The Defuser Rides Again?

While I was determined to retire the spandex and spend more time on SCARE for a CURE and my career...it looks like other options are on the horizon.

Earlier this month (November 2010) Wizard World finally brough a large convention to Austin; my home town.
At the last minute I decided to join the show when I was asked to host the WW costume contest and kids costume contest. We were also offered a spot to put a SCARE table.
Since it was my home town and I felt that the Defuser just kind of "faded" away, this would be a good time to give the costume an official farewell.
Low and behold, not only did I have an incredible time, raise some money for SCARE and see several of my convention circuit friends...WW asked me to emcee other shows.
They sweetened the deal by offering to make SCARE something of an OFFICIAL Wizard World Con Charity. We still arent sure of the details and this may not be a HUGE amount of money for SCARE but the publicity alone had me interested.
The entire Wizard World staff including, Peter, Courtney, Natalia, Kim and Heather were all incredibly helpful and friendly, I couldnt say no.

So here I am, in a position to make a little money for SCARE, do some traveling and hang out with friends. I was at a point where I really wanted to start trimming down all the chaos in my life; SCARE, superhero, Elks Lodge and oh ya, my real job.

I'm not sure where the cuts will be but I'm actually looking forward to seeing Atlanta, New Orleans and Miami.

One dark spot still looming over The Defuser's head is the fact that Stan Lee, Syfy and NBC have still not given me the promised action figure.
Each month I get another sob story, delay and empty apology. I'm tempted to make a YouTube video complete with cameo's by some of my more famous friends. :-)
I mean...come on guys, you made a promise, a commitment, a little follow-through please.
It's been over 3 freaking years!!! I think I've been pretty patient.

So, The Defuser is going on the road again, I hope to see you at a Wizard World Convention...and you should wear a costume!!!

-The Defuser

Promises Broken

I talked a couple of months ago about retiring The Defuser. It’s been over 2 years since Stan crowned me the next great superhero and the fun of donning the spandex for various events has lost much of its luster. I’ll try to give you the shortened version of events; (no guarantee of how short)
In April of 2007 I won the show, of course this didn’t air until the last episode on Sept. 6th of the same year.
For winning the show I was promised; A 1-shot comic “written by Stan Lee”, an appearance in a SciFi Channel movie (I was not promised a Defuser movie as many people think) and an action figure by Shocker Toys.
By the time the show finally aired, the powers that be had over 4 months to at least begin creation and delivery of my prizes.
I began doing the convention circuit for 2 reasons; one was to promote The Defuser and second was to raise money for Scare for a CURE. I never intended to benefit financially from the show or the aftermath.
The question that continually popped up at the shows was, “Hey where’s your comic and action figure?”
Feedback, season ones winner, gave me some great advice that I failed to follow. He told me to immediately start getting on NBC and Darkhorse about the comic and other prizes. I, in my ignorance, assumed that since prizes were promised, that they would be delivered. I would not consider myself naïve, but I do tend to rely on the inherent “goodness” of people. Do unto others as you might say.
By September of 2008, a full year after the finale, and over 16 months since I actually won, I had received none of the prizes and only the most cursory and canned of responses basically stating that the check was in the mail.
A ray of hope broke through when later that month I was contacted that a movie was coming up and it might be THE movie I was to be in. That experience ALMOST makes up for the rest of this story as I had an incredible time in Bulgaria filming “Lightning Strikes” with Kevin Sorbo. (Check my other blogs for those stories)

In January of this year, I finally started getting some answers about the comic and oddly, it seems that once the process started, it only took about 3 months to do my comic. Even this probably would never have happened had it not been for someone I befriended at the Chicago Con in 2008; David Campiti, owner Glass House Graphics. David has been in the industry for many years and was instrumental in giving me accurate information about the process and current status of my comic, which, at the time was NIL.
In April of 2008, my comic was released, 2 YEARS since I had won the show.
It should be noted however that it was not written by Stan Lee, as he himself promised on the show. It seems that the lack of a season 3 eliminated the need for doing a comic at all.
My ability to use the comic to raise money for charity was incredibly diminished if not completely void.
Now, as it has been for the last 2.5 years, I’m told for literally the 6th or 7th time that the action figure is just months away.
Months away???
It’s been that since 2007! At what point do I end my patient ways? I’ve spoken to the owners of Shocker Toys several times on the phone, in email and face to face as I did this weekend.
I am always hesitant to call someone a liar but they are either that or simply not very good at their job. I get the same answer each time I speak to them. I simply don’t buy it. And instead of getting a very cool, detailed custom action figure, if it ever does show up, it will just be a different paint job on one of their existing figures.

