(this entry is a back dated selection from my journal JUNE 10)

june 9

So I've come to the conclusion that L.A. is lost! Yeah you heard me! L.A. is lost and it can't find itself!! It thinks it's…somewhere….maybe over there…well…maybe.

Ever since I arrived here something's been up. Everyone I ask for directions doesn't seem to know where they are let alone where I'm trying to go!

A couple times now I've gotten directions to go someplace and when I get close and get off of the Freeway I need to make sure I'm heading in the correct direction…and it seems that each time I ask someone which way is West…I end up going South and each I ask which way is East….sure enough now I'm going West!

And lets not mistake this for a tragic impairment of MY directional skills because let me tell you I fully know that the ocean is ALWAYS west, but just like in Chicago, where the lake is ALWAYS east…I can't always see the ocean so…how is one to know which way is which when you spend forever winding around in circles on the freeway. And furthermore, L.A. has no grid system like Chi-town. NO SIR. Instead it's filled with windy-apathetic roads that eventually decide they don't want to exist anymore until you get to another part of town and there's that street again (WHAT?)!

The other difficulty is that the states freeway labeling/planning crew obviously got to work late they day they planned placing signs on the highway because there are a few too many and there's no real cohesive system of how many miles between one sign and the exit….it's all RANDOM!

FURTHERMORE!! At night all of the little highway gnomes come out of hiding and start their construction work…but before they can start working on the road they first have to efficiently orange cone the road until nobody can go more than 5 miles per hour because there's no place to move AND they have to place their construction signs right in front of the signs for which exit is which…. EFFICIENTLY making it so that I have so far driven 200 some unnecessary miles trying to get home each evening!!!!! WHY?

I think this is why there's so much smog…nobody can get off the road…everyone's like, "uh…are we there…I think we're close…I don't know…What highway are we on now?...I don't know there hadn't been a sign in 12 miles…" and so on!

Now if people could just get their acts together and hire me as President of the universe then we could get all of this straitened out! And if that can't happen then….

Governor Schwarzenegger, if you're reading this….GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER or you'll have to be terminated (aren't I punny!?).

THE END

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 4:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a while since I've done a pic of the day!! I'm sure the universe missed them much, so here it is!!! My music/band pick of the day is.....

::dramatic drumroll::

THE EDITORS


check out thier video below



you can also check them out at thier myspace www.myspace.com/editorsmusic

These guys are a European wonder on a US indie music label FADER!!

Love them...Love them now!! :)

Why? Because I love you!!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 5:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(this is a back dated entry from june 8th)

My first or second day here (when I went to the DMV to attempt…attempt to get a temporary ID) I spotted a sign that said "Electric Vehicle Charging Station" with an arrow towards the left! see below...



I got really excited and took a picture of the sign immediately!! I then proceeded to see if I could find somebody to take a picture of me and the sign together (touristy? or eco-loving cute!? I think the latter). I asked this guy and he kind of looked at me funny, and then I proceeded to explain that I'm from out of town and where I'm from the idea of an electric car is amazing but untouched and that I'm also a hardcore environmentalist! But he just continued to look at me and then said, "Good luck with that" and moseyed on his way without taking my picture. HOW CAN PEOPLE BE SO CRUEL!

Well anyways, today I finished at my internship a little early and I was heading back in the direction I needed to go when I saw another sign "Electric Vehicle Charging station" (arrow, right). This time I followed it! I turned right, saw another sign, turned left, and then right and to the end of this parking lot…AND THERE THEY WERE!! Shinny and beautiful…CUTE AND LOVEABLE…(yeah we're still talking about charging stations). I got really excited and took a picture with my phone because my camera's battery was dead. But then I saw little outlets and I thought that I could charge my camera phone for a little bit and then take a picture of it…which got me to thinking…why not just hang out for a while…AND SEE IF ANY EVs SHOW UP!? So that's what I did….I STAKED THE PLACE OUT!! After the first hour I became particularly determined. During the second hour some guy came and started talking with me and of course it started, "No I'm not crazy, I'm just on a mission to hug an EV driver! That's all!" and then turned into, "…so I've been driving on veggie oil…." and "...have you heard of a company called Phenix Motorcar? They make fully electrics…" which then turned around and he asked, "..so how long have you been studing this stuff?.." (he thought I was in environmental studies), I replied "…just 8 months, I'm actually an art student…". He said, "do you have a website?.." and I said, "…green blogs, good music….myspace/Mojdeh…" -> we had a good time!



