Podcast Obsession

Living in Los Angeles you would think I'd have perfected the art of my commute entertainment.  I spend an average of roughly 7 or 8 hours a week in my car going to and from work, yet I've never really latched on to any one form of drivable entertainment to keep me from wanting to run my car off the 405.  I thought I'd gone through all the normal remedies - iPhone playlists, radio talk shows, phone call catch ups, etc, but I've only recently gotten in to a once foreign field - Podcasts.

I've caught a few minutes of various podcasts here and there but they never really stuck with me until I started listening to the most recent podcast craze, "Serial."  I'd heard about it long before I started but never really thought I'd have any interest in it.  Fast forward to a few months later, which ended up being two weekends ago on a trip home from Big Bear in the car with Christina, Konrad and Justine.

Side note for those of you that don't know the main characters in my story.  Christina is my fiance, and Konrad and Justine are two of my closest friends that also happen to be married.

We'd gotten the recommendation to start "Serial" from some other friends that we were in Big Bear with, so we decided to utilize the long drive to see if we were in to it.  Roughly two and a half hours and three episodes later - I'd say we were in to it.  After the first few episodes I definitely wanted to continue the journey with Sarah Koenig as she delved into the trial and conviction of Adnan Syed, but I wasn't sure I'd have the time to ever get back in to it.  That was a stupid assumption.  Much like the other goals I have in life, I've come to learn that "having enough time" is never an appropriate, or valid excuse to not do something that you want to do.  This blog is a perfect example and finding the time to continue "Serial" was one as well.  So of course I started thinking what time would be good for me to continue and then, duh, why not on my commute to and from work?

Turns out podcasts are a great way to pass the time in the stop and go territories of the southern California freeways.  I plowed through the rest of "Serial" by the next weekend.  Do I think Adnan was innocent?  Maybe.  Although I think I felt much like Sarah did - I struggled back and forth between his guilt and innocence.  I will say I lean more towards the innocent side, but it's hard to completely get on his side when I've only listened to the podcast.  I'll certainly be keeping my eyes on the articles that come up during his appeal process.

After I finished "Serial" my mouth was still watering for more podcasts so I had to find something else to binge on.  Lucky for me and being late to the game, I've found a plethora of new material that will keep me occupied for the foreseeable future.  I'm starting it off by catching up on every episode of the "Nerdist" podcast because I find Chris Hardwick to be very entertaining, and also because I'm somewhat of a nerd.  What's great about all the podcasts is that even as I'm catching up they're adding new episodes, so the new material seems endless.  They also keep my mind focused and I've also found that I learn at least one new thing per episode.  I'll gladly keep listening on my morning and evening commutes.

What podcasts do you listen to/recommend?

Coming Out of Retirement

4/8/2010.

That's the day that I published my last post on this site.  Just shy of 5 years of silence.  Something I know for a fact could never happen, at least for me, in real life.

Speaking of real life - mine certainly hasn't been as silent as this blog over the last 5-ish years.  I think this is the perfect time for a short list, so here are the broad strokes of what I've been up to:

-Graduated college
-Moved to LA (Downtown)
-Got a job as a production assistant.  Actually more than a few jobs.
-Stopped being a PA to pursue acting
-Christina moved in with me
-Stopped pursuing acting to work as a Production Coordinator
-Moved from Downtown LA to Sherman Oaks
-Got engaged to Christina!

Those are most of what I would consider the bold bullet points for the last 5 years.  In addition, I've read a bunch of books, seen an astounding amount of movies, played a lot of golf, drank more than my share of booze, and generally been enjoying life in sunny southern California.

So what am I up to now?  Planning for our Wedding on 8/8/15 in Cancun, Mexico.  Working as a Coordinator in MTV's Series Production department.  Enjoying the company of great friends in many places whenever possible.  And trying to live life to the fullest in every way.  Also - starting to write again.

I made a few resolutions for this New Year, and to write more was in my top 5.  I won't lie - I've been writing on and off on more than a few blog sites in the intermittent 5 years since my last post, but I've finally settled back in to this site.  I came back here because it doesn't cost me anything, and until I prove to myself that I'm really committed to a regular writing routine, I don't want to throw my money at a web hosting service just so it drains from my account every month.

The hardest thing I've battled when it comes to returning to a blog is my own head.  I've made plenty of excuses to not blog, and I've finally realized that I can't use a lack of time/ideas/etc as an excuse to stay away from one of the things in life I truly love.  One of my biggest bucket list items in life has always been to become an author, and I've read countless books and articles that say that the first step to becoming a better writer is to, guess what, write!  Write about anything, write often, just write.  A general consensus seems to be that writing as often as you can will only help fuel the creative juices and, even more importantly, hopefully help you become a better writer.  That's my goal for this - to become a better writer to the point where I feel comfortable and justified in writing my first book.

I've got many more goals, thoughts, and ideas that I'm looking forward to sharing on this newly re-activated blog.  I'm looking forward to the comeback, and I hope you'll enjoy it too.

