I don't know what this guy's problem is but you're a stone cold fox. So if you're ever in LA, please look me up!

As far as an answer from a guy in his mid-twenties... he's a chicken shit. Most guys I know will ignore a girl instead of confronting her, even the loud mouth's who will pick fights in bars. Emotions are a scary thing, especially for someone who hasn't really developed any.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 12:56 AM on June 14, 2008

I just purchased a really wonderful messenger bag from Urban Outfitters, but alas, it's no longer on the website (however it might be in the stores). Whilst browsing, I came across this bag and it looks to be somewhat you might be in the market for.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 2:12 AM on April 17, 2008

incessant is completely right. Yes, it would be a horrible idea. I'm an east coast native too, and this place does get on my nerves a little bit more each day. Unfortunately if I moved away, I'd lose the momentum that I've built up in my own career and might have to start at the bottom too.

You have to think of what will be best for your career at this point. I'd suggest trying to get a month-to-month lease until you sell the script, then jet away for a few months to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 2:22 AM on March 11, 2008

Still 3/4 in LA (Burbank) since last week.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 2:52 PM on February 1, 2008

A meetup with Klang is the cat's meow.

I have/had a similar problem since I hate my roommates and everyone at my work is older then me and very into the hollywood/entertainment scene. But I started working a part time job and met a few fun people, plus there's always the next mefi four-square meetup...

I guess what I am saying is that friends take time to find, and that most of the people you meet are going to be weird to you (especially when... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 2:53 PM on January 25, 2008

Contests! It's the way to go. Of course those of us with spec tv shows are SOL, so it's time to bang out a feature...
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 10:45 AM on January 15, 2008

I am that guy making coffee for the producers. Someone give me a real job.

In terms of filming, yes a good microphone and the know-how to stage lighting is more important then how you move the camera in most aspects. I recommend all the previously mentioned books as well as Shot by Shot.

On the writing side, pick up Screenplay by Syd Field. It's a bible, learn it, love it, then leave it.

If I remember correctly, the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 7:04 PM on January 8, 2008

This year would have been my first non-family related New Years party, but alas, circumstances bring me back home one more year. Of course i'd rather be at a party with other single people, but it's not the end of the world.

If anywhere, the idea came from the movies, because it makes for a great moment.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 12:27 AM on December 31, 2007

If you need to drink to have fun something else is fundamentally wrong and you do need help. You girlfriend cares enough about you to put up with this so far, you are a lucky man. Your friends, while they may be ones you've had all your life, are not helping. Go hang with them somewhere else then a bar, away from alcohol. You're already on the road to liver failure and several other problems, turn back now.

In Brief: Go see a therapist, get into AA, and grow the hell up.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 4:01 PM on December 3, 2007

Yea, this helps me out too, i'm moving back to Cali on the 30th and have been stalking craigslist for an apartment, but have had only a few callbacks, i'll plan on spending a few days in a motel now.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 9:35 AM on October 19, 2007

Against black, EXT. FUNERAL - MORNING

YOUNG BOY
Meh, meh, meh meh meh meh!

FADE IN:

MEDIUM SHOT - YOUNG BOY

Description of shot

-----

That would be the most proper way to do it, but there isn't a written rule for this type of thing. I can't format for space, but you get the gist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 10:08 AM on October 18, 2007

If you need more examples, check out "Clerks" or any Tarantino flick. They generally do it over title cards, but it works over black too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 10:11 AM on October 18, 2007

I've got a few still... I love having an LA number now...
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 3:41 PM on July 13, 2007

I was in a summer course in New York and have been thinking about making a move to LA for more with SC or with another group.

You'll have a lot of fun, learn some games and generally act like you're 12 again. If your an introvert, you'll break out of your shell, there's no way around it really. You'll become much more comfortable with strangers. If you're looking to get into improv, then I suggest seeing as many shows as possible and learning from them.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 4:37 PM on July 11, 2007

DJ Dragon Warrior, DJ MaryKateAshley Olson, DJ Gonzo, DJ Hacks, Mix Master One, Tony from Queens, Vinny Algonquin, and finally... BJ Dob.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 8:50 PM on June 24, 2007

Same thing happened to me, these are the bullet points. I grew up with this girl. She moved to another state when we were 12, I moved to another a year later. We'd see each other twice a year, but I would always be the one to visit, and she'd never even try to plan a trip. I got tired of it and stopped visiting. We called each other every now and then, her when she was drunk, me when I was bored. We both moved back to our childhood state, spent a few months hanging out, but it was pretty forced.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 8:46 PM on June 24, 2007

Having spent my entire college life in San Jose I can tell you a few things.

Most San Jose bars are on the divey side, at least the ones right next to SJSU. The farther you get from the college (i.e. closer to the convention center) the more hip and trendy or nonexistant the bars become.

