Not so easy to assemble...etc

After a couple of weeks I drove the car back to Seattle and waited for word from Illeana.
Finally, nearly 6 months later, the shoot came around.
It was bad timing for me. I had just paid some bills and money was tight for me.
But I was committed to Illeana and her creation.  I just needed enough money to make it worth driving again to LA and back.  Two days before the shoot I was waiting for an act from God to make it to LA.
I had $70 in the bank.
A few weeks earlier I bought a couple of parts off a 67 Volvo 122 from the junk yard for $8.50 each and listed them on craigslist. and Ipdusa.com
The day before I was to leave I got a call from a guy who wanted the parts.  He asked if I could ship them to LA.
"Perfect."
I was still $100 short of the money needed to go.
The day before I was to leave I was in a coffee shop in Seattle waiting for God and $100.
My phone rang. It was my friend Josh who owns a Volvo 240 wagon that I have worked on before.  His car was making some kind of noise. I told him I was to be in LA now for a shoot and was short on funds for the trip.
"How much do you need?"  He asked. "How about $100?"
"The money is just sitting there in the bank, if you need it, come by."
I met him, looked at his car, and God ended up being a Physical Therapist named Josh, with a broken Volvo.
I put $100 in my pocket, packed my bags and hit the road.
It rained, poured, and snowed every mile to LA. I headed out  to the coast from Grants Pass, Oregon to avoid getting stuck in the Siskiyous. It snowed all the way to the coast.
I broke down in the mountains of 101 from the coast to San Fransico right in front of an auto parts store. My battery caps had blown off and my carbs were frozen and packed with dirt. The battery was overcharging so the windshield wipers were going so fast, one of them broke off. I took the carbs apart, cleaned them, got some battery covers from the Auto Parts recycling bin, and thanks to Rain-X I never used my wipers again, even through the snow.
I had 8 hours to get from San Francisco to LA.  The shoot call time was 5:30 in the morning.  I was exhausted.
Staying awake was my only thought after driving 16 hours through non stop snow and rain. 
Just as I arrived at "The Grapevine" I was out of money.
I stopped at a truck stop and tried both my debit cards knowing there was nothing in the bank. Thankfully one worked.  I put in $40 worth of gas that I didn't have and drove off.
Earlier on my way through Portland a friend had put an add on Craigslist that I would be coming through if someone needed something taken down to LA.
At 11:30pm I stopped in Portland and picked up some luggage and books from a student to bring down for her. Another $40 was now waiting for me when I arrived.
I had just arrived at a parking lot near the shoot when I got a call from the production coordinater. It was 5:25 am. 20hours had past since I left.  I was exhausted.  "Yes, I am here." I said.
It was the line producer.  I found a corner of a parking lot near the shoot to adjust to the strange feeling of stillness.  It was still pouring when I arrived in Covina.
Everyone was huddled under a tent in a parking lot next to a lakeside park.
It looked like winter, rain gear, snow pants, rivers of water streaming through everything.
We filed in and out of the catering trailer which was run by a charming Armanien cowboy and his beautiful wife who bantered across the counter as she cooked and he charmed the crew with his big smile, and cowboy conquistador hat.
Just as the shoot was to start, the rain stopped.  Scenes unfolded, and I watched.  Cameras, gear, grips, lighting, booms, mics, directors lined the path through the park along the lake.
Illeana whom I had 21 emails and texts with, including one at 5:30am, said only "Hi" as she raced around in the cold morning wearing jogging shorts and a tank top.
The prop crew met me in the parking lot to detail the car and change it into a Taxi.

I rolled the yellow 1970 Volvo wagon down the path in front of the crew.
We were supposed to be in Sweden,  Eric Lange and Mia Riverton got in the back seat and I was the cab driver.  Eric and Mia were wonderful to be around and truly funny. Illeana, and a collection of cast and crew watched as we drove along the lake in "Sweden".
At noon the shoot moved to Ikea in Covina for lunch and of course, meatballs.  The cast and crew set up in the parking lot for the afternoon.
I got a phone call from the guy who wanted the Volvo parts I had brought down. He met me in the parking lot out front of the big yellow Ikea letters. 