Is it time to bring up the “L” word? (lawyer) What is the price of not delivering on a prize that was announced to great promotion nation wide? (If not world wide)
What would adequate compensation be for not keeping your word regarding a show that was supposed to epitomize the values of being a hero?
I don’t know. I really don’t know.
I do know that my patience is at an end and my frustration is getting old.

If anyone from NBCU or Scifi is listening, let’s start with $10,000 donated to Scare for a CURE and all rights for The Defuser transferred to me.

The Defuser is a bit upset

I don’t blog as much as I’m told I should. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to just go on and on about what I consider to be boring everyday stuff. Then I’m reminded that being attacked by a 350lb woman in the interrogation room isn’t exactly everyday kinda stuff. To me…a lot of it is. Facebook usually gives me my “keep everyone updated” fix and in keeping with my ADD self, it’s short and sweet.

Today however, something has been bugging me that I wanted to get off my chest.
Most of my life I’ve been considered a nerd, geeky, weird. I’ve never been part of the IN crowd. I hung around other self-proclaimed nerds and geeks. I spent many a late night playing D&D with Thomas, Darren and other friends. I spent lunches in the library playing chess with Paul and Andrew. My hobbies were not always what you would consider ‘main stream’.
I simply had the benefit of being larger than most of my locker stuffed friends and no one ever really messed with me too much.

But today, like back then, someone is messing with one of my friends. And while he is more than capable of taking care of himself…in more ways than one, I find myself wanting to come to his rescue, to knock the crap out of the guy(s) that are messing with him. But today, you can slander someone, screw with someone from a 1000 miles away with little or no retribution. It’s called the internet. The same way I’m reaching out to you, someone else can reach out and run someone’s reputation through the mud with no facts or evidence. There is very little recourse.
This slander stems from something very near and dear to my heart; superheroes.
Yep, those living souls that for a variety of reasons put on a costume and moves about in public much to the chagrin of average everyday mortals.

I, like many folks got into costumes when I was a very young man. Perhaps 6 when my mom let me tie a pillow case around my neck and jump off the couch. Then Anthony (God rest his soul) and I progressed to using bed sheets and jumping off the roof of the house. We caught many an imaginary crook back in those days.
Later in life I regressed to only dressing up on “approved” dates, such as Halloween and for various parties or for theater.
Then I was asked to appear as Batman for a friend’s son’s 6th birthday party, and then another…and another.
Until finally, I appeared on “Who Want’s to be a Superhero” in 2007 and found that I could raise a lot of money for charity, make a lot of kids happy and generally bring some fun to darn near any event I showed up. (in spandex of course)
During the prep and in the aftermath of the show I met a great many people who also, for different reasons also liked dressing up as some very well known heroes or as the case often is, in creations of their own.
Most of these people had one thing in common; a big heart. They showed up at children’s hospitals, old folks homes, elementary schools…anywhere they thought they could bring a smile to someone’s face.

There are other types of people who wear superhero costumes. They call themselves Real Life Super Heroes (RLSH). This is often a different type of person. And while some do the exact same things that the previous mentioned heroes do, RLSH are often more known as people who put on the costume and head out into the real world and try to fight crime in some fashion.
Local news shows often poke fun at this type of costume wearer and even though they have the best of intentions, I’ve not met one yet that I could approve of to go out and fight crime. (just my opinion) Nothing against RLSHs but being a law enforcement officer myself, I can think of many other ways these folks could better their communities. As I said, they may very well be out entertaining children, visiting hospitals and the like but when they go out in public, with little or no training in an attempt to fight crime in the real world, I only see the potential for problems. If you really want to fight crime, go to school, join a police academy or volunteer with a police department. We ALWAYS need volunteers. In ....Austin.... we have a ....Civilian.. ..Police.. ..Academy...., a Police Explorers Program and a Civilian Battalion that aid us as eyes and ears in the community.

Back to my friend who was getting bashed…
This man was being compared to the worst kind of individual, the kind that puts on a costume to lure children into his vicinity for unspeakable crimes.
This comparison was made simply as a joke in poor taste but has had a devastating effect on him, his family and his friends.

He was also compared as a RLSH going out in public fighting crime in costume, which this man has never done, he doesn’t have to, his job is to literally keep this country safe. He was associated with RLSH in the most negative of terms with which I also disagree. The RLSHs I’ve met were all very nice and respectful people, I simply disagree with their methods, not them as people. Hell, one RLSH brought me Pop-Tarts...how can you not like someone who brings you Pop-Tarts?

