You Know You're Addicted to Starbucks When...

You know you're addicted to Starbucks when you start to notice them on almost every corner. I don't mean noticing that there is a Starbucks on practically every corner, I mean looking for them on every corner; when the green and white logo start jumping out at you when you catch it out of the corner of your eye as you drive through Hollywood... or when you think it might be a good idea to get some Starbucks to go with your dinner(who drinks coffee at dinnertime!?) You know you are addicted to Starbucks when you find yourself thinking things like: "I'm bored.... maybe I should go to Starbucks," "Man that pizza was good... but now I feel like some after-pizza Starbucks," or "Time for bed... better get some Starbucks." Don't get me wrong, I now love Starbucks, it is my new favorite food(hahahaha). I knew I was addicted to Starbucks when I had a little conversation with myself that went like this:

EXT. SUNSET BLVD -- DAY

ME and MYSELF walk east on Sunset Blvd in sunny Los Angeles. We are heading home from a long day at Mole at about 3:00pm.

Me:
"Hey, look: a Starbucks."

Myself:
"So? They are everywhere, especially down here."

Me:
"I could go for some coffee right about now."

Myself:
"What!? It's like three in the afternoon."

Me:
"But I need energy."

Myself:
"No you don't, you're on your way home."

ME and MYSELF stop at the corner, the light has turned red.

Me:
"But I'm thirsty."

Myself:
"No your not. And, besides, coffee isn't a thirst quenching kind of drink."

Me:
"But... I need something to carry, something to hold in my hand."

Myself:
"..."

ME hold hand out as if holding a cup of coffee.

Myself(Cont'd):
"...what does that even mean?"

Me:
"But... I... everyone else has coffee."

Myself:
"You can't afford spending money everyday on Starbucks."

Me:
"But it smells so good."

Myself:
"You don't have any cash on you."

Me:
"...but..."

Myself:
"Look, we're almost home, you can have some cold water when we get there, you need water anyway."

Me:
"Ya... I guess you're right."

ME and MYSELF cross the street as the light turns green. They continue walking home, moving on to the next block."

Myself:
"Of course I'm right, I'm always right."

They get to the end of the next block and wait for the light. ME looks across the street.

Me:
"Hey, look: a Starbucks."


Does that every happen to anyone else? No? I'm the only one? Hmmmm.


Today Larry and I played with the lights... seriously. We wanted to set up for tomorrow's demo with LACC so we lit the set. Larry and I built an extra half wall with a window for the set because we wanted to use the big 20K(Larry's idea)! I also got to see the inventive side of Larry. He had seen a gaffer friend of his make a large scale snoot out of black foam core that had slots for diffusion frames(or... in theory, to color correction or other gel). So we got four 4x4 floppies and made a tunnel using the ground as the floor of the tunnel. We then put a 4x4 frame of diffusion at the two ends and in the middle. We then got a 4x8 piece of foam core and poked holes in it and put the pins of the frames through them. It was crude, but ended up doing the trick. I could see how much fun Larry was having and I could totally picture him back in the 60's and 70's inventing Mole fixtures like the Softlight, Nook light, and Mickey Mole.

We also decided to test the differences between a 1.2K tungsten single par light and a 1.2K HMI par. Larry had heard that they could be interchangeable if you were in a pinch. So we set both lights up next to each other the same distance from a wall and threw some full CTB on the single par. We found that the HMI gave about 1 stop more light then the single par and you didn't need to gel it(like we did with the single par)... but the HMI did require the ballast, it may need to be gelled if the color temp was way off, and is much more expensive to rent then the single par. So for a tungsten source with a full CTB(which cuts the amount of light by almost half!) it definitely held it's own. You can't really control the single par like you can with an HMI par because the HMI comes with lenses to spot or flood the light, but the single par is definitely usable. Larry and I plan on exploring the possibilities of these lights, and I am super excited because, for some reason, I have a feeling that we're going to discover... something. I can't put my finger on it, but I am very excited.

Oh, and today Larry taught me how to change the bulbs on the big "Maxi-Brute" nine-light.

And after that he showed me how to use these things called shutters that I guess a lot of the new "younger guys" don't like to use... or don't know about them? They basically are a super efficient way to dim the light without actually using a dimmer and lowering the volts(that brings the color temp down). Shutters are literally a metal frame with metal shutters that are opened and closed to block the light or let it through. They work so well, they cut ALL of the light off when closed all the way. If I get on a job that asks for dimmed light, I am going to insist of getting some shutters, they work soooo well.

Man, I tell you, working at Mole is like working at the Wonka candy factory! I PLAYED all day with the lights today and got paid for it! Amazing!! Today was a very productive day at Mole. I can't wait to bring all this info(and eventually these toys) back up to San Francisco! I came home and relaxed, watched some TV and now I am setting up our new wireless router. Well, actually, I didn't do much... I just kind-of plugged it in and Andrew's Mac did the rest:)

PhillM tip-of-the-day:
When plugging a 2K light into a circuit(either a household circuit or lunchbox/distrobox) as a rule of thumb, plug it into the top circuit. This tells the other electricians that the circuit is used up and to not plug another light into it. Also, as a rule of thumb, if it is a 1K or smaller, then go ahead and plug it into the bottom one so the other electrics know that there is still some room on the circuit... but also make sure to check with the best boy electric first so you can make sure that you have enough power for the next light you want to plug in... but that's a whole other tip in itself.