When he arrived he and his wife told me how her gold Volvo p1800 was used in a the movie Gattaca with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke.
He gave me $100 and thanked me for bringing the parts down.
I was selling Volvo parts while they were shooting easytoassemble.  But I had to pay myself back for bringing the car down.
I got another phone call from the sister of the student that I had brought things down for from Portland.  I gave her the same directions to the shoot.
An hour later she arrived at the Ikea handed me $50 and thanked me for bringing her sisters stuff down.
I felt like I could relax a bit now. Knowing I had a few bucks in my pocket.
The view from the Ikea parking lot is wonderful as the sun glows off the hillsides.
I was not scheduled to be apart of the Ikea scene, but I was standing by when they needed Ed Bagley Jr. and remembered he wasn't there. Illeana called out, "Use Mark." They handed me some of his clothes. 
"Don't worry, these scenes are from far away so they wont see your face."
I hopped in an electric truck, picked up Illeana and on cue rolled around the corner of Ikea into fame.  Then I remembered. "No one will see your face." We shot that scene a few times. I was still exhausted from nearly 2 days with no sleep. They started shooting close up shots of my hands and feet while I sat in the drivers seat of the electric car.  Funny cause my fingers were still dirty from fixing my broken down car in the Mountains just outside San Francisco.
The sun was starting to go down and the shoot was winding down. Illeana's mock 70's Swedish rock band Sparhausen were using the car for a photo shoot.   Then we all headed up to a production office in the upstairs of Ikea to fill out paperwork.  I thanked Illeana, signed some papers, negotiated pay and walked out in the Ikea parking lot a free man.
The premiere of easytoassemble Finding North will hit the screen early this fall.

Easytoassemble...not.

The inside scenes were shot.  The me and the car were in LA.  The outside car scenes were postponed.

I went to Santa Monica, Malibu, Manhattan Beach.  Camping out in the back of the car, I enjoyed some of the good places around LA, researched more work, and waited for the car to be put back on the schedule.

The car ended up going to Orange County to get some bodywork and paint done and I jumped on a plane back to Seattle.  The cherry business was in full swing and I was needed to make it work.

Between driving back and forth to Eastern WA, climbing cherry trees on a mountain side and selling them at Pike Place Market...

I waited for word about the shooting schedule.

During the final week of cherry season I got a email that we were on the schedule again.  This time they wanted me to bring a second car.
My friends and I put in one final day in the orchard, packed the car, and just before we headed out I checked my email.  "We, cancelled the car scenes.  No need to bring the cars.  The check is in the mail."

I was more than disappointed.  I made a call to Illeana.  She told me some of the circumstances happening around the shoot, apologized for the crew members who sank the shoot, and promised to bring the shoot back together.  I flew down to LA picked up my car and again, lived a vagabond life near the shore. making more connections and waiting for the the shoot to come around.  Illeana kept in touch and said she had seen the car near Malibu, that it looked amazing and asked me not to sell it before the shoot. I waited, made phone calls, walked on the beach, swam in the ocean

and waited...

Not so Easytoassemble...almost.

The inside scenes of the car were shot that day with Eric Lange and Mia Riverton.

The outside scenes got postponed.
I was in LA with my yellow wagon...I headed for the beach for a walk and a plan.

http://www.facebook.com/easytoassemble

Not so Easytoassemble...

Everything was set for me to bring the car down to LA for the shoot.

About a week early, I got a call from the Production Coordinator.

"Can we come by and pick up the car early?"  The car was in Seattle.  What? No, not possible.

I finally had to tell them me and the car were not in LA.

"We have moved the date up and need it asap."  She said.