As per JDC8's list, The Dive bar is the ultimate dive bar, but nobody really dances there; Blank Club is pretty small, good music, but not a lot of dancing room;... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 1:34 AM on June 5, 2007 marked best answer

Yea, i'm going with crazy.

I had something happen that is a lot like this in that I was the only one contributing to the friendship and my calls were frequently unreturned and eventually I just stopped calling her all together. She still has never tried to call me or email me and the only information that we hear about each other is through our mothers who just happen to be best friends.

So, if you really don't see her as a friend anymore, and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 12:44 AM on June 5, 2007

TikiBar TV is pretty good, and it tells you how to get drunk.

A few people recommend The Burg, but I never got into it myself.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 12:14 AM on May 30, 2007

I have a feeling that if you're looking for something that covers the history of the world in one book, you won't find it. You might however find books that cover areas or time periods that will help you.

I can only recommend "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. It might be more dense then you're looking for, but it will get the job done.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:52 AM on May 19, 2007

I've read pretty much every EU book there is (excluding the X-Wing titles) and from my experience you can do one of two things.

Start with what most EU geeks read first, which is "Splinter of the Mind's Eye". Then "Truce at Bakura", "Courtship of Princess Leia", "Tatooine Ghost", The Thrawn Trilogy ("Heir to the Empire", "Dark Force Rising", "The Last Command"), The Jedi Academy Trilogy ("Jedi... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 8:30 AM on May 15, 2007

Stay put. And from the sound of it, this bathroom is substandard. Find a better place to piss.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 5:26 AM on April 27, 2007

Yes, for the last time, Jesus was black.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 8:21 PM on April 25, 2007

Presentations bore the crap out of people. Using visual aids for a 5 minute presentation on an introduction seems like a lot of overkill. A somewhat funny, intelligent, four and a half minute speech would be much more intresting.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 8:51 PM on March 19, 2007

Be aware, I found out my freshman year that the salads are treated in a chemical process to be more "healthy". This was mostly due to the high number of girls who would only eat the greens in the salads to keep their sickly figures.

I recommend sticking to meats and vegatables. Hit the gym regulary. Eat less more often. When you go to the dinning commons, bring ziplock bags and save some for later. 5 meals a day will balance you out a whole lot better then 3... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:35 PM on January 25, 2007

Is it in your ability to bring a gift aside from regular gifts that might help repair the rift? Something nice and thoughtful and not an apology but more of a "let's just all get along" kind of gift. And from what it sounds like, a good bottle of booze might go a long way in this family. Since you already let them know that you were going to stay in a hotel there is not much of a reason for changing your plans, but i'd try and bond with the family as much as possible.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 7:44 PM on December 7, 2006

I'll give you the one sound piece of advice my parents gave me. Do you like who we've raised you to be? Take what you like from that and use it with your own kids. For everything else, fake it till you make it.

I love my parents.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:00 PM on November 28, 2006

I think you may be looking for one of these four books.

Art of Sister Mercedes: Paintings and Drawings


My Favorite Things: 75 Works of Art from around the World

Sister Wendy's Grand Tour: Discovering Europe's Great Art

Sister's Wendy's Story of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 10:41 AM on November 18, 2006

I saw the movie and that part was horrible. Your friend really put himself in that situation and can try and blame it on someone else getting him drunk but it's going to sound contrived. I recommend he just apologize to anyone who brings it up to him and move on, there's nothing that can be done and any story he tries to tell will only futher embarrass him since i'm sure that he wasn't completely innocent.

The movie is funny, but it's more thought provoking then anything,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 6:01 PM on November 6, 2006

Find a hooker based in LA, god knows the connections those gals have got...

I've applied to different programs ever since my graduation last year, your best bet really is to know someone already inside or someone who knows someone. Check out old contacts from previous jobs to see where they're at. Try LinkedIn and see if there's anyone from your school that's in the industry. Any connection, however small, can be played up with some ass kissing. Besides, you'll need the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:40 PM on October 31, 2006

Not having one myself with which to experiment i'll have to say, depending on the vagina, we're looking at 5 on average. Feel free to preform your own experiments.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:24 PM on October 31, 2006

I've been in this situation before, do you see yourself with this girl for a good number of years? Doubtful, at 22 you've got a good 5-10 years before you find someone you'll want to spend upwards of 50 years with. Then again, this guy may not be the friend you always thought he was. You need to either make a clean break with one or both of them. But beware, they may still get together behind your back.

P.S. Get laid.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:56 AM on August 30, 2006

I was recently looking for a domain and people suggested this site. I searched for days and none of the domains have been taken yet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:44 AM on July 29, 2006

I joined up after someone asked me to be their friend. Same with friendster. After about a year I realized that this is what I had needed all these years since I kept moving around and losing touch with all my friends.

