Bulgaria Part III - Observations

The Defuser in Bulgaria – Observations

Since I have only been on SET 1 day in the last 6, I’ve had some time to really move around Bulgaria and make some observations.

First off; some info on Sophia, the capital city of Bulgaria; One of the oldest cities in Europe, the history of Sofia can be traced back some 7000 years. The well preserved town walls (especially their substructures) from antiquity date back before the 7th century BC, when Thracians established their city next to the most important and highly respected mineral spring, still functioning today. Sofia has had several names in the different periods of its existence, and remnants of the city's millenary history can still be seen today alongside modern landmarks.

There…now you’re educated.
Now keep in mind, these are just my observations and opinions, some good, some bad and some just simpy that.

Police - I’d heard nothing good about the POLICE in Sophia. Seeing as how this is my profession, I wanted to investigate this myself.
POLICE in Sophia make the equivilent of about $8,000 dollars a year compaired to the US avg of about $43,000.
Bascially, from what I have heard, no crimes are investigated in Sophia. There is nothing like a rank of Detective. Either they see you commit the crime or they don’t. According to reported numbers, less than 12% of crimes end with an arrest or conviction! Also, I was told that if you are pulled over for a traffic violation, simply hand the officer $20 lev (about 15 bucks) with your drivers license/passport and away you go.
I was also told that on Sundays, the police have the day off. So, what do they do? They pair up, sit on a street corner, in uniform and pull people over. Simple as that. It’s their equivilent of OVERTIME. They get there 15-20 lev per stop and then go home after about 6-8 hrs. Talk about bribery.
I actually set in the area in front of my hotel and watched them do this Sunday. Not a single ticket was written (and I watched closely).
I did get a bit nervous when after about an hour, one of the 4 officers I was watching walked over too me and asked what I was doing. Taken a bit off guard I replied that I had met a nice girl in a club the night before and she told me to meet her here today. He laughed it up and walked away, then all his buddies started laughing. WHEW! I decided it was time to head back to my room. I now knew why Bulgians ended conversations with me when I told them I was a cop. Police here are seen as parasites with no useful purpose to the community. Kinda depressing.

Traffic – Now I know I talked a little about driving in Sophia already. But did you know that many of the intersections have little digital timers on them??? Seriously, as you approach the intersection, you see a little LED countdown until the light turns RED. 3, 2, 1, STOP! It’s like a race to see if you can make it through!
Then, as you sit at the red light, just like at a drag race, the RED goes to YELLOW then to GREEN for GO! It’s amazing! One of my drivers used the sidewalk to pass the other day…I was freaking out!

Ok…now some good observations.

Ethics – This may sound a bit contradictory, and I won’t go into all the psychoanalisis of the why’s and what for’s. But it seems that in general, the Sophians are incredibly honest when it comes to the property of others…IE theft.
A few nights ago, after out eating dinner with the actors from the movie, we were waiting for others when I observed a night club across the street. While waiting, I saw numerous groups of people coming out. Some as young as 18, others near my age (old). As they left the bar, they walked down the sidewalk, past a little store. In front of the store was an open cooler of beer and other drinks for sale. No one from the store was outside. It was just sitting there, ripe for the taking. As a young group of very intoxicated people walked by, a young man grabbed a beer as he staggered by. Then to my surprise, he stumbled into the store, paid the man and caught up to his group. This happened time and time again. I can’t imagine what would happen if you placed an unguarded cooler outside on a sidewalk on Austin’s 6th Street. Or anywhere else for that matter. I mentioned this to a native Sophian that was with us. He considered it a non-issue stating; “the beer is for sale, no one will steal it and no group of people walking by would allow it. Only gypsy’s steal”
Hmmm…I’ll look more into this whole gyspy thing later.

Now for some great news!!!
Norma is on a flight coming to Bulgaria!!! How cool is that? Much thanks to my mom and dad for the early Christmas present! I actually havent done as much site seeing as I’d like because the only people I know are pretty much the actors I’m working with and most of us are either working or sleeping different hours. I look forward to showing Norma some of the great (if cold) things I’ve seen plus many new adventures!!!

