Entries tagged with “Bat A”.


You know, I was all set to launch a long diatribe on how hard times are, how living hand to mouth sucks so hard and how honest people who want to work can’t, but then I saw this and decided to leave it at that:

seriously

seriously

That perfectly sums up yesterday.

It was a Friday afternoon, and it had been sunny all day, though some threatening clouds were blowing in from the east:

there's gonna be a storm

there's gonna be a storm

Last Friday had been pretty good, so we had high hopes for yesterday. I mean, the weather was warming up, we were just coming out of a good, drenching rain, and people are going to be on Spring Break pretty soon. It would be good, right?

Eh, no. In the two hours we stuck around, we were only asked for three pictures. I stress “asked” because there were snipers galore, of course. The boulevard was crowded and everyone was armed with cameras, but everyone just wanted to stand there and snap away and expected us to just sit there like pieces of paper. One of us would say, “Please ask for a picture,” or “We pose for tips,” only to get laughed at. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that was the punchline to a joke I don’t know. I was starting to get so mad I actually wanted to hit someone. After one woman laughed at Catwoman for saying “We do pose for tips, you know,” the lady snapped her picture of us turning away, shooting dirty looks (yeah, great picture! Be sure to get it framed, you daft bint) and I yelled as she walked away, “I’m not a cardboard cut-out!” Then I muttered about being objectified and tried not to do something that would get me arrested, because the cops were out.

What’s worse, we had to stand around and watch all the beggars get business. Wonder Wig, now letting her hair down under her cat mask (even though no modern Catwoman wears her hair down, only the 60s Catwoman that no one but me seems to like) with her same hobbled together costume, was doing great.
“Maybe we shouldn’t try so hard,” Catwoman mused.
“Shit, maybe,” I said. “Apparently quality costumes and staying in character translates to ‘I don’t need money!'”
“Seriously.”
“Maybe I’ll just start coming out with store bought costumes and talk to myself. Look homeless and pathetic, then I’ll do good.”
No one was interested in us. Skintight PVC costumes, pretty faces, nice hair, and yet you go for the 40somethings in six year old outfits who look like they sleep in their costumes (like Homeless Jack). I really don’t get you people.

Super Guy was out when we appeared and said that Superman had been out earlier harassing him. Bat M was hovering about, out of costume, and I don’t know for sure, but I think he’s also trying to start shit. He’s old friends with Superman (they love smoking around all of Superman’s collectibles), but would egg Super Guy on to say something against Superman. The most he would say, though, is that he’s standing his ground and if Superman tries to get violent or gets someone else to do the dirty work, he’s going to fight back.
Some guy also came up to us when we were talking and dodging snipers and mentioned the rapper-character violence that had been on the news.
“Oh, that’s all Bat A’s fault,” Bat M said yet again.
“Swear to god, I’m going to hit you,” I said, and turned away. I already have enough enemies out there because I stumbled into something I knew nothing about (Davy, Sexy Cop, and all their friends), so I’d rather not make any more, but damn. I’m suddenly very tired of all this.

So yeah, crap all around. I’m still looking for a “real” job, but if you pay attention to the world around you, then you know it’s pretty much pissing up a rope at this point. But all I can do is try.

I also keep forgetting two pieces of news I got from a drunk Denim on our night out, so here they are:

1. The ringleader rapper and one other rapper went to jail for two days! They were already out again by the time we got the news, and now I’m afraid they’re madder than ever. Yesterday there was a whole slew of new rappers slinging their shit, and these guys are a lot more vocal. I predict a lot more problems, honestly. One guy wasn’t so bad, he just demanded I smile every time I walked past him, but another guy kept asking for Catwoman’s number and seemed really pushy, to the point that he’d start something at any moment. I’m kind of glad Bat A’s still away, because I know these new guys would give him problems and he’d ask the guys to leave the ladies alone. He doesn’t need more problems right now.
2. Elmo and Big Bird got served by Disney! Apparently they were served with papers a little while ago and can’t do their characters for at least a month, if Denim’s info is correct. I think Big Bird is out as Snoopy right now. But anyway, I guess Disney is doing something with Sesame Street, or is going to, and they didn’t want any SS characters out there during that time. I don’t know the details, I’m just sharing what I know.

And, for good measure, a video I made on the way home:

Funny, I just uploaded that video, and when I went to get the embed code, this video showed up on the sidebar:

It was made a year ago, way before us, but all the old familiar faces are there.

Last video, I swear: How Superheroes Spend Their Day Off

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:

courtesy of Zannel

courtesy of Zannel

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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!