Sadly though, I did not see a single EV! Sadly! BUT IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER! And WHEN it's over….I'LL HAVE HUGGED AN EV DRIVER!!!



BECAUSE REMEMBER…it does no good hugging trees…if you don't hug the people saving the trees!!

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
See "Who Killed The Electric Car" a movie available at your video store or netflix
Go to www.phenixmotorcars.com <- so far, the most earth friendly and efficient electric cars out there!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 2:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(this is a back dated entry from my journal!)
JUNE 7

my visitors badge

Today was the first day on the FOX Lot in Century City (as in 20th Century FOX). Century City was a pretty cool place to be frolicking around because there are a lot of Persians there->and as many of you know I am half Persian (hence my name) so this was pretty exciting to me. Since I'm from the Midwest, I'm not used to seeing Persians in such a dense populous! But there were many shops to go to and many people walking around enjoying the neighborhood. Twas good times.


I was waiting to get checked in by security so that I could park in the visitor's parking lot!

Ron (the sound designer I'm working with) gave me directions he directed me to the main entrance of FOX right off of Motor Dr. Motor drive dead ends @ Fox on one side and dead ends at Sony Pictures at the other end->Anyway, I pulled up to the guard (probably with a little too much excitement) and told him I was there to see Ron. They require photo ID and since I didn't have one I had to explain that my wallet had been stolen and handed him my birth certificate, he looked at it a while and then told me I was at the wrong gate and directed me to where I needed to go…so I frolicked to the visitors gate and again explained to that guard that I didn't have photo ID, handed him my birth certificate and the visitors pass that the other guard gave me but this guy really didn't know what to do with me, so as he inspected my birth certificate I offered to also show him my SS card and he just looked at me funny and let me through.



a sneaky photo of the Star Wars studio building! i wasn't supposed to photograph!

Since I was now ambling from the rear part of the lot I walked past many people and a number of sound stages. All of the large sound stages have HUGE murals on them (i.e. Star Wars, Simpson's, Julie Andrews, etc) I was attempting to look like I was just thumbing through the images on my camera, but I think some industry people caught me red handed as I snagged some quick photos. I then proceeded to peek from a distance into the sound stage with the Simpson's mural and I saw something being shot. It was an interior of a home…that's all I know.


my drive on pass

So when I finally got to the building, it turned out that my Visitor's pass had some incorrect information and they couldn't get in touch with Ron to come down and get me!!! So sadly I missed the voice over recording I was going there to see. BUT, when Ron finally came down and summoned me we still spent the better part of the evening working in the studio there at FOX.-----tangent in…5…4….---OKAY so the most humorous part of this adventure was that I realized, the voice over guys that do the super dramatic trailer and promo stuff…you know the ones with the super deep voices like "There's a new threat in town…and this Thursday, Jack Bauer takes out terrorists like you've never seen him before…" Yeah those guys…apparently they NEVER actually come into the studios. Instead they've got recording equipment at their homes and they're on call!! I asked if these guys are also sound guys and Ron replied, "No they're just Bad Asses!" Hilarious!



ron's sound studio on the FOX LOT

I was sort of happy to see that once you got past the fancy architecturally brilliant exteriors and lobbies of these buildings that the actual office areas are pretty modest. The hallways resembled a very quiet hospital rather an over fashioned super studio! But when you enter the actual work suits….SHOOOT!...they're pretty decked out! I saw the Two Avid suits and the Pro Tools suit & live room that Ron works in!!

All in all it was a pretty sweet experience!! I can't wait to go back next!!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 4:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(this is a back dated entry from my journal on June 5)

June 5
So yesterday was my first day of internship (obviously I've tracked the phone number down!). I'm working with this guy, Ron Meza, he's a sound designer for 20th Century FOX, as well as a freelancer for many companies (both sound design and composition).

So far he's been the best part of this trip BY FAR!! I'm totally excited about working with him! And he's been super gracious!! The first day he told me that he would loan me an MBox and load pro tools onto my lap top so that I could work on things when I'm not with him, and on top of that, the days that he's not available he's going to hook me up with other FOX & ABC people to watch them work and do their thing!

Yesterday he was just breaking the ice for me so that I could basically understand his set up at his private studio, and generally understand his process by which he works on sound design and composition. The first thing that I saw was the MTV promo that he had just finished working on, and then he showed me a couple more promos and his entire virtual set up! He (LIKE ME) is a Digital Performer fan instead of Pro Tools, so he works as much as he can with DP and then gets into Pro Tools when he has to! A SMART MAN!!

