Archive for the 'Bike Ride' Category
It’s going to be a busy weekend with the EdgeFest and the The Bicycle Film Festival and the HelMel Block Party at the Bicycle Kitchen.
The Bicycle Film Festival is this week from June 28th through July 1st in Hollywood at the Vine Theatre.
The EdgeFest is on June 30th from 12 noon to 12 midnight in Downtown L.A. at the Regent Theatre.
The HelMel Block Party is on July 1st from 12 noon to 8 pm at Heliotrope Drive at Melrose Avenue in East Hollywood.
Join us for a ride on Saturday to both the EdgeFest and the Bicycle Film Festival.
We are riding to the EdgeFest on Saturday at 11:30 am from Hollywood to Downtown. We are meeting at the Hollywood and Western Red Line Station to see my play “Voices From Chornobyl” in the early afternoon.
Tickets are $12 for the entire day and they have an open bar.
At around 3 pm we will be heading back to Hollywood to the Bicycle Film Festival where we’ll stay until they kick us out.
Tickets are $8 per screening (and pst! You can bring your own bar 
)
Please, please, please, RSVP with me if you are joining me on any of the rides.
I haven’t heard back from many of you and since I will be making spoke cards, I’d like to get a head count.
Bike Ride, Performances, Voices From Chornobyl | 25.06.2007 16:23 | No Comments
Wohoo! I did 1066.4 miles in three (3) months!
I started my personal “Year Of The Bike” count on the first day of Bike Winter, which was February 2nd. I silently made a pact with myself that I wanted to ride an average of 6 miles a day for a year, which would equal 2190 miles total for the year.
I thought this would be a nice little motivation for me to do the local errands on a bike. But the problem is, once you are on a bike, you really can’t stop. It’s just so much easier to get around. I never look for parking. I don’t carry change anymore for the meter. I don’t worry about how long I can park. And when I see all the big cars hauling a lot of air that is protected by a big metal body, it just doesn’t make sense anymore, because I take up so little of a space and I can get around just as well.
Anyhow, I did a lot of riding on my bike. And now my average is 11.8 per day. Wohoo!
These are the places that I rode my bike to:
- Auditions
- My Theatre performances
- Other peoples live Theatre performances
- Film Festivals
- Photo jobs (I was shooting, so I hauled the gear on my bike)
- Film sets for my close up
- Film screenings of my close up
- Rehearsals
- Coffee shops
- Grocery Stores (Trader Joe’s, local Mom-And-Pop store, Albertsons, Ralphs)
- City Hall meetings
- Bicycle Advisory Committee meetings
- LACBC meetings
- Visiting friends
- Parties
- Concerts
- Fun rides
- Library
- Visit family
- Women In Theatre events
- Meeting with clients for web design work
- Cancer Fund Raising event
- Workshops
- Museums
- Gallery openings
It was easy to ride to these places. Sometimes I didn’t want to ride and my laziness almost won over, but once I got on the bike I was very happy that I did. It is so much more fun to get on the road with the bike then sit in traffic in the car.
I know I don’t have a stereo (but I actually get to listen to far more music from other people’s stereos) and I’m not in an air-conditioned car (but I have real AIR conditioning.) I know I’m not having my hair all styled and sprayed and I might arrive a bit sweaty.
But people really don’t mind my hair being in a pony tail or just hanging loose. And nobody ever complained about me arriving sweaty.
In fact, I only get compliments. I get great conversations. I get smiles and wohoo’s and yeay’s and ‘go Enci’s.’ I get the thumbs up and I always get a hand wave on my way out and a cheerful “ride safe” good-bye.
I hope some of you will be inspired to dust of your bikes or build one at the bicycle kitchen or buy a new one and go on a ride. Join me sometimes on a fun ride with my friends. You will love it. I love every minute of it!!!
Bike Ride, Goals | 2.05.2007 16:25 | No Comments
If you haven’t seen my film My Silent Sadness then come out to the DGA (Directors Guild of America) and watch it as part of the USC First look Film Festival:
WHEN:
THURSDAY April 12, 2007 @ 7:30pm - “My Silent Sadness” is first up, so it will start promptly at 7:30PM
WHERE:
7920 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90046
Ride with me from the Hollywood/Western Red Line Station. We are meeting at 6:15 pm and the ride is going from Hollywood Blvd. to La Brea to Sunset. This is just a short 3-4 mile ride.
If you are coming, please RSVP at 213-740-1153 anytime until the screening and let me know to wait for you at the Red Line Station.
Or take the bus 2 or the 302. It’ll drop you off right in front of the DGA.
There’s free food and drink after! Also, there will be about 7 shorts playing (many of them award winning!)
If you cannot make it out Tuesday night, First Look films will also play all day SATURDAY 4/14/07 at USC’s Norris Theater. My Silent Sadness will be playing at or after 6:45 pm.