It’s 12:03 AM, so I’m technically writing about yesterday. But I’m a night owl, and I don’t consider the next day to have started until the sun’s coming up, so I’m going to be referring to the events of February 2nd as “today.” Just so we’re clear, because I am weird. In case you hadn’t noticed that a woman blogging as Batgirl and Padmé Amidala working on Hollywood Boulevard was less than normal.

Anyway, Wonder Cat and I decided sort of at the last minute on Sunday evening to work the next morning. I was actually hoping that I could have worked sometime on Sunday, though I knew it was going to suck because everyone would be watching the StuporBowl (TM me), but I don’t go out there alone, so there’s that. We get to Hollywood & Highland at around 10:30, and as we’re crossing Hollywood Boulevard on Highland, we notice that half the street is closed. Something’s going on, we just don’t know what.
“Ooh, maybe it’ll help us,” Wonder Cat hopes.
“We need it!”
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Oh, today. *sigh* Today was Catwoman’s first day back, and my first in a while. I was supposed to go in this weekend and get the last few days of the big crowds and (ideally) big money, but it was overcast and cold and my Padmé costume is pretty much toast. She had a good run for a one-time wear cheapo store bought costume, and earned her money back and then some, but the time has come to make a real Padmé costume — it’ll be so cool, just wait — and put the old one out to pasture.

But I digress. We have plans. We started doing new things today. I learned that those Snap & Go curlers are indeed crap, and both of us may have texted each other about the new No Texting While Driving law while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. I’m choosing to go with the fifth amendment to keep from incriminating myself.
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Firstly, I’d like to say hello to all the people who have Googled “people in Padmé costumes having sex.” Welcome. Also, I’m sorry to disappoint, but there is no costumed sex going on here, either in my Padmé costume or in anyone else’s. Well, at least as far as I know and am concerned.

Moving right along . . . Bat A and I had a good long phone conversation last night, and while it was a great talk, I’m only going to share the backstory bits. The rest is private and will stay that way, ’cause you don’t really need to know it. So there. And here, finally, is the history of the boulevard, and how the violence started.

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Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to start out with the sad news. Bat A wrote me this morning through MySpace and said that he’s leaving for who knows how long. He’d mentioned before that he would have to go back to the motherland for a bit, but it sounds like the visit was extended and pushed forward, because things are just getting too ugly down here. It was a very sweet letter, especially considering the fact that he’s found this blog (hello, dear!), and it made me sad in a very bittersweet way. While I thought he was just being cranky or maybe avoiding me, being silly and egocentric, he’s apparently been going through a lot behind the scenes, so I’d just like to say that all the cranky bits I’d written in the past are moot and he will always and forever be my Batman. I’m sorry we won’t be able to work together, but I’m so happy we had the time on the boulevard that we did, that I met him, and that we’ll hopefully keep in touch while he gets a much needed break. I’ll miss him terribly.
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I really have to be more careful when typing. When I was uploading new pictures to Flickr just now, twice I typed in this blog’s address as hhherpes.wordpress.com. Um. That must be Paris Hilton’s blog. Just a warning to those of you who think that one letter can’t make that big a difference.

So today was another busy day, though time seemed to move slower today. I did better financially for nearly the same amount of time, but we had more down time and more people trying to stiff us today. Vader lost his temper again and refused to pose for a photo until people had paid up, because too many people would say, “Okay, I know how it works” impatiently before the photos, then pretend to not know English or think one dollar would suffice for four people. Right. Be careful, if you’re thinking of stiffing any masked character, folks. They have mouths and they talk some mean shit, and you can’t even hear because of the masks — but everyone else can. Also, some of us will follow at a discreet distance and warn other characters that you’re a deadbeat so you don’t scam anyone else. Okay, I do that when I can. So don’t think you’re clever and you’ve found a new way to scam people, we know it all. Most of the time we just let you get away with it while calling you retarded or an asshat, just so you know. You’re not smart, but we’ll let you keep thinking you are.
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Today was my last day of work until after Christmas. I was actually planning on working Christmas Eve morning (confusing?), then heading straight over to my dad’s side of the family for our usual all night thing, but it’s going to rain all day, so neh. I’m really glad I made the cookies yesterday, then, ’cause otherwise no one would have had them before the holidays.

If you’ve been jonesing for some strangeness and felt the last couple entries have been lacking, let me welcome you back into the fold:

Naked Guy

Naked Guy


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So. I’ve tried Batgirl on my own for three days, and all three days she struck out. Maybe this weekend isn’t as good as everyone hyped it to be (which seems to be true all around), maybe I need to be more pushy, but the long and short of it is that women on the boulevard are kinda screwed when it comes to thinking up a good solo costume. Everything that’s come to mind relies on another character, and it’s just very slanted against us. Argh. So, until Catwoman comes back and we can tag team it, I’m going back to shivering in the cold as Padmé and working with Vader and Storm Trooper.
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