Finally! The Oscars came and went, and after tomorrow, the boulevard will be back to normal. Well, as normal it can be for being Hollywood Boulevard. I’m actually not sure how long it takes them to pack up all those giant styrofoam statues, but the lightboard signs put up all around that block had said that the roads would be closed through Tuesday. So maybe Wednesday we can start making up for lost time?
In the meantime, I started making a pattern for the Mystery Costume out of newspapers, though I just now realized that I might have goofed and have to start over. Curse my unclear sketches! I knew this would happen, but I did it anyway. Boning always trips me up. At least I didn’t get very far, and I can pretty much use the two pattern pieces I did sketch and cut out to make the proper pieces. *sigh* It’s just so hard to make a corset on nothing but sheer luck. (Oh yes, there’s a corset.)
I’ve also been working on the site behind the scenes. Over the summer I geeked out and borrowed a Joomla! book from the library, and now I have it again and I’m using it. So far it’s a little weird, though I am really rusty on what little CSS I did know, but it’ll work out. This site will be so awesome! One day. 😉
Since Zannel was nice enough to gift me a Flip camera to capture superhero life firsthand, I thought I should put it to good use. Otherwise, they might want it back! Unfortunately, I got it just in time for the Oscars to throw all of us off Hollywood Boulevard, but thankfully something else has come up: photoshoots.
While I can’t really film or snap while I’m being snapped, I’ve tried to videotape the in betweens, befores and afters as much as possible to show everyone what it’s really like. Being a superhero isn’t glamorous, as you’ve seen, and now you can see firsthand that being a model isn’t so glamorous either. It does have its moments, though, as you can see from these clips from Wednesday’s Long Beach shoot and Friday’s Los Angeles shoot:
P.S. I posted this video on Zannel before I uploaded it to YouTube, and Zannel does have some added goodies that aren’t on this site. I don’t like to just copy and paste from place to place, and they allow mobile updates, so I send pix messages and texts from the scene that you can’t see here. Just an idea, if you’re really addicted to the superhero life.
Today, early in the morning, Catwoman and I had a photoshoot in downtown Long Beach. I’ll probably be a hot mess in all the pictures, but I have a good excuse: I have a new nephew! Not that there was anything wrong with the old one, but now I have one for each arm. I watched my older nephew overnight Monday, after getting the call at 2 am, and then did double duty by being a coach in the delivery room for the other kid Tuesday. So yes, I’m really wiped out and look like shit on a stick. I’m counting on the awesome skills of Photoshop to salvage this. 😉
Seriously, though, the shoot went great and the photographer and his ceramic coffee mug-toting assistant were great. We all had fun wandering around on foot (I recognized one of our locations as a place I’d passed when lost, because I always tend to get lost in the same area of LB), crawling around freeway underpasses and dreaming up surprises you will thoroughly enjoy. It was great, and we actually ran out of time before ideas. We may work with this guy again — and maybe sneak on the Queen Mary? I love that old boat. What’s even cooler is that while we were shooting at our last location, some guy who lived across the street ran out and offered to buy the pictures for $50. Cool! We also slowed traffic when we weren’t covered in coats, and a lot of guys slowed down to whistle and yell at us. *sigh* Welcome to Long Beach.
There’s something to look forward to for ya, since the Oscars wrecked this weekend for us. 🙂
P.S. If you’re a photographer and would like to snap us around your fair city, contactus. We’d love to cover as many as possible.
If it sounds like we’re everywhere lately, well . . . it’s because we are. For your enjoyment, a quick roundup of the latest superhero news, from blanket coverage of the violence on Hollywood Boulevard across the state to Batgirl and Catwoman splashing the pages of LA Weekly:
I also know we’ll be featured on LAist, but they have yet to post their writeup and photos. Keep an eye out, though. I also have a funny picture of Demon Guy on the front page of the LA Times’ California section, but I’m too lazy to upload it from my camera, resize, then upload it here. Give me a break, it’s 2 AM!
Edit: Here we are on the Synched Up Show (at the 1:44 mark, as our good friend George from Zannel was quick to point out):
I use the word ‘random’ a lot, huh? This is boulevard related. I’m just up late, and I saw that Superman updated his Myspace photo album, and then I remembered – he got new teeth! Superman has been excited lately, because he found some fake “Hollywood” teeth online, and ordered them. Superman doesn’t have the greatest teeth in the world. There’s a large gap right in the front. So because he wants to be more authentic, and he doesn’t want to spend the money on veneers, he got some fake teeth. They’re like the hill-billy teeth you see in the costume stores – except they’re straight, and white. They don’t look too bad, and you’d probably just think he was wearing Invisalign or something (like me!) unless you knew about it. But if you look close, he’s got two rows of upper teeth. hehe. Like a shark or something. But that is my random thought in the middle of the night. Superman’s fake teeth. Now, I wonder what I’ll dream about tonight…
This has absolutely nothing to do with anything. But it’s just funny. The world’s smallest car. hehe. I can imagine that stuck to the wheel of a Hummer.