PS: If you want to have a few laughs, check out my old posts.  I've decided to leave on here not for their outstanding prose, but because I feel like they serve as a fun reminder of times gone by and also will (hopefully) continue to show general improvement in my writing.

Blogger or Tumblr??

I'm conflicted at which to use. I have both. I've been slacking on both. But at this particular junction this one will have my most recent post, obviously. I have more followers on this one (a whopping 10) so I may just stick with it, or I may switch off, I guess I'll just be spontaneous.

I feel the need to return here now because of overwhelming concern for my lack of posts, and by overwhelming I am referring to the one time a month one of my friends asks me where my blog is. So here it is, for those who care to read it.

There are now less than 4 weeks of school left before finals start. 4 weeks of college left. EVER. The only word that comes to mind is WOW. I know it hasn't hit me yet and I don't think it will until I am in LA living on my own, something I am both completely ecstatic and amazingly nervous about, but I guess it's just another growing point in life (who knows, maybe I'll get taller too....ehhhh probably not). Either way graduation is approaching fast and it is an amazing feeling.

I feel like this blog will get more interesting once I'm out of school because I won't be stressed with the needs of class, I guess that'll change for the needs of real work, but those are needs that I can't wait to take on as I am very excited to become a part of the professional world on a full-time basis.

In other news Mannix and I played roller hockey last night which was probably my first time playing in 6 years and I've got the blisters on my feet to prove it. It was fun though and I must bring to attention the fact that out of 3 games, I was the majority victor!! For anyone who knows Mannix and sports they will know he is still distraught about this and is in fact weeping in his room as we speak (not really, he's watching the Master's). Fun times none the less.

I'm waiting to hear about a film internship that will take me until graduation which is exciting, but for now I am still counting on caterings as a source of not-so-constant income, but money either way.

Also for those who were involved I am still working on the FlipCam vids from LA and the Vegas, both great trips and both places I love, and hopefully I'll have them done sometime before graduation but you never know.

That's all for now folks I don't want to keep you from your busy schedules for too long. Shalom.

-Geoffrey

Blink 182 Concert and More!

It's been awhile, not surprising, but I feel I owe you readers a quick update.

Went to the FOB/Blink 182 concert in Tempe beach park on saturday with Christina, Gary, Berneat, and Lindsey. We left prior to FOB to go get some quick drinks at Cue Club for a few until the bands we wanted to see came on, we were there from about 5-630, and I had 3 long islands, which pretty much did me in for the rest of the evening. We got back in time for some of Slightly Stoopid's performance but I don't remember much. I decided to go in the pit for most of FOB and Blink in my drunken stooper, a fact I wish I hadn't done because my legs, and eye lid scab, are still a faint reminder of that painful day haha. It was definitely worth it though to see Blink, what a show.

I've also entered a contest to win a walk on role in the AMC show "Mad Men" and if you are so obliged feel free to register (it takes 2 minutes and an email address) and vote for me (which you can only do once)!! I would greatly appreciate it. The link is:

http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men-contest-2009/2009/09/ycbmm-09-geoffrey-mccarthy-don.php

Feel free to leave a comment while you're there if you'd like!

I also have just about completed the application for the Director's Guild of America Trainee Program. I am really excited about it but I won't know anything about acceptance until February, so that's probably all I'll say on that for now!

Also it is official, I will have the keys to the condo I'll be living in when I move to LA after college on or around October 9th!! Very exciting and I love the place!! I can't wait for everyone to see it and for us to hang out in LA!!

Also our flag football team the Chugglers won our first game last sunday!! 1-0!!! Hopefully we can keep it up and go all the way this year!!

Other than that I can't report much more, just school school school. Wednesdays normally aren't my favorite, today definitely wasn't any different. I'll be back when I can folks. Here's to hoping it's a bit sunnier tomorrow.

-Geoffrey

A Pretty Sober Weekend

Not that this happens super often for me, but I only drank one this weekend, and technically it wasn't even the weekend yet because it was Thursday night. We will call it the weekend for the purposes of this blog though because I have no classes on Friday.

Other than that I feel like I was doing work most of the weekend, literally, I'm not using that to mean something that it doesnt.

Between finishing up my first draft for my capstone (which happened about an hour ago) and working the usual catering and science center shift, I was relatively busy. Oh yea and the Bears just lost the season opener, to Green Bay, double dose of OUCHIE on that.

It wasn't all bad though.

Christina and I had our 10 month this weekend, which may not seem like a lot to most people, but to us it is, although I mean that in a good way because it has flown by. To celebrate I decided to expand my cooking knowledge from poptarts and melted (yes melted) cheese sandwiches and took a page from her mom's cookbook, again I mean that one seriously. With that recipe I was able to successfully prep and cook some Chicken Divan, which was still delicious when I had it for leftovers tonight with Brazda and Burry. So props to Mrs. K for giving that one too me.