I can report my very first international Defuser fan!!!!
Now, some credit has to go to Kevin (Mr. Hercules) who gathers a crowd where ever we go. His show is still being played here. While we were walking around down town the other day, a small group mobbed him and while taking pictures, it was asked if I was anyone famous. (I’d been presenting myself as his body guard just so I felt useful) Kevin began to go on about the Superhero show when one man in the crowd said; “Da Da!!! Stan Lee Vedy big Stan Lee!!! Du grab za dogs! Da da!!!” I will leave the translation to your imagination but he had indeed seen the show. It was a great Defuser moment. J

If I havent mentioned it; the movie is called “Lightning Strikes!” and probably won’t air until this time next year. Lot’s of POST production.
That’s all for now!

-The Defuser!

The Defuser in Bulgaria Part III

The Defuser in Bulgaria; Part III

Breakfast…
I have come to love; breakfast.
After an all night, very cold shoot on the set, where we should have gotten off at about 11pm but slowly stagger away at 5 or 6am. All I can think of is breakfast.

You see, at the Hotel Kempinski, they are all about food. And as I ride the elevator up to the Mezzanine floor, my mouth begins to water…
I wasn’t always a breakfast person. But when you enter the restaurant, the smells hit you.
Everything you can possibly imagine is right before you; bacon, eggs, toast-yes of course, but keep moving- every possibly fresh fruit, some I’ve never seen before. Every juice you can imagine and some you can’t, all fresh squeezed right there by cute little Bulgarian girls. Breads, rolls, pancakes, waffles, cereals and pastries of every description. Fresh vegetables, sautéed mushrooms, ham, turkey, pork, beef-all sliced as thick or thin as you like. Even in some of the finest hotels and restaurants in the States I haven’t seen such fare. And for about 3 bucks American, it’s all yours. Yes, I go back for seconds.

Food.
Food in Bulgaria comes in such a huge variety; I can’t do it justice here. It is ALL good. It’s all fresh. And it is all so very inexpensive. Did I mention they have ice cream? I love ice cream. But let me first tell you about ice. No matter where in Bulgaria you are, no matter what the drink you are drinking is, you will have to specify ICE. Nothing comes with it. Bulgarians don’t like ice…period. And when I finally had the courage to order a Coke with ICE, I got several funny stares.

Traffic.
Driving…I’m not sure I can describe it. Let’s say that the policeman in me just has to close his eyes and pray. Street markings and sidewalks are simply guidelines. The only real objective is to avoid other cars and avoid the trains. Pedestrians are optional.
There may very well be 6 cars using the 4 lane rd, each jockeying for position as a left turn approaches, timing it so that they turn left just in front of the on coming train so that the other 5 have to wait. Oh what fun! As I said, I just close my eyes.

Snow. I have lived through BLIZZARD 2008. Of course it’s not considered a blizzard in Bulgaria. But if what hit us Saturday had occurred anywhere in Texas, the entire state would have shut down for weeks. 8-10” of snow in 24hrs. And basically, nobody blinked. It was in fact an early snow…but not terribly out of the norm.
The hotel staff are still wondering what that tall silly American was doing out in the courtyard; on his back, in the snow…waving his arms and legs like a madman. Maybe they thought I was drowning in the snow and needed help. They came out to check on me but only shook their heads when I showed them my perfect “snow angel”.

I head back to the movie set tomorrow; Tuesday. And after having 3 days off, I’m very excited. I hope to have more to tell you then.
Be safe.

-Defuser

Bulgaria Part II

It's now Thursday evening. I have slept the first full 8 hrs of sleep since I got here Sunday. After last night, I needed it.My days are still a little messed up so I may go back and forth.

Tuesday; I spent most of the day in my hotel room going over my lines and blocking. It's not Shakespeare but I do have about 20 lines and lots of blocking. I've also had to figure out what several terms mean; group, banana, swing, pile, baggy, float, eye line, faking. Yes, yes, they do leave something to the imagination.
Tuesday at 230, a car came and drove me 40 min to Wardrobe/costume where I was fitted for my nice fancy deputy uniform. I then met the producers and director. I also got to meet Keven Sorbo, very nice guy. Talks almost as much as I do. But he has had a very intersting life!