Bike Ride, My Silent Sadness, Screening | 10.04.2007 16:27 | No Comments
Yes, we made it on tv with one of our bicycling issues. Stephen has been protesting the “multi-modal” design of the Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway for over a year now, a project that was funded based on promises of “Multi-modal” transportation and which ended up being a freeway with the transit elements reduced to nothing and the ped and cycling elements added as an afterthought.
Stephen has recorded his bike rides through this treacherous 2.5 mile of freeway, he photographed it, he talked to city councils, head engineers, Gloria Jeff, the head of the LADOT, Michelle Mowery the head of the Bikeways department at the LADOT and to the L.A. cycling community.
I rode with him many times and even though I’m pretty familiar with this stretch of smooth asphalt, and even though I rode it a few times on my own in the daytime to auditions and to gigs, I hate this stretch of road for many reasons.
Number one reason is that if there is light traffic, the cars are so fast, that they end up swerving into the bike lane. I even see buses ride in the bike lane. And the buses don’t bother changing the lanes when they pass a cyclist, because they think that I’m protected by the magical white stripe on my left from their draft. So every time a bus passes me, I feel the draft push me toward the curb.
Another reason I don’t like riding this stretch is because it’s removed from the neighborhood. There are no pedestrians (another afterthought in this multi-modal design) and no eyes on the street. This feels like riding on the freeway, totally disconnected from the community. (Having ridden on the freeway a couple of times, this is worse! At least the freeway had big wide shoulders.)
And one last reason why I don’t like riding it, is because in Century City the bike lane stops in the middle of the road, right before this road opens up to a total of 6 lanes, and a cyclist would have to race three lanes over to the left to continue going straight all while dodging cars and buses that stop right across the end of the bike lane and which cross over three lanes as well to continue going straight.
Phil Shuman did a story on the Century City Bike Lane Controversy and we were interviewed. Stephen and I were joined by our fellow cyclist comrade, Erik Knutzen.
Towards the end of this news segment, Michelle Mowery, the head of the Bikeways department of the DOT, says that this parkway is guaranteed to be safe for cyclists. Hmm. Michelle Mowery says this with a straight face even though her personal standard for bicycle commuting is limited to riding a bike path in daylight hours and even then is limited to one day a week in the warm months. (Note she chose not to ride the SMBTP during her claim that it’s “guaranteed safe!”)
Also, the LADOT claims that they didn’t finish the bike lane because they don’t know what Beverly Hills is planning to do. It is quite strange to hear, that big and powerful Los Angeles would wait for little Beverly Hills to make decisions on their multi-modal project. And even more strange is to hear this claim, taking into consideration that the bike lane stops in Century City, not Beverly Hills.
Bike Ride, Publicity | 7.04.2007 16:28 | No Comments
It was a nice surprise to hear from my Agent. It was a double nice surprise to get sent out on TWO auditions.
One audition was for Hilton Hotel and they called for fresh faced, fit, athletic, modern, contemporary females. Also, they asked us to wear workout clothes and shoes in bright colors or white. The clothes gave me a bit of a concern because I have no workout clothes and the few sweat pants and tops that I have are black.
So I rummaged through my closet, through drawers, and in the laundry, hoping to find something bright colored that would look like workout clothes. I found a bright yellow wife beater and a bright pink mini skirt. Ha. Perfect.
I put on a black pair of tight shorts (no, not the padded kind) and my black workout bra. Over it I put my yellow wife beater and the pink skirt. Looked very modern and contemporary. Or maybe I just looked like a freak. It didn’t matter. I wanted to follow directions and this is what I could come up with. Casting Directors are known to be quite ticked by actors who don’t follow directions.
The next audition was for an IBM Print campaign. I had to dress sharp, sophisticated, clean and business like. Oh, and I had to look Eastern European So I loaded my pannier with my dress suit, skirt, stocking, high heels and a dose of Hungarian attitude. I also packed my make-up and a hairbrush and I was ready to hit the road.
The auditions were two hours apart. One was in Beverly Hills and the other was near Los Feliz. I was hoping that the first one wouldn’t take too long, but I also knew, that I couldn’t make it to both auditions in a car in 2 hours.
So I got onto my saddle 45 minutes before my first call and I rode to the Hilton Hotel audition first. There were about 8 people ahead of me when I arrived and they all wore black workout clothes! Have they not read the audition notes?! I had time to brush out my hair and touch up my make-up. I filled out a size card, pulled out my headshot from my bag and I was ready. I was ready to kick ass and show them my freak outfit and my Hungarian attitude.
After 30 minutes of waiting, they called three of us in, we slated, did one-by-one sit-ups, push-ups, lunges, and some weightlifting, and that was it. They didn’t scold the other girls for not following dress code directions. They didn’t ask me to perform or to say some lines. Nothing! I hated it! I was out of there as fast as I could and I had an hour to get to my next audition.