My friend has a mountain cherry orchard and for 3 years I have helped him run a cherry business in Seattle. I had been up all night from climbing cherry trees in the desert mountains of Royal City a 3 hour drive from Seattle.  I needed a good night sleep.

A few hours sleep behind me, they called again, this time the car was packed and running in the driveway.

"Can you make it? The call time for the car is 1st thing next morning."

The car was running in the driveway, "I'll give it my best shot."  I said. It was 10:30am.

I drove and except for gas, didn't stop.

The day ended and darkness fell along I-5 just Northwest of Bakersfield.  I drove through the darkness and as I hit the Grapevine the sun eased up from the horizon.  

Early in the morning, I pulled into Santa Clarita, an hour early.

I got a text.  "Are you here?  We've pushed your call time till 3pm so you have time.

I was there and headed to a parking lot to stretch out a bit and give the car a good cleaning.

The car was filthy from using as a cherry orchard wagon and driving 1200 miles.

I waxed that old yellow wagon in the cool morning desert air to a nice yellow glow.

The shoot was at a nice Hotel in Valencia. When I arrived I felt amazing.

I checked in with the crew and relaxed in the lobby for awhile.

They were shooting scenes in one of the hallways on the third floor.

It was the typical chaos of PA's camera, lighting, actors, photographers, and caterers.

I saw Illeana just for a second moving in and out of the scenes.

The Director Micheal Kang, who is awesome and the DP came down and asked for a tour of the car.

When they saw the car, they looked amused and confused.  "This is the car?" They asked each other.

The word got out that I brought the wrong car.

She wanted the blue car but she thought it was Yellow.

All the emails said, bring the yellow car.

So thats what they got, the yellow car.

They checked out the angles for the shoot and positioned the car.

It was lunch, we all piled into a dining room in the Hotel.

I saw Justine Batemen talking with someone in the hall.

I excused myself and passed between them.

After lunch we piled into the parking lot with crew, actors and gear. 

We were supposed to be in Sweden, so they put up "green screens" behind it.

The camera was on the dash, Eric Lang and Mia Riverton were in the back seat. It was a taxi and they were on a date.  Eric is awesome and very entertaining.  Mia is beautiful and graceful and she was also very pregnant.  

As they shot Illeana was friendly, funny, full of smiles and hospitality.  

I stood by and watched. She invited me into the shoot.  I had been on set for several other shoots and was familiar with the goings on.  But she made me feel welcome in her creation.

Nice, Illeana. Easytoassemble.tv Thanks.

...more Easytoassemble.

The next photo I sent her was of a bright yellow 1966 Volvo 122s I was looking at buying in Orange County.  

The third was some shots of a brillant blue 1962 Volvo 122 I had recently found and fixed up and sold to a friend.

Finally I sent a stock photo of a bright yellow Volvo 145 similar to the one I was looking at buying.

Out of all of them she chose the Yellow Wagon. She told me she wanted to use it as a Taxi in the show. I looked up 1970 Volvo 145 on Google Images and found this photo.

The next day I bought the old yellow wagon. 

Here it is being used as a Cherry Hauler in the mountains of Eastern Washington.

Easytoassemble: Part one

It was June and I had just returned from NYC. I was on the hunt for a car that I could use for the 30 day cherry season that was to start in a week or so.
My brother in law and I were having lunch on a dock overlooking the water in Fremont when I got a call from LA.
A year before this I had driven a couple of old Volvos to LA from Seattle and listed them For Rent for films, photo shoots etc.
I got a call from a Illeana Douglas who said she had a mock 70’s Swedish band and wanted to use them for a video. I was in. But the whole shoot fell through.
Now I was on the phone with Illeana again.
“Do you have any cool Volvo’s available?” She was looking for a car for Easytoassemble, a web based show sponsored by Ikea.
“I have a few to choose from.” At this point I didn’t even have a car, but I was looking.
Just the previous day I saw a filthy yellow wagon for sale at X-Ray Auto a Vintage Volvo shop owned by a friend of mine. “Was it for sale?” I asked.
“It will never be cheaper than now." he said, "$500”
I wanted a wagon.  For a few years now I have been helping a friend manage a cherry orchard and needed something I could use in the orchard and bring the cherries back to Pike Place Market. I sent her pictures of 4 cars. 
One, was a ’58 Volvo 444 that sat in the woods in Port Townsend, WA for many years.  I raised it from the dead.  Cut out the rusty floor and installed Maple hardwood flooring and  drove it to LA. Patina! Only time can make things look so good. I loved it the way it was.  It was eventually restored by a new happy owner in Malibu.