I won’t comment on what website this man slandered my friend; I don’t want him to boast about the increase in his sites traffic. But I will say that before you head out to make fun of someone, to bash them for being different than yourself, do a little research. The person you are bashing may be odd in your eyes but then again he or she may be out there helping someone close to you. Someone you don’t have the time for, someone that simply needs a smile.
End of rant.
-TD

Bulgaria Part VI

Bulgaria Part VI

I know I know, I said I’d get to the next part several days ago….my bad.
It’s not easy for me to just sit down and start writing…
I enjoy it once I get started but I usually sit at the screen and stare for 30 minutes before I can even get one word down.

After that amazing night on the town with the rest of the cast I finally started to feel like I was becoming friends with these people who only a week or 2 ago, I didn’t even know.
I’m going to do my best to give you some insight into the actors and of course…the movie itself; “Lightning Strikes!” (no spoilers)

Kevin; aka. Hercules/Captain Dillon Hunt is of course the star of the show playing Sheriff Bradley. A super nice guy who loves talking about his life abroad, his wife and children and upcoming projects. As nice a guy as you will ever meet.

Annabelle Wright plays Nancy; A very pretty and incredibly sweet woman from London. She is fun to be around and the consummate professional actress. Through cold, rain, snow and no end of discomfort she endured and gives a wonderful performance.

David Schofield is also British and a very friendly man who when given a large 7” scar going down the right side of his face looks and acts incredibly scary! An actor for over 40 yrs he was a great source of information. He plays Donovan, a man with a mission.

Robyn Addison plays Angel, a tall beautiful blond scientist who must put up with her 2 co-scientist/storm chasers. Also from London she is incredibly fun to be around and is always quick with a witty comment.

Jeff Harding plays another storm chaser. An American living in London he has an extensive list of acting roles but what most impressed me was his voice acting. He has done over 500 audio books and tells stories with a flare I envy.

Kolin Smialek plays Billy, the Sheriff’s son. Another American living in London and at 18 yrs old is someone to keep an eye on. I suspect we will find him in starring roles very soon. Listening to him discuss how he juggles school and acting reminds me of just what can be accomplished when someone has a true passion.

As a brand new father; Tom Harper spent much of his time telling us stories about how much he missed his wife and new born baby. Another storm chaser and citizen of Great Britain (are you seeing a pattern here?) he never the less does an excellent American mid-western accent and is a blast to have around. He can do a Bulgarian line dance with the best of them!
That is a short list of the actors…I’ll list out a few more later.

Now on to some adventures;

After our night out on Monday, we slept late Tuesday. We did how ever find time to get up and hit some sites. Together with Kevin, Annabelle and Kolin, Norma and I hopped a taxi to the St. Alexander Nevsky church. We did a lot of walking and shopping and saw some amazing sites.
Here are some photos but they don’t do the locations justice;
Site Seeing *Also included are a few shots from my hotel room; with and without snow.

It was on this day that I had my lowest point while in Sophia thus far…
After a few hours, Norma and I wanted to continue shopping while the rest of the gang headed back to the hotel. Confident of my inherent bio-directional sense, we set off on our own to check out some of the great little stores in downtown Sophia. Little did I know that every single block in Sophia has no less than 3 shoe stores. I had been using a particular shoe store as my location anchor. I had no idea that all shoe stores look alike…at least in Sophia. So, as the sun went down, we found ourselves not 100% sure of our direction or location.

Not being a typical male in this regard I had no problem stopping and asking for directions. Unfortunately either they didn’t speak English (which was actually rare) or they didn’t know where the Kempinski Hotel was. I stopped a cab driver but he refused to take us to the hotel. (I’ll explain why in a moment).
After wandering around for well over an hour, straying from the nice shopping district to a less than savory area, now well into nightfall, I was forced to call upon my innate superhero abilities to find our way home. Now since we are walking in an area that has 5-10 story buildings on all sides, it’s a little (if not impossible) to see our 20 story hotel, which I was sure was over here…somewhere. It turns out that one of The Defuser’s weaknesses is his sense of direction. With night full on, Norma becoming more and more anxious, we finally rounded a corner and low and behold something familiar.
Turns out the reason the cab driver didn’t want to drive us to the hotel was that…had I zagged right when I zagged left an hour earlier, we would have been a few blocks from the hotel. As it was, we had a lovely evening walk in downtown Sophia.

Wednesday was a shoot day for me. As the project was a few days behind schedule, they called in a “second unit” to assist with the filming. This was to be one of my favorite if bittersweet scenes. I actually get to do some “stunt-work” (shut up Thom)
I got to drive fast, have a burnt crispy body fall on my car and then I get to dive out of the way while I’m attacked by something evil. I was not however allowed to pull apart my shirt revealing a spandex clad superhero beneath. I was sure that a glue grenade would put a quick end to the diabolical menace that was threatening my adoptive home town.