I rarely post "bulletins" or add people I don't even know, but I do use it as a backup blog for now. It also keeps me up on whats going on in people's lives as well as upcoming birthdays.

I think the main attraction for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 9:30 PM on July 13, 2006

I just graduated myself, and the only piece of advice that I give to anyone asking me how to do better in school is to go see your teachers at their office hours. If they can connect a name with a face, they will help you out more then the average joe sitting in the back with his cap off, snoring.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:35 PM on September 25, 2005

I know where you're coming from. I'm having a similar problem over the bridge in New Jersey. I just finished college, moved back home to friends I no longer know because 8 years has passed (high school and college). So all I have are two friends I managed to stay in contact with all these years, and both are busy with school and work all the time.

My theory is that when I find a job, i'll find some new friends. Until then, I bully the friends I do have into hanging out... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 8:56 PM on September 18, 2005

From what I can gather, hermit crabs may lose limbs due to depression, getting a second crab may help. Also, hermit crabs commonly kept as pets molt and shed their exoskeleton.

I would not recommend prescribing zoloft or prozac to your hermit crab, but it would be funny.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 9:21 PM on September 16, 2005

Damn, I was wishing for super powers and all I got was this ability. I've been able to notice the change of a channel from another room with the sound muted. It was pretty scary there for a while, not knowing how I was the only one who could feel this happening.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 5:59 PM on August 26, 2005

Just to piggy back, anyone know of any translucent looking spiders you might find in florida. I clealy remember going out to my car one morning, reaching for the car door handle, and having one crawl on my hand and see another dash across the roof. Freaked me out, and still does to this day.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 1:30 AM on May 5, 2005

As far as i've seen, this is the most publicized one.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 3:30 PM on March 9, 2005

Having worked at a Blockbuster some years ago, I can tell you that each store has 2 or 3 openers for the dvd's drilled into the counters. From what I remember, you place it in the holder, hold the dvd with one hand and the lock with the other and pull.

Lucky for me, before I left, I took one of these openers home with me so I didn't ever have to return to the store. If you get lucky, they leave them lying around in the back room, along with all sorts of other goodies.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 3:51 AM on February 12, 2005

As far as I could ever tell, the magnet from the base unit reversed the polarity of the two magnets creating the lock. Making it so that you could pull the lock from the case.

After looking at the picture you provided, these are different from the cases we used to use with the locks being encased in another sheeth of plastic. Now that the lock (yellow part) is inside the actual case, this may have another locking mechanism that still involves magnets.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 8:11 PM on February 12, 2005

When my parents drive, I can drift off to sleep very easily. It's a joke between my siblings to see if they can guess how long it will take me to knock out.

When I drive with other people, I get antsy. I've discovered that sitting in the back seat does work much better, and giving up the suicide seat to someone else. I also determined that if more people are in the car, there's more of a distraction. The really strange thing for me is driving with someone else and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 3:08 AM on February 9, 2005

I'm 21, I am going to graduate college in 4 months. I have switched what I wanted to do more times then I can count. I came to school as a Computer Science major thinking I could make the big bucks, decided that would be dull. Went to business, because my father made his job seem important, then I realized that I might end up just like him (not a bad thing, but I want to be my own person). Finally I went into film, because it felt right, and I understood what people wanted to see.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 2:25 AM on February 7, 2005

Which also doesn't make any sense as he himself already stole the egg (he thinks) so the contest is over. Basically, it sounds like they did the heist for the benefit of the audience, not the characters, which is bloody pointless.

Yes, but La Marque wanted them to put on the show for François.

They wanted to get caught. It gave a chance for them to get their names cleared

I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:05 PM on December 20, 2004

They had visuals on Yen, Danny, and Dusty. Yen hid in the bag, Danny and Dusty dressed with the team to get out of the hotel. The bus was going to the train station so they could get out of the country to retrive the egg on the train.

And... this is fun.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 11:26 PM on December 20, 2004

Yea, Rusty...

As far as I could tell, there were no small football players on the team and a uniform wouldn't have fit him. Plus, he was the only asian guy that I had seen in the whole area during that part of the movie. They might have figured him to be easier to spot.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 1:22 AM on December 21, 2004

I read the book for BRI and then saw the movie. The book is amazing and the film is not bad, but the stuff i've heard of the sequel was pretty lame. But, i'll still check it out.

I strongly encourage reading the book.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 1:03 AM on December 21, 2004

Woops, wrong scene, strike that. But really, ebay would still be your best bet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 10:48 PM on December 20, 2004

You can always try and babelfish your email over to them along with an english translation.

Sie können und babelfish Ihr email zu ihnen zusammen mit einer englischen Übersetzung immer rüber versuchen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Derek at 1:01 AM on December 21, 2004