$5 Cover Seattle – The Screening!

Last night, after an afternoon of shopping for the perfect dress to wear to the MTV screening (a pink tiered lace shift dress for under $30) I arrived at the entrance to the SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) Cinemas to get a preview of all 12 Episodes of $5 Cover Seattle with my fellow cast and crew.

For those of you who don’t know about the series, here’s a short description taken from the MTV’s $5 Cover Seattle Website:

Set in the thriving contemporary music scene of Seattle, this musical series will invite viewers to tag along with the hottest up-and-coming bands for a wild weekend as they work, sweat, perform, and party in Seattle’s clubs, bars, after hours speak easies and crash pads.

Both a long-form rock musical and 12-part series, $5 Cover Seattle will capture the color, flavor and texture of Seattle’s real nightlife – as well as the hairy-tongued mornings after. With all the musicians playing themselves in stories drawn from their actual lives, the show will emphasize the authentic intimacy of a living, breathing musical community, as a well as a sweet, deadpan sense of humor.

Season 2, Seattle will be directed by Lynn Shelton, the award-winning filmmaker, who’s a longtime fixture of the Northwest-Pacific film and music scene and the director of the 2009 indie comedy, “Humpday” which premiered to premiered to critical acclaim at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. “The idea is that it’s a way to experience a particular city through the city’s music that’s happening now. That’s what’s so cool about it,” she recently said.

A little late, and a little flustered with traffic, I walked up to the entrance to be checked off the guest list. Upon entering the cinema, I was overwhelmed with the smell of popcorn, and the crowds of hundreds of people all waiting in anticipation for the screening to begin. However, with a little searching I found a group of people I knew towards the front of the theatre and sat down to view the show.

It was great seeing everybody again, and being in such close quarters with so many talented people was quite a rush. You never realize how truly tight-knit the Seattle film community is until you get them all in a room together.

I must say, I am quite proud of the work I did on the project, wrangling extras and what not, and I even caught a glimpse of myself making a little cameo in a few of the episodes!

All 12 Episodes were screened, as well as sneak peak of some behind the scenes documentaries on Seattle as well as all 13 featured bands. It all turned out so amazing, and I am so proud to have been a part of the project. In reference to my last post berating MTV about their lack of music, I do say that with these soon to be released “webisodes” chronicling the Seattle music scenes, MTV has slightly redeemed themselves.

For those of you who didn’t get a chance to see the episodes, keep your eyes peeled for the world premier this Summer!

Also, check out the trailer!

The Jersey What? An Examination of American Youth

So…
I was just mindlessly watching a television talk show titled The View this morning and one of the featured guests on the show was the cast of the MTV reality series The Jersey Shore, and I could not go through my day without saying something about it.

Now, I don’t watch much reality TV, nor have even had a chance to watch much television in the past few months, but from what I observed in the 20 minutes or so they were talking with the ladies of The View, I was flabbergasted, and disgusted as to how disconnected these people were from the real world.

So I did a little more research…

Now, if you are unfamiliar with the show like I am, here’s a little background as quoted from Wikipedia:

The show examines the lives of eight young cast members living and vacationing on the various resorts along the Jersey Shore, more specifically the town of Seaside Heights. In exchange for living and partying in the shore house, each member of the cast is required to work shifts at a local boardwalk t-shirt store. Failure to comply with the ground rules set by their boss, who owns the shore house in which the cast resides, results in termination and eviction from the shore house.

Now as I see it, this is a show about these twenty-something year old, Italian-Americans (or Guido’s), living a lifestyle of partying and promiscuity with little to no consideration of the ramifications. Much like past reality shows, such as the Real World, The Hills, and the like, I can see how people can be drawn to this kind of “entertainment”. It’s a glimpse into a lifestyle that few people can even imagine experiencing, and it’s exciting to behold. Viewers are on the edge of their seats waiting to see what is going to happen next, but they don’t realize how unsustainable this lifestyle they envy truly is.

Given some consideration that there is still a level of “scripted-ness” when dealing with these kinds of shows, it is still a portrayal of the lifestyles certain people actually live.
In addition, with how quickly information is disseminated nowadays, the people on these shows attract wider attention and fame than ever before.

They are loved and they are hated. They are an obsession, a fad. Fans envy them, they want to be them, and they emulate them. Now, the emulating, is what I’m really worried about.

This is how I see things playing out…

These characters take their $5000 an episode and 15 minutes of fame, and then what?
People don’t see that 10, 20 years from now, most of these reality “stars” will be burnt out, and virtually forgotten while the next hot, young thing takes their place.

So, do they have a plan?
My guess is probably not.

Given the recent removal of the words “Music Television” from MTV’s iconic logo, (Read more about it Here), MTV has truly made the shift from a priority on Arts and Music to something more… I can’t even think of a word for it.

In my very frank opinion, I see this as another example of the dumbing down of America. Thanks to the broadcasting efforts of television networks such as MTV, the world sees America as a country full of partying, uneducated, and spoiled youth.
It is a stereotype that my generation is quickly becoming, and I feel near helpless in stopping it.
This is the youth of America, the future of the country, and I am genuinely concerned about the direction we are heading in.

I understand that I am talking about only one demographic of America, but considering that we are constantly bombarded by these images and ideas through every source of information out there from television, radio, and internet, this needs to be addressed.

It seems that all we see are extremes, we’re essentially becoming an extreme culture thriving off of the ridiculous celebrity lifestyles portrayed on television.

We want to see people make a fool of themselves on national television.
We want to see how screwed up people can be.
We want to be just like them.
Americans are ridiculous!

What has happened to the American Youth?
What about an education and establishing yourself as a responsible adult?

