a Jew and his blog

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Worst Temp Agency Ever

I just had an interview at the worst temp agency ever. First a little back story. I have been unemployed for a little over two months now, since the show I worked on (which I won't name, but features people on blind dates and has captions and thought bubbles) is on hiatus. I have been on all the job web sites, gotten the infamous UTA job list, and even contemplated applying at Starbucks.

I thought things had turned around last month when I had an interview at Ultimate Staffing, which provides 20th Century Fox with their temp pool. Well, with only one day of work in the last month through them I realized I would need to try other temp agencies. I faxed/e-mailed three others specializing in entertainment work last week and have yet to nail down an interview. So when I got an e-mail from a friend about her friend working at a temp agency and needing people immediately I became excited. I called her, e-mailed my resume and set up an interview for this morning. She told me to bring two forms of identification and to dress like I would for a normal job interview. Per usual, I wore black slacks, white button down shirt, and my blue paisley tie from circa 1973.

Traffic wasn't too bad, so I made it down to the office in Woodland Hills with plenty of time to spare. I even found free parking off Ventura since I was told the temp agency would not validate for parking. (After living in San Francisco for two years I don't mind driving around for ten minutes to find a parking spot.) So up I went to the fifth floor and opened the door to find a bustling lobby. It was a multicultural bunch in there (i.e. I was the only white guy in there.) The majority of women there were dressed in interview-appropriate clothes, but the men? I'm no Joan Rivers, but I'd surmise that jeans and sneakers are not the best way to impress those who are going to find you work, even if the promised salary range is only 11 to14 bucks an hour.

Now I often neglect to bring such information as exact addresses/phone numbers of former employers and all addresses I have lived at for the previous seven years. This is something I need to work on. I wasn't the only one though, since everyone sitting around me was consulting the yellow pages to find out the number of the Tony Roma's they had worked at. Occasionally they'd call a homie on the cell phone to find out information and to give an update on their whereabouts. "Fool, I'm at a temp agency. I need to keep my options open." The busy receptionist would not have this and told them to take all calls outside the office.

While waiting in the lobby, I had to fill out many forms and take some skills tests to determine my grammar, spelling, filing, and math skills. For some reason, the tests here were more difficult than the ones at Ultimate Staffing. I was actually stumped a few times. I was worried. Did this mean I would fuck up on the inevitable Word and Excel tests? And more importantly, how'd that guy with the gold teeth fare? Did he think "E.M. McCallin" would need to be filed under "EA - FR" or "MC - NO"?

I was finally called in to meet with an advisor. It was a quick interview, in which more paperwork had to be filled out and she explained the timecard process. I expected the above-mentioned Word and Excel tests, but nada. I don't know if it was my wardrobe or the fact that I had not worked at Tony Roma's since high school, but that was it. She told me to call tomorrow to get an update about what jobs would be available. I could hardly contain my excitement.

To get out of there.

Luckily, I had received a voice mail during my lobby stay about a job interview tomorrow.

And in the midst of typing this blog, I received a phone call from the Friedman Agency, which deals exclusively with entertainment industry gigs and helped me out many years ago.

Fortunately I have my options open.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Top 10 traits of JDate Women


TIVO'ing "A Boy and His Dog"
Originally uploaded by jerebo.
Being a single Jew in the post-Wargames computer age I've had my share of experiences with JDate. While most of them have left me wanting to start dating shiksas again, there have been a few good ones.

Although the women on JDate may range from Unaffiliated to Conservadox, their profiles seem to share certain traits, qualities, and catchphrases, which I've compiled below. Please feel free to add any you think I may have missed.

1. Couldn't live without TIVO and/or Netflix.

2. Likes to work hard and play hard.

3. Has an East Coast mentality, but starting to appreciate L.A. -- not to fret... they still have that East Coast wit (ie. Sarcasm).

4. Perfect first date would be anywhere they can really get to know someone, possibly drinks or dinner. It would end with the anticipation of the second date.

5. Friendship and family are very important, but still value independence.

6. Cannot believe they are doing this, but is giving it a shot, because friend found her true love on the site.

7. Clever screenname with Jewish pun (Challahbackatme, uthrowlikemybubbe, etc.)

8. As comfortable in jeans and t-shirt as they are dressing up for a night on the town.

9. Loves animals. (usually includes photo with her darling dog/cat/chinchilla).

10. Occupation: Production/Development

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Greetings visitor(s),

(and I don't mean the scaly reptilian ones from the 80s classic "V")

Chances are you came across this blog due to a posting on Friendster, Myspace, or some other "hook-up disguised as networking" site. Or you may have googled me, God knows why, and found this. Whatever the case may be, I thank you.

The question arises: Why blog?

There are many answers. Well, a few at least:

a.) I haven't written in my journal in months and figure this could be a nice alternative.

b.) It's another tool of procrastination to prevent me from finishing my script.

c.) Seems like everyone else is doing it. Why aren't I?

What will my blog include?

Observations, reviews, deep thoughts, memories, future memories, anecdotes, truly tasteless jokes volume IV, and other kinds of crap.

As Professor Griff exclaimed on "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back":

CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!