Things got pretty ugly from there but I was needed on set #1 where I got to shoot yet another “stunt” activity. Has anyone seen “TJ Hooker” or “The Dukes of Hazzard? That’s all I’m gonna say.

Thursday and Friday were relatively quiet (as I recall) but there was an incident Friday night, after dinner, that I will mention because if I don’t, Norma will.
The gang, including Norma and myself, Kolin, Robyn, Annabelle, Todd and Jeff (Kevin left just before the incident in question) decided to head to the bar located on the top floor of the hotel. This is a very prestigious restaurant/bar, very posh and proper.
Everyone (except yours truly) were partaking of a Bulgaria specialty; a shot of a near frozen very thick liqueur that is rumored to assist with digestion. (whatever)
We are all sitting around the bar on tall barstools.
Norma, sitting to my right, made some type of graceful maneuver and her tall shot glass emptied its contents into the general direction of my pants. Using my DEFUSER reflex’s I attempted to spring away to avoid the approaching liquid. (did I mention it was cold?) As I jump up, my left foot is caught on the barstool and I step/stagger backward, arms flailing madly until I crash butt first onto the floor and into the entrance door. Had my foot NOT been forcibly locked onto the barstool my finishing move as I quickly stood back up would have been quite impressive. Surely enough to cause any onlookers to completely overlook the initial fall. Unfortunately since my foot WAS still firmly locked into place, I just seemed to flounder on the floor like some water starved fish.
It would have been nice if someone…anyone had come to assist but it was all my alcohol laden friends could do to stay on their own barstools as they laughed, snorted, hooted and howled. I look over to see the matre d’ staring down at me tapping his foot.
I calming got up, as gracefully as I could, sat back down at the bar and drowned my sorrows in my glass of mineral water. (without ice)

Sunday started early as I had to get Norma to the airport by 5am. I also was supposed to fly back today but a few days were added to account for the weather delays.
Even though I know I will see her in a couple of days, it was sad to see her go. I would not have had NEAR the fun I did without her.

We had a short shoot today and then a quick quiet dinner before heading back to the hotel. I’m tired and kinda sad that my Bulgarian adventure is coming to an end. Being the “travel” coward that I am I never expected (or wanted) to go overseas. But now, all I can think about is where to go when I come back. I have adapted better than I thought to living in the hotel, using hand signs when the spoken word wasn’t enough and getting along without a steady supply of Pop-Tarts. Bulgaria may not be what people think of when they consider a European destination but I couldn’t be more impressed by the amazing locations or the people who have been nothing but incredibly friendly and patient with me.

I can’t say if I’ll ever be on another movie set again but if I am, I can’t imagine I would be having more fun that I have been the last 3 weeks.

I am truly blessed and am grateful for all the friends, family and experiences that have touched my life.

Thank you.

-jarrett
aka. The Defuser

The Defuser in Bulgaria Part V

The Defuser in Bulgaria Part V

Ok, go grab a soda…a snack and turn off your cell phone. This is gonna be a long one.
In fact, it would have been a long one if I had written this Tuesday night as I intended but noooooo…I kept putting it off and now I have to write a novel.

Norma arrived in Sophia on Sunday, after being awake for over 30 hours, she was beautiful, but beat tired so we went back to the Kempinski for a little while.
A couple of hours later, my car arrived and took us to the set. After a quick tour, I was taken to “make-up” where the futile attempt to make me look good continued. Yana made some comment about her not being a plastic surgeon…the translation was rough so I could be wrong.

We are 2/3rds of the way through shooting and things on the set are pretty tense. Since this is a low budget movie, the LINE Producer; John really wants things to go quickly, smoothly and on schedule. Then you have Gary, the DIRECTOR who is an artistic visionary and wants things to be perfect and have a shot from every conceivable angle in case he needs it later.
This PRODUCER vs. DIRECTOR struggle is apparently a normal thing…but in this case, the director’s vision is taking MUCH longer than normal. Combine that with several days of bad weather and the producer wants to speed things up to compensate. An eternal struggle has ensued with the crew and actors caught in the middle. This has caused many a 16 hr day, 4-8 hr waits for the actors and no end of complaining and outbursts. (did I mention it’s freaking cold here?)
I fortunately don’t really have a problem with this. I take my laptop or a book pretty much everywhere I go and since I’m used to sitting in a patrol car, at a construction site for 10+ hours at a time…I’m quite content.