It's up to you...New York.

A year ago this May I decided to go to NYC for 30 days. I sold my car and boarded a plane for the Big Apple. 4 days later I moved into a postage stamp sized room in Brooklyn, me and my rucksack.

It was a tough neighborhood. I barely slept. A brownstone in "Bed-Stuy". New Yorker's who asked where I was staying wouldn't say a word. Looking down, they would just shake their head. The next question was always the same, "How far are you from the Subway station?"

"Four blocks"

Looking at each other, they would then nod their heads. "Well, you may be alright."

I loved Manhattan.

Hoping to dive into the art scene, I walked, ate good food till I was broke, and met some amazing people.

Many evenings, on my way back to Brooklyn, I would stop at Washington Square Park to watch. I became friends with one of the park rangers, Carlton, a short balding man who looked, spoke and had the mannerisms of George of Seinfeld. He became my advice giver on how to navigate the city.

Every night the music director of a neighborhood ballet school would come to the park with a baby grand piano. (www.thecrazypianoguy.com) He played, another man sang, and the park would become a circus of live music, dancing and singing. In all my travels I have become a follower of live theatre especially on the streets. Being a singer-songwriter, performer, I am inspired by this fearless and bold talent.

30 days later I returned to the tiny thriving metropolis of Seattle, thin as a rail and empty pockets. Seattle had never been so easy to live in. I felt like I was on vacation and everyone was trying to fatten me up again. Someday I hope to return to the Big Apple and join the "crazy" pool of talent.

I see your face turned to the sea...

I see your face turned to the sea. Your lips move and eyes close. Turning to me, you are young and vibrant. You breathe and move on. Looking to the stones, I hear your words, your voice makes each one clear.

Around your eyes, you are wiser now. Your hands, like mothers hands, tell stories of years gone by. It is good again to see your cheeks, your hands, your eyes. Looking down upon the shore, the wind feels familiar like the smile of an old friend. Your feet move upon the sand leaving memories of your presence.

Lately I have been staying in the attic of a Victorian house in a small clearing surrounded by woods only a five minute walk from the beach. Bainbridge Island. The starry nights and full moon are just above me through the skylight. It is silent. Any sound above a whisper collides with the sounds of nature, a bird singing in the trees, a sea lion in the distance. Mostly it is quiet.

I walk along the shore, watching. An eagle fly's by me carrying a salmon, the setting sun shimmers off its shiny sides. The sun fades behind the horizon.

How could I know you...

How could I know you, marble and wood, stone and timber, pure and white, smooth and simple?

What are your walls, the views from your windows?

How is your house held as one?

In wind, do you sway? In rain, repel the pour? Is your door secure?

With eager heart, hoist the flag and let the shutters fly upon their hinges.

To know you, yet mystery remain...

Kennebunkport, Maine

Snow blankets the forgotten ground.

Ice clings to frozen tentacles of barren trees.

Just beyond the melting snow which slowly drips from the icy fangs

that hang from the barns eves.

A sound is heard and a sight is seen of crystallized fragile branches giving way

to that which weighs upon their swaying limbs.

The waves lurch upon the land

as if trying to escape the monstrous clinching of the sea.

It is a spectacle to see the shoreline and feel the stinging spray

as all around your ankles the waves fill the street.