I took some side streets and it was a really beautiful clear day. Once I got up on Santa Monica Blvd. the air wasn’t that clear anymore. The cars were all stopped in traffic and the exhaust was visible and I could smell it as I passed all the cars and the buses and the trucks. I really left them all in the dust. Er, cough, cough, in the smog.
I arrived at the IBM Print audition 20 minutes early and I had plenty of time to change into my business outfit, put on my lipstick, brush out my hair, and fill out a size card. As soon as I got my number, I was pushed in front of the camera and the photographer said: “Hold the card in front of your chest. Lose the card. Smile. Thank you.” That was it. I hated this audition as well. I was out of there in no time.
I rode home in my suit jacket and my high heels, and in my skirt. I thought that if auditions can be humiliating and no fun, I’m going to have some fun on my way home. And I had a blast.
I stopped traffic! Yeah!
Well, not really. The traffic was already stopped because of… well, traffic. I could weave my way up to the red lights with ease and nobody tried to squeeze me. Nobody honked at me. People waved me ahead at Stop signs. It was a nice ride.
I rode 15.54 miles and did two auditions that I didn’t enjoy, where I was treated like a prop or a walking costume. Two auditions where I didn’t get to perform, didn’t get to tell a story.
All in all it was a great day. Just getting sent on auditions is encouraging and even if I got no feedback or acknowledgment from the casting directors, I did get to go on a fun ride on a beautiful day. And now that I think about it, (rewrite memory) I’m sure I stopped the traffic! I’ll take the affirmations where I can get them!
Auditions, Bike Ride | 27.02.2007 16:29 | No Comments
Today I had an early morning audition at USC. It was a cloudy day, and the weather forecast said, that it was going to rain. Well, this was not good news, but it was a good test. The USC audition was at 10:30 am and I got a call this morning about a Theatre call back, that I could go to until 1:30 pm. Hmm.
Was I going to ride? As I got ready to dress, my eye was constantly on the outdoors and on the sky. I decided to dress in a suit, so that I would be dressed the same for my call back, and I was going to put on a nice shirt, so when I took the suit jacket off, I looked like a school teacher for the USC audition.
Again, my eyes were looking up into the sky. The clouds looked dark. I dressed, put on my make-up, and got my headshots and a change of shoes. I don’t mind riding in my high-heel boots, but I didn’t want them to get wet. So I put on my hiking boots (looked very classy with my suit) and I stuffed my nice boots into my pannier (this is a side bag, that you can attach to the bike rack in the back.) I put my make-up and my headshots into the bag as well, and now there was no turning back. I had to ride my bike. I couldn’t wimp out.
As I rode down to USC, the clouds parted and the sun came out. Yesss! This was nice! I rode the 8 miles, arrived on time to fix my hair and put on my boots, and prepare for the cold read audition.
When they were ready for me, they called me in. The director, Mo Twine, gave me some feedback after my first read, I made some adjustments, and we talked a bit about riding my bicycle. It was a great audition. I walked (er, rode) away feeling good.
As I left, I glanced up, and the dark clouds started coming in again. Well, I thought, I won’t melt, and the air is really nice and fresh, so lets go. I had to pick up some freecycle items before I was going to to my call back, so I had to hurry.
I chose to take 4th Street Boulevard, because I knew they were filming there for the 4th Street Boulevard campaign. But it seemed like I missed the group. They started somewhere in Silver Lake at around 11:30 am and I arrived at 4th at 11:30 am. I wasn’t going to wait for them to head my direction, so I just continued my way to Hollywood.
I got to the freecycle pick-up at 12:05 pm and I was ready to get to the call back. Since I didn’t have to ride far, I changed my shoes, and now I was wearing my nice high-heel boots. (When you wear high heels on a bike, people start pointing. It’s really fun!) The sun was gone by this time, and it was a matter of minutes before it was going to rain.
I arrived to my call back and got my sides (the same as yesterday) and I had plenty of time to prepare, to relax, and to memorize the lines.
The director, Kristian Steeler, was fantastic! He remembered everyone’s name from the day before, he was professional, very respectful, and clear in his ideas. And he let me create my character, he let me use the space, and I had a great audition. He made some adjustments, I took them, and he seemed impressed. I had a great audition!
Kristian, a bit worried, asked me if I only have a bicycle for transportation. I told him that I have a car, but I choose to ride. I told him that anybody who uses their bicycle for transportation, will never have a car excuse for being late or for not showing up! He seemed to like that
I rode 20.17 miles today, from one audition to the other, picking up some stuff on the way. I’m glad I took the bike and didn’t chicken out because of some clouds. When I think of all the hard core cyclists in Chicago, I have nothing to complain about.
I love to ride! I felt energized, alive and alert! All these things are important factors of being able to perform. And I did well. I took chances, I was confident about myself, and I didn’t get stressed out about traffic, and about my parking meter expiring. It was a great day to ride! It was a great day to audition! It was a great day to be alive!
Auditions, Bike Ride | 27.01.2007 22:55 | No Comments