Anyway…the scene we shot today (Sunday) was my longest thus far, and by far the silliest. It takes place in the Sheriff’s office. I’m on duty, at my desk, watching a TV show on my computer monitor…(aint it weird how art imitates life?) I get busted by my boss and some hilarity ensues. Now…when you all see this scene, you gonna think: “well…that was silly.” And you’re right, but it isn’t easy fitting a superhero into a sci-fi monster movie at the drop of a hat. Am I 100% happy with it? No, but it was fun and it sure beats what they did to Feedback in MEGASNAKE. I hope you’ll agree. I know Matthew will. J
So this 4 min scene took about 5 hrs to film…turned out to be a long day.

After sleeping all day Monday Norma and I were invited out to a CAST dinner.
OMG! Let me see if I can describe this for you.
Dinners in Bulgaria are an all night affair, this much I had already learned. Nothing about meals is in a rush. If you get a table for dinner (evening meal) then it is expected you will be there all night. Most service establishments don’t close until the last customer wants to leave. (restaurants/bars/etc…)

There were about 16 of us, most of the actors, the exec-producer (money man) and some spouses. We were at a traditional Bulgarian restaurant and we sat at a HUGE square table where massive platters of food were laid out. There is no “ordering” of food. They simply start bring platters out. I noticed that the table and chairs were incredibly sturdy and well made. (more on this later) After about an hour of eating, drinking, talking. I noticed some commotion out in the lobby area. I kinda kicked into cop-mode when I saw a lady run by and then a guy running after her. As I started to get out of my chair, a troop of performers burst in and began the most amazing hour+ long performance of traditional music, dance, and storytelling. I hope you will follow my PICTURE link and check out some of the pictures. It was truly an amazing sight!
The men sang, played instruments and danced. Through all this a story was told, then in came the women. Beautiful belly dancers, folk dancers and singers themselves.
The entire restaurant got caught up on the frenzy and pretty soon everyone (over a 100 people) were up and dancing around the restaurant, on tables, with strangers…

When the room finally settled down and the performers slipped away, we got back to some serious eating and conversation. This did not last long however when a woman, laid out on a long table was wheeled out into the room. Now…this next version is PG-13 and I don’t want to offended anyone or corrupt any young minds…so…you may want to skip this next part.

Well?


Still here??

Thought so!

This woman was not naked…per se’ , she was covered with cake, icing and fruit. This was a living breathing birthday cake complete with sparklers. The cake and fruit were of course strategically placed so nothing showed…really. It was a sight to see. It was wheeled across the restaurant to the birthday boy who was 50 yrs young and was quite impressed with his cake. All manner of singing and festivities began again as the entire restaurant helped him celebrate his birthday. And of course, if any trouble started, I was ready to help “defuse” the situation. (sorry, had to say it)

After about 4 hrs, the evening at the restaurant (called Happy Place) ended but by no means did that mean that the party was over. I’m not much of a CLUB guy, but my wife did travel several thousand miles to see me so I figured I had better do my best to go the distance.
As a group, we left Happy Place and headed to a very prestigious Sophian Night Club. It was as you might expect from a TV show; several large, well dressed men in black suits guarding the door. We had to walk thru a metal detector and then be subjected to a “pat-down” ( a very poor one I might say, I could have snuck in a bazooka)
The interior was amazing, very high class, very modern. The next couple of hours were filled with dancing and merriment. If you look at the pictures you will see something white floating down all around us while we dance to the Bulgarian Top 40.
It’s napkins…that’s right…napkins. Apparently it’s a tradition to have some guys stand around you while you dance and throw napkins up on the air. (these napkins had a picture of a Bulgarian $500 bill on them)
Pretty soon we had knee high piles of white napkins surrounding us, which made for great fun as we scooped them up and had make-shift napkins fights.
I will say that if you wad them up tight enough, you could put an eye out.

After an hour or so of this, we traveled to yet another club, this one could have been set anywhere on 6th Street. (Austin’s party district) As it was filled with young people (drinking age is 18) dancing and having a good time. The big difference was that this really could have been a club on 6th St. circa 1987, as I recognized every 80’s song and the dress was VERY 80’s as well. I was in heaven. (class of 87!)
Soon after, we hit one last club, then finally at about 4am, landed at the Kempinski Hotel.
I was the only sober one left standing but we all had a great time in the night life of Sophia, Bulgaria.

I fully intended to have this BLOG catch all that way up to today (Friday) but at already 3 pages, I’ll give you and my hands a short break. I’ll finish up Tues, Wed and Thursday later this evening. I think Norma and I will hit the mall and do some (more) shopping.

Talk to you soon.
Be safe!!!

-The Defuser

PS. Who said The Defuser couldn’t fly???

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