attempting to be... "oooh spoooky"), but it is totally convoluted without reason. In the first 2 minutes my character goes from stabbing needles in a voodoo doll to being a palm reader to selling an amulet to a guy as an anniversary gift to his wife. I tell him he's going to die, and he's cheated on her.

Oh, and the amulet is a million years old and possessed by a 100,000 priestess from another dimension, which... has been also given to the Eros, the Roman god of Love.

Hmmm... love the continuity.

So... I cut all that crap out of the script which sent the director and lead actor scrambling.

Then came the discussion about how film directing is NOT the same as theatric directing (again, the brilliance of the director). Ohhhhh man! If I had to do it all over again... I wouldn't. Stay tuned for my own film projects coming soon enough this summer...

I should mention, as it turned out, that the ”director“ was actually a film buff who, along with his partner, had never actually made a film before. This was their first attempt, and somehow earned them the right to not take advice from those in the industry, and to be cranky about it.

Stay away from amateurs.

Swollen, hot, and red (my day wasn't as bad as the other guy's)

So after all my adventures traveling in inclement weather recently... what did I get to remember it all by (no, I mean after all the cool freebies and stuff that I collected)...

I ended up with a majorly swollen leg.
My right leg swelled up twice its size, was bright red, hot to the touch, and felt like it was going to burst out of its skin.
Did I mention the immense pain?

The hospital thought I might have a blood clot and took it very seriously. As it turned out, I had cellulitis (not the fat butt thing), which is an infection of soft tissue. It can be caught in any manner of ways, and is the most common infection.

I sat waiting in the hospital for 8 HOURS - from 2 am until finally being seen and released at 10 am.

The official diagnosis was Cellulitis of the Leg. Done.

As I'm about to leave, I overhear the nurses talk about the next guy who is coming into my room.
"He's been waiting over 12 hours.", one nurse said.
She continued, "Poor guy has Cellulitis of the Penis."
ARGGHHH!!!!

I thought to what my ordeal for the past whole week had been before being seen... and then waiting 8 hours when I couldn't take it anymore. This guy had been sitting there in agony - in a much more tender area - for 12 hours!

Suddenly, my problems just didn't seem so important anymore.
I thought I would just go home and know that I am being treated.

---

As an added note: I'm driving home and think out loud... That man's penis... swollen to twice its normal size... hot to the touch... feeling like it's going to burst out of its skin. Hmmmm... Don't men pay good money for pills to give the same effect? I'm sure I've seen it advertised on TV.

But the bright red part? I wouldn't want a dog's organ either. Nor the pain involved.
"Oh well." I thought.

Jan. 2005 - Travels galore!

So it's January 2005. I just went to the CES Expo (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas.

I got to the Gibson Guitar tent for a private party and performance.

An amazing show featuring 14-year-old guitar virtuoso Nick Sterling - http://www.nicksterling.com.
That was followed by Ike Turner (yes, the wife beater), who did a smoking performance.

Finally it was a treat to see a 90-year-old Les Paul (the creator of the electric guitar and the Les Paul guitar's namesake) perform live.

Hopping onstage was Journey's Neil Schon, to jam with Les and the band.
It was an early birthday party for Les, and he loved to be playing.
Apparently Les suffers from severe arthritis, and still is able to amazingly play, albeit with two fingers.

After that, I went over to LA to shoot photos of singer Challece at the Whisky-A-Go-Go.

Then back to the SF Bay Area to the MacWorld Expo at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, to see what new Macintosh's were coming out.

THEN... the Fancy Foods gourmet foods show, also at the Moscone in SF, to sample some great new goods.

Quite the amount of traveling.
Here's the clincher.. Through my trip down to LA, over to Vegas, back to LA, and back to SF...
I went through the following:

• 6 snowdrifts
• 6 rainstorms (one a major thunderstorm)
• 5 thick fog banks
• ONE sunny break in a day
• a flood at the CA/NV border that looked like a major lake
• and some drizzles.

Don't forget the mudslides, but I didn't get caught in them.

Adventure is my middle name.