The producers took us both to dinner that night at a traditional Bulgarian restaraunt. Wow! Great stuff, best potatoes I've ever had...seriously. And platters of pork, chicken and beef all cook on a HUGE flaming pit in the back of the place. Although, no one uses ICE in their drinks, you have to order it serperately and then you get funny looks.
The biggest down side is...smoking. Everyone smokes and they smoke EVERYWHERE! Ugh. I'm spoiled. It's been a while since I ate in a place where they could smoke.Dinner took a while because apparently "Hercules" is still playing in Bulgaria and Kevin had a line of fans trying to say hello.
No sign of any Defuser fans...yet.
After dinner, back to the hotel where a full tummy meant a good (if short) nights sleep.

Wed, Kevin wakes me up and asks if I wanna take in some sites around downtown Bulgaria. Duh...I get to hang out with Hercules!
After a short cab right to the city center, we walkaround for a few hours, eat lunch at a great little cafe. We visit several historic sites, of which there are many. We get stopped a few times along the way for the now bothersome Hercules fans to take pictures.
Still no Defuser fans in site. They must all sleep late or something.

Kevin is an incredibly nice guy. Very patient and chatty with the fans. It's obvious he misses his wife and kids. He has 3 young ones back home and takes every oppurtunity to show everyone pictures on his new I-phone.
I understand his dilema. At every historic site I think about how much more fun I'd be having if Norma was with me. It gets worse at night but at least I get to talk to her on my phone. I'm in the process of trying to set up Skype to video with her but there are difficulties. I think my son Nathan would be having a blast over here as well.

After our sight seeing, we head back to the Kempinski hotel and chill. I think he went to work out...figures. I slept for 2 hours. And am I glad I did.
Our car picked us up at 430pm. We were supposed to be in make-up by 6, wardrobe by 7 and start shooting at 8.

OMG! I wont give you all the cold and frustrating details but we didnt start shooting until 3am!!! These are all night shots, and they were scrambling to get them done by the time the sun comes up. CRAZY!!!
But, I will say that the director, producers all the way down to the PA's were all incredibly nice and patient with me. Kevin was a great mentor and made me feel relaxed. Out of about 50 takes on 4 different scenes, I only flubbed my lines twice. It was a very cool experience. And even though it was 24 degrees or so, I enjoyed it.

We got back to the hotel at about 7am and had breakfast. I then chilled in my room till about 10am before I finally fell asleep.
Now, I'm up and heading back out to the set. Wish me luck!!!


-Defuser

Bulgaria Part I

Well here I am. My flight went well, about 15 hrs air time with 2 layovers.I went from Austin to Charlotte, NC...took about 2 hrs, then after a short layover from Charlotte to Munich Germany. OMG that is a big airport. The size of a small city. But everyone was very nice and helped me get to my gate without hassle. Most everone I encounted spoke both German and English.From there another 2+ hr flight and we landed in Sophia, Bulgaria. it was a beautiful flight coming in, Sophia is completely surrounded by mountains.A sweet young lady named Milana met me at the airport and her driver; Dio drove me to my hotel.
Everywhere I looked I saw tall, crowded concrete tenement buildings. And very small cars whizzing in and out of traffic, including Dio on our large-ish Kia mini-van. Lots of Kia's, VW, and BMW's. Then once downtown, it looked more like Austin. Lot's of shops/stores on the side of the road, much like the new South Congress area. People walking to and from with bags in hand.Arriving at our hotel; Kempinski Hotel, a 5 star by Bulgairan standards, 3.5 stars by mine. Still, very nice, just aged a bit.
Again everyone was friendly and spoke english. Maybe not fluently, but more than enough to get by.I was handed my sealed copy of the script by Milana and was told to be ready at 230pm tomorrow.
Wow, I get a whole day to go over my lines. Sounds like WWTBASH all over again. Very rushed with little infomation given until the last minute.So far, my big thoughts are; eastern europeans must be small, the chairs are short, the shower is at my chest level, and my feet hang off the twin size bed they gave me. (again, like WWTBASH). My room does have 2 twin beds, I think I'll slide them together...we shall see. I know that no one here recognizes me from the show, but I get the strangest looks. It seems I'm an avg. of 1 foot taller than most people here, men included.