Yes, there is a time for partying, but there is also a time to show some accountability.

Now that’s something that I’d be interested in watching.

We’ve fallen down the endless rabbit hole, and there seems to be no chance of getting out to see reality, and by reality, I mean REALity.
Say goodbye to entertainment as you know it, and hello to a new era of televised absurdity.

I’ll end this rant before I get even more upset, but don’t think this is the last you’ll hear from me about “Reality” TV.

Any thoughts?

Until next time…

September, September.

I’m still trying to recover from this past week, and also prep for the weeks and months to come.

So many projects to think about, so little time.
Here’s the breakdown of everything I have going on right now:

+ 2 Short Films – Costumes & Make-up – One shooting next week, another next month.
+ 1 Play – Costumes/Make-up & Musical Directing – Opens in November
+ Magazine Project with Sean
+ School Starts Next Month
+ Working on Screenplay(s)
+ New Band with Hannah
+ Anything else that strikes my fancy.

You’re probably thinking, girl, you crazy. Whachu thinkin’?!
I guess you can blame the Gemini in me, but what would really drive me crazy is if I didn’t have anything to do.

I do have a history of overloading myself, but I just like the excitment, the sleepless nights, the overall rush.

Wrapping up $5 Cover this past week was sad; so many new friends made in such a short amount of time. The wrap party was like the last “Hurrah”: absolute insanity, I tell you. I’m still reeling from it all, and I left early, I’m sure it got plenty more interesting after that too. Ah well, I guess that’s what it feels like to have responsibility. I did get to sing one karaoke song though with my friend Hannah, my wingman for the night, haha. Goodness, I hadn’t sang karaoke since I went back to Japan a couple years ago – my most recent trip being this past Spring. I’d say the wrap party topped that karaoke experience though. Man… what… singing? Dancing? Shenanigans? Good memories for sure. Saw a little sneak-peek of the finished product, which should be out sometime this Winter, I believe? You should be excited, ’cause I am. I’m sure you’ll get a glimpse of me on the screen too. Hehe. My MTV debut?

So Bumbershoot is this weekend – actually it started today.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go all three days, none of the entertainment really popped out to me. Then again, I didn’t go to Bumbershoot last year, I guess I could try to go either tomorrow or Monday. It’s not so much any one particular thing that makes Bumbershoot something I want to attend, it’s the entire experience. I am a bit strapped for cash though… yet, I really do want to go…the crowds, the people, sights, sounds, smells. You never know what can happen.

Today is my best friend Kendra’s Birthday, 18 I thought I’d give her a little shout out. I love that girl.

And tomorrow, I’ll be celebrating with my other good friend Katie, for her 19th birthday. Not quite sure what’s in store yet, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Maybe we’ll go to Canada, Katie likes Canada.

Probably not.

Just Pretend I Make Sense

(Sleepy and Incoherent – BDG white v-neck, Olive-green reversible high-waisted skirt from Japan, Forever21 Necklace, Feather earrings from Japan, Random red ribbon)

What a whirlwind week it has been!

From mother’s birthday, to shooting, to shooting, to shooting, and singing, and music making, and everything in between.

I wrapped working on $5 Cover this afternoon, and it’s always such a surreal feeling to wrap a shoot. I’m so tired, my mind is off somewhere, definitely not here.

I’m a bit incoherent. Not to mention looking like a Hippie and smelling like a mixture of fast food, incense, and dog. I need to shower and hit the sack.

Working on that set was incredibly fun, stressful at times, but fun. I loved all the people I worked with, they’re all amazing and incredibly talented.

It’s always great to develop set experience; it doesn’t matter if I’m doing costuming, make-up or wrangling extras… who knows what else I’ll be doing in the future.

I’m extremely tired though, I’ll have to divulge set stories at a later time.
Not tonight.

I’m a little too… lost.

Is that the word? Lost in thought? Sedated. Uh, obviously I need sleep.

In the meanwhile, check this guy out.

Fastest violin player in the world, David Garrett, I saw him on Good Morning America this morning.

Talk about talent, this guy really makes me want to learn violin.

Ted Kennedy Died.

I just saw that on breaking news twenty minutes or so ago.

Wow.

Not that I really knew that much about him, Cancer, scary stuff.

All I really know is that he was a Senator, and killed someone. My dad always said, “Never forget Chappaquiddick” – I just learned how to spell that two minutes ago.

Well, I don’t really know what more I can say on that subject…

In other news, this week is going to be really busy again. More MTV work this Sunday, this time I’m on my own. Cool! But I’ll talk about that some other time.

It’s my mother’s birthday tomorrow, I’m taking her to Seattle for a special lunch, she doesn’t know where yet, it’s a surprise. Then to the Market to shop. Shop Shop Shop.

I was talking to this girl the other day, and I’m thinking she might just become one of my newest good friends. Everything is so subjective these days, objective? Subjective? Like fashion, for instance. I might think that I’m super cool and stylish, but some other person might think I’m a bimbo or completely square.

This morning as I was prepping myself for the day I was thinking of how cheesy my blog title is; and then I was thinking of how completely un-clever I am. I kind of thought I was being clever then, I mean, I like that movie, Sleepless in Seattle, maybe it would have been funnier if I had chosen “Styleless in Seattle”. Oh well, I’m just not one of those types I suppose. You know, the clever and original ones. What crap. Who’s ever truly original these days? Anything you try to do you’re fitting into some sort of mold whether you like it or not.

You might be wondering, what the hell Michelle? What’s with this pissy attitude?

I’m not being pissy, I’m just being real.

Uh, well, I started a sewing project the other day, I’m making a Romper.

Look it up.

Oh, and…