Today was also a lot of fun because after work Brazda and Burry helped me shoot a short little one shot acting monologue so I could submit it to a contest to have a walk-on role in a season 4 episode of "Mad Men." I'm excited about that for sure sure and I am waiting for a link to my clip on the AMCTV website because YES folks believe it or not you all matter in whether or not I get picked as a finalist. Meaning that once my clip is on the site I would love for you all to watch it and vote for me!! This is because the top 20 ppl with the most votes when the prelim period ends on OCT. 16th get into the final and out of those 20 the creator and exec. producer will pic the winner!! Since you are reading this I'm assuming you support all of my worldly endeavors so when I post the link I would be more than grateful if you went and voted!! Ok enough plugging.

We had fun shooting, Brazda took cinematographer duties (on the FlipCam) and Burry was nice enough to give us his shoulders and half the left side of his face so it would look like I was at least talking to somebody during this...Fun times haha.

Other than that, I wish I was able to go to NY for the VMAs this year but couldn't because it wouldn't have been worth the money it would take to get me there and room there for three days but turns out the show was amazing even without my presence behind the scenes haha.

ALright folks thats all I have for now, gonna go watch "Knowing" with the roomies, even though I've already seen it and wasn't super psyched. But I'm a sober driver to the ladies tonight (by choice yes) so I need something to do to pass the time. Have a good one, talk to you soon.

-Geoffrey

9-9-9

I totally spaced on the fact that today is a date that many of us will never see again! Unless we make it to 9-9-99, but they'd have to invite some sort of long life syrum for any of us to still make that, but hey you never know. I'll stay optimistic.

I just had to have a blog stating this date because it is a once in a lifetime thing and I want to be able to look back on it, even though this day hasn't been any different than others haha.

I'm already less stressed than the last post, but it still sucks that I have two more classes today (Wednesday is my long day), but either way I have one early tomorrow and then the week is over so I really can't complain. Alright later!

STRESS!!!

Ok so maybe it isn't completely worthy of an all-caps title, but yes at the moment I am feeling a tad bit stressed. All in all it's about the movie I need to make for my capstone filmmaking class, I have been running ideas through my head for the last few weeks and have even written some stuff but the only problem is I need to make the story something that people will be able to feel. Oh, and I need to get the script done by a week from today!!! All in all, I'm feeling the heat. Not to mention Mannix is crappin on me for not writing in this for awhile, and said he will no longer read it as of now, so yea, we'll see if that holds up once I let him know I got this one down.

In a quick digression I will give Emilio a shout out since he's sitting next to me in capstone right now and I know he'll read this haha.

I'll go back to my film stress purely to say wish me luck over the next 7 days and cross your fingers that I can get my script done, which I will, but it may take some heavy frustration.

In other news, Mario Kart has had some sweet representation in my life over the last few weeks. Call it the game of the month if you want but it definitely has made for some fun and friendly competition. In fact, I have spent some good hours unlocking characters and tracks in the game which has been sweet. Although I must say the game's replay value isn't really the best, I feel like once I play a track twice in a day I'm over it, but lucky for the game there's 32 tracks so I guess that gives me a good amount of play time.

Hmmmm, so much has happened over the last two weeks but I don't like holding you guys onto this blog for too long because even I know that I run out of interesting things to say.

I did some catering work this past weekend, which was great since I am quickly running out of money, but it was fun because I get to work with friends. Mannix was on the first catering and Polski and Kremmel were with me on the second and time always flies when you work with friends, which everyone knows.

Let me also say that if I DO forget something cool that happened over these past two weeks and if someone reminds me about it, I will make a separate blog about it, but mainly it has been me having stupid worries about homework which I for some reason decided to start stressing about in my last year of college.

We had our first flag football practice for the upcoming season last night and that's always fun. I think we're gonna make the championship this year as long as we don't have to face the horse tranquilizer women team again haha.

My future LA condo is pretty much in my hands (or I guess I should say my moms) and I am REALLY excited about that. I promise pictures once I get official word but I guess at this point, according to the realtor and my mom, it's pretty much a done deal. And since I just brought up my mom I must bring up a story that just happened yesterday that I thought was quite funny...

I usually talk to my mom at least once a day on the phone just to chit chat and banter about life, but yesterday started out a little different. I must prequel this story with the fact that my mom is now in what I will call a relationship, although I don't know if she and the guy would consider it "Facebook Official" yet, but I don't really want to know all the details anyways so I will say that they are "hanging out." Because of this I am no lnger the only guy that talks to my mother on a normal basis. I hope most of you can see where this is going already. Anyways I called my mom yesterday for our usual banter and to wish her a safe trip, but when she answered I noticed a usual chipper in her voice along with some comments about closets and what not, and at first I thought she may just be talking to him while she was on the phone with me, but NOOO, she quickly realized that I was in fact her son and not her guy and we had a hearty awkward laugh and just one more story to tell. Oh well, I'm lighthearted and so is she and that is definitely not the most awkward story that my mother and I have with each other, but it's the only one I'll divulge for now.

Anyways my class that I've been writing this in is over so I'll end this piece now, and hopefully will be back before two weeks from now haha. Stay safe chillins'.

-Geoffrey