Wow. I don’t know if it was just a lucky day, or the planets aligned, or if the rest of the world stalks us, but yesterday was crazy busy and totally made up for the past two weeks’ worth of rain, illness, and crap in general. It was our first time working in, what, a week? And while we didn’t work too long on the boulevard, we had a spokesmodel gig last night as well and there’s just so much to talk about! There’s also loads of pictures, too, and a quick video I took with my new Flip camera:
My mum woke me at 7:43 this morning with a phone call. (I told you I wasn’t a morning person.) She said that one of her co-workers in the office was watching channel 5, KTLA, and their morning show had just done a segment on the Hollywood Boulevard characters! I turned on the TV, but the damn digital box is still acting up (oh yeah, so much better when it’s digital — pah!), so I missed it. Apparently, the news crew had been on the street interviewing some characters, she didn’t say which ones, and they had been talking about the violence on the street and the tension between the characters and the rappers. !!! It’s about damn time! She also pointed out that someone specifically mentioned Batgirl and Wonder Woman. Oh?
I admit, I was a lazy bum and went back to bed. Where I had very strange dreams. I guess that’s what comes of reading Thunderball in bed. Anyway, I’m up for good and while I have a lot to do today (including catching Fanboys, heh), I did want to see what else I could find about this. I was hoping for a video clip, but it doesn’t seem that the Morning News section updates their website’s news stories as often as they should. I did a news search on Google for “Hollywood characters,” though, and this article came up. So it was the LA Times that finally woke everyone up. I’m supposed to be getting the Times everyday, but Monday through Wednesday seems to always be missing (stay classy, asshat neighbors!), so I don’t know exactly where in the print edition this story would be. But the URL says ‘print edition,’ so loads of people are going to know what the rappers are doing both online and in the rest of the world. I say good. It’s about damn time. And I’m sure the Times reporter even talked to the guy in charge of calling in his dogs to do the attacks! He’s always there, and he usually gets interviewed for things, and I’m sure he’d deny it until his teeth fell out. (Ew, I just remembered, that was my weird dream this morning. I was watching in the mirror as my teeth turned brown and decayed into nothing. Hideous.) So stupid. But because he technically doesn’t throw the punches or get the kicks in, he’s innocent — in his own eyes. I say he’s guilty as hell, because if it wasn’t for him and his “nephews,” none of this would have happened.
Bat A is quoted in the article, which makes me wonder if he was the one who finally got through to the press. I know he’s been adamant about getting attention drawn to this so someone somewhere would stop it, so I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s just sad that one of the female characters interviewed said that she was targeted for calling for help after an especially vicious beating. Seriously, assholes? You’re going to beat up a smaller woman for calling an ambulance? This is why we don’t have good Samaritans anymore! If they’re really that petty and stupid, then they deserve all the prison time they will certainly get, and a good daily ass-raping besides.
P.S. In the Times’s picture, it’s Cheetah Girl (that’s my favourite costume of hers), a Tinkerbell I’ve never seen before, and Bat M. I can tell because he’s always talking.
Later: I haven’t been home all day, but I’ve finally found the video for KTLA’s morning segment:
The LA Times article is also in the Top 10 Most Viewed Articles! Channel 4, NBC’s 5 o’clock news, just did a segment as well. It looks like all the major networks will be talking about this all day today, which is good! Channel 4 actually showed the ringleader, the rapper who calls up the thugs to do the beatings. They actually have a few videos up, including the YouTube clip that started it all, so click here to see it all. They interview Captain Spiderman, Superman, and channel 5 interviews Homeless Jack. Ick. That poor woman. In the background of channel 4’s videos you can see Dollhouse Guy, Dutch Marilyn, and Charlie Chaplin. Now you can see who we hobnob with!
A short description of the most popular (or most complained about) characters: Bat A - our Batman of choice, he also does Robin in a pinch. Bat M - has it in for Bat A, and loves to complain about A's tactics, especially when it comes to stealing away his women. Bat T - a man of mystery. We've just never worked with him. He seems to be a lone wolf. Davy - a Davy Jones to go with yet another Jack Sparrow, the one we know the least out of all of them. He's responsible for karaoke nights, along with MJ. Denim Jack - Our Jack Sparrow of choice. He's a nice guy and will gladly offer said denim to keep a lady warm. Dollhouse Guy - Pretty well known on the Walk, he's the guy who walks around with a giant pink dollhouse on his head. Nucking futs. Homeless Jack - the most unsavory of all the Jack Sparrows. Burn your clothes if you ever touch him. MJ - the resident Michael Jackson, can bust a groove and sing equally well. Storm Trooper - always works with Vader, equally funny. Superman - there's only room for one Superman at H&H. Yes, he's the same one from Confessions of A Superhero. The Captain - Captain America in platform shoes. His one joke is to meow at Catwoman, then giggle hysterically. Every single time. Vader - duh, Darth Vader. Rarely seen outside of the black suit, hilariously funny.
Wonder Wig - The newest addition to the Walk, and already trying to be Queen Bee. Joy.
