More about life on the "Surviving Nugent" set --

Having never worked on the set of a reallity-television show, I have no peer to which I can compare the experience of working on "Nugent". It was fairly similar to other forms of TV production, I suppose. There were the network execs, producers, PAs and such, in addition to the camera crews and their attendant technicians.

Bear in mind that reality television has been a godsend to network programmers, who can now take the money that they once had to spend on screenwriters and actors to spend on smart new haircuts. Of course, even with the snappy coifs, network execs still want more from their cut-rate programming. And so, they continue to want for more, say in the way of subscriptions to the New Yorker and the freshest of sushi. This leads them to offer the production assistants the very lowest of pay in the industry. I can recall working a gig for Court-TV in Austin, Texas for which I was offered $250/day for a ten-hour day, with $35 per diem. The job was offered to me here in Waco because the production supervisor was unable to find anyone to work for so little in the Austin area. While I would have been delighted to work for that rate for the VH1 folks, the pay was a flat $100/day, so I was not quite so thrilled to take the punishment that all PAs are required to suffer. I would strongly suggest that any PAs reading this stick to their guns and hold out for a higher rate, for future productions that land in the area. The worst thing that will happen is that the production company will have to deal with totally incompetent PAs, instead of us moderately incompetent ones...

I was reluctant to report on the events of the last couple of weeks, just in case such a report would hamper the production. Now that it is done, I can make some statements about what I was up to during that time.

I managed to land a job working on VH1's reality-TV show entitled, "Surviving Nugent". If you caught the original airing of the 2-hour special on 5 Oct 2003, or the repeat on 18 Jan 2004, you saw how the producers have combined aspects of "The Osbornes", "Survivor", and perhaps "Big Brother" to make a wild and perverse show involving contestants, a rock star, and a lot of juvenille pranks and prizes.

A number of the mind games that "Nugent" played (none of this was Nugent's plan, of course -- it was all the dream of the producers) were also played on the crew. For instance, on Day 1 of production, one of the contestants (who is actually a stuntman) fakes an injury that is meant to drive home the "reality" of the show to the other contestants. The frantic call goes out over the radio for a medic. The EMTs who are on standby at the set rush into action, and make a call for a helicopter to expedite transport of the injured "contestant" to the nearest hospital. For the next few minutes, the producers act like it's the end of the show, their careers, and reality television. It is not until the 1st AD goes to the front gate to stop the ambulance that we begin to wonder whether this is just a gag, which, of course it was. Needless to say, the EMTs were beside themselves with anger over having been used in this "Cry Wolf" stunt.

News reports have also been made about the real injury that Ted Nugent suffered on that same day. While illustrating the "chores" that the contestants would be expected to perform while on the ranch, "Uncle Ted" grew fatigued and let a chainsaw slip, cutting into his left knee. He was hobbled for a couple of days, but was able to continue with the show.

Into every show, a few mishaps must fall. On the prep day, the truck that was meant to deliver a modular office building to the ranch site demolished the Nuge's front security gate, at a cost of about $10,000.00. A couple of rain-soaked days wreaked havoc on some delicate electronic gear. The rains also made travel across the unpaved pastures treacherous, leading to the formation of a number of mud baths.

more later...

I managed to make it through the Autumn without falling deathly ill. It's the first Autumn in years that I have been able to dodge an ailment of some sort. That all changed last week. I was bound to get something, as everyone in the office is coughing and sneezing. So, I have a touch of something. It's not anything horrendous -- just damned annoying. The odd weather patterns haven't helped, either.

I have landed an outdoor job for the next couple of weeks. I hope that the fresh air and sunshine enables me to grow strong enough to deal with the cold air to which I will be exposed.

Am just a little listless at the moment. I haven't had very many days off during the holidaze. I managed to work just about every day, save maybe one.

I registered my car today. I always forget to do that on-time. When I spent most of my time in Waco, the cop who would spot the expired tag would tend to let me off with a warning, serving as a good reminder to take care of it. Now that I work in Hewitt, just outside of Waco, I always get a ticket, costing $95 for the oversight. I know that I deserve the ticket, but it just shows how much more likely it is that a real, er Waco cop will be lenient than will a crappy, lousy, rotten, stinking, pimply Hewitt pig. That's all.

Here's a New Year's Resolution that I'm thinking about: try not to be so damned heavy with the topics. Okay, I had a really lousy part-time job last year, and my PTSD-suffering girlfriend hit rock-bottom and left me. The rotten job taught me to stay away from small-market television jobs, and the ex taught me that the last thing that I need in my life is a troubled woman. Two powerful lessons that took their toll, but I'm now rejuvenated and feel fantastic about everything. Now, if only I could find my blog archive files...

What have I been up to, you ask? Even if you are not asking, here is a brief account of what I think has been going on in my life:
Since mid-October I have been at work on a product catalog for a small company. The product line has been expanded since last year, so there were a good deal more items to photograph. At the same time, I have been juggling some other small ad jobs. I slipped on a couple, but that's what happens. So, I fail from time to time. I like the Michael Jordan television spot in which he lists the number of times that he has failed. It's encouraging for someone like me, who fears failure so much.

I've been catching up on two things: exercise and alcohol consumption. I exercise on my own, then visit a bar or two with some friends. It's okay, apart from coming home smelling of the bar. I've read a couple of books, watched a lot of movies, and thought about what I am going to try to accomplish this year.

I visited a friend who was dining with some of her hoity-toity female friends the other night. When I left the table to use the restroom, one of the asked my friend, "He's a little wierd, isn't he?" I was pretty amused by that inquiry. You see, all of my life I have been considered at least a little odd. Then, last year I landed a gig shooting a little documentary for a non-profit organization. They flew me out to a Navajo reservation in Arizona to record a symposium of sorts. While lunching with the producer, I was taken aback just a little when he looked me over and remarked, "You're not wierd enough to be a shooter." Shooter is tv-talk for a camera operator. I was speechless. What to do? Perhaps I do too much work containing my peculiarities. In my heart, I know that I am strange as hell, but how do I convince the right people of it? I don't care that the flakes find me odd. Anyhow, it's laughable, to say the least.

Next week, I hope to get on the set of a TV show that is shooting nearby. I can't reveal anything about it, but it should be a total blast. It will be nice to vacation from my desk for a few weeks, before the horrendous Texas heat blasts in.