Oh! I am excited when I found out who the main actor in the movie is; Kevin Sorbo! He was the star of the TV series; Andromeda. He has many other roles but that's where i know him from. Oh, that and the TV series Hercules.Just from scimming the script, it looks like I have about 7 appearences and about 15 lines. Not completely sure just yet. They have me double billed as; Deputy Johnson and The Defuser so I'm glad I brought the spandex.
The directors name is Gary Jones, the only film I know he's done was a horror movie; Boogyman 3 . Did I mention there's a 24 hr casino down stairs in the hotel?
It's 3am here, which means it's about 7 pm in Austin. My sleep schedule is still suffering but I'm going to try to head back to bed soon.I did just buy Red Alert 3 and plan on getting in some CoH time as well.I hope everyone is well.
I'll be keeping you posted!!!

Defuser out!

The Defuser - An update

11-12-2008

Greetings my friends, I’ve been neglectful in keeping track of the comings and going of The Defuser but I just wanted to let everyone know what’s been going on with our spandex clad hero.In mid August I went to my first Gen-Con in many, many years. Wow! Has it changed. No longer only a haven for us skinny (not so skinny anymore) zit faced gaming nerds…it was a HUGE full blown extravaganza! So many booths, games, t-shirts, dice, pins and of course…stars!

I had the extreme honor of meeting and talking with David Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons. I then was further honored to meet Keith Baker, who asked me to be a DM for The Tower of Gygax; a 4 day, 24hr old school dungeon romp to honor the games creator; Gary Gygax. I was blown away. It was the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. It was even more amazing that I was not the only WWTBASH winner to DM a session. Season One winner Feedback was also throwing some dice around.
Not only did I get to hang with Feedback, but Hygena was there is her husband, Mark, a long time gamer. My wife Norma, with Hygena, Mark, Feedback and his amazing wife Sarah, what could go wrong???Not enough time as it turned out. I was only able to attend one session of the AWESOMENESS that is TRUE DUNGEON. An experience that I suggest to anyone!We could have played for at least 4 more days but alas, the con ended and we had to return home.

In mid Oct, I headed to Santa Clara California for Hero-Con. A small con hosted by NCSoft and meant specifically for “City of Heroes/Villains” players. Of which I am proud to be one.
OMG!!! I had so much fun! The LIVE ACTION mission, in which; “contacts” were spread around the hotel, holding clues, items and next missions was a blast to be part of. While our team didn’t win, there was much fun to be had and it was an event that will be hard to surpass. I got to be one of the judges for the costume contest and it was one of the funnest I’ve ever been part of. I can’t wait for the next HERO-CON!!! I also can’t wait for some free time and log into the game itself and fight some crime!

*Almost forgot to mention!!! I had a small role in a great audio drama; Feedbacks; A heroes calling. And I also did an interview with Dr. Howard Margolin on Destiny’s Voices.

SCARE for a CURE has rounded out the past year, taking up much of my free time. While we start planning in Jan. or Feb. in August thru Oct, it’s truly a crazy time in my life and the life of those around me. With over 200 volunteers, it is far from a small operation. While we had our ups and downs this year, it was truly an amazing experience and we raised over $15,000. Most of which will go to college scholarships for students affected by cancer. For more info on SCARE, head over to www.scareforacure.org

In other Defuser news; I have now completed a full year cycle on the comic convention circuit.
I currently have 3 comic books in the works.
One, created by local writers and artists is top notch and should be out by Christmas.
The Dark Horse comic I was promised is in the works but is coming along VERY slowly.
Third is a book being created by some friends in the comics industry that were frustrated at waiting for Dark Horse. Big shout out to David and the family at Glasshouse Graphics.

I’ve been told my action figure will be out by Christmas…I somehow doubt that but we shall see.(shocker toys)

I’m leaving for Bulgaria in a few days. I’ll be gone for 3-4 weeks. While I was awarded an “appearance” in a movie, the powers that be have given me an actual “role” in the movie. I’ve also been approached about an actual “Defuser” movie but who knows. It will be a typical monster movie from SciFi but I am optimistic that The Defuser will make an appearance.

I am going to do my best to start blogging about my adventures as The Defuser, especially while in Bulgaria. I hope to do this with SCARE as well. I’m just not very good at writing so I tend to put blogging at the bottom of my list of things to do.

Thats all for now!
Thanks to everyone for all the support!

Stay safe.


-TD