So anyway (enough geek talk) today I saw over 15 different projects that he's worked on and he's shown me his basic process and talked about how he gathers his sounds and why he's making certain decisions! Totally awesome! He gave me a DVD with some of his work so with his permission may I'll post some of that stuff up here soon!

We've only been into it for a few days so I was too shy to ask him if I could take a picture with him…so pictures of this super silly and wonderful man are coming soon!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(this is a backdated journal entry from June 1st)


JUNE 1
I've never been homesick before in my WHOLE LIFE…but I'm homesick now!

This city did a poor job of welcoming me! I was here less than two hours and my wallet and phone were both stolen!!! Nearly everything was GONE!!->credit cards, contacts, car insurance, driver's license…the whole deal! I'm just lucky that I happened to bring other documents just-in-case and I didn't happen to have much cash in my wallet!

Of course I have everyone's info backed up…at home….but here…I'm out of luck. I've got nobody's phone number, not even the guy I'm here to intern with!!!! All I've got is a hand full of numbers memorized and that's it!

If that's not bad enough when I got here I began having a visceral asthmatic/allergic reaction to the smog here! I was having trouble breathing, my eyes were watering my nose was running…REDICULOUS!

The process of trying to get things back in order is kind of going slowly so I'm a little frustrated about that! But at lease mostly my bank/credit people and phone company agreed to send things here to California! Except it seems I'm out of luck for my driver's license!! Which is unfortunate in many ways because that means that I have NO picture ID with me…even my SAIC ID was in my wallet too! OY!!

To make matters worse, in trying to figure out what to do about my driver's license I spent three hours this morning calling the IL Secretary of State, with no luck and then I thought maybe CA state has some procedure for temporary licenses or something but NOPE! The guy at the Los Angeles DMV listened to my situation, gave me a number, made me wait for hours and then when my number was called the women acted like I was crazy and stupid to think that they could do anything for me. She pretty much told me that I was dumb and sent me on my way without any guidance or sympathy!

So…I really don't know what to do about that!

But updates things will hopefully start turning up!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 1:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(this is a backdated journal entry from late at night May 3oth & Early Morning May 31st)

MAY 30TH
I'm on the Amtrak now; everyone's sleeping. It's been pretty intense so far because I had never been on such a long journey cooped up like this! It's a 43hr adventure from Chicago (Union Station) to Los Angeles (LAX).

If you've read previous blogs then you know I had planned on driving my cute little bio-diesel across country but in the couple of weeks before I left it seemed like it would be a better idea to hop because I haven't finished my veggie conversion and it seemed like a better way to travel with my aunt.

THESE ARE ALL PHOTOS THAT I TOOK FROM THE TRAIN!! so sorry if a few are a little blurry...train moves...i did my best with my dinky little point and shoot!

So here it is…AMTRAK: The good, the bad, and the ugly….

The best part is that I could bring all of my music equipment with me as carry on, or as checked luggage (AND I COULD HAVE EVEN BROUGHT MY OWN BIKE)!!!....next time). Also, I met some pretty cool people: I educated some older folks about bio-diesel and electric cars, and I think one of em's actually going to go home and look into it because she lived in Arizona (warm weather = larger bio-diesel communities), I also met this college girl that was reading "Fast Food Nation" and ended up telling her about "The Meatrix" (?so good!!!--> YouTube it now), I spent a lot of time in the viewing car, realizing that the there are islands in the Mississippi River, checkin out mountains, I saw coyotes in the desert, we even stopped in New Mexico for an hour,-> and then who could forget the little 5 year old girl who was convinced that I the coolest person on Earth!!
---------TANGENT BEGINS IN 5…4…3…2…-----
So this little girl walks up to me and she bluntly asked me what I'm doing, and I told her that I was working on some music stuff. Immediately she had a hundred and one questions, "Are you a singer?", "Are you a big star?", "Can I listen to your music?", so I put my little ear buds into her ears and played some of my new music and she's quiet just long enough to listen to half a song and then "Your voice is pretty!", "Can I hear this on the radio?", "What's your name?" "How do you say that?"…PRETTY CUTE…
---------end of tangent------

BUT ANYWAYS onto THE BAD-?So I guess I'm more of a "travel with a friend" rather than "travel with family" sort of person because the first few hours I was like…okay…I gotta get out of here…and that's when I finally voyaged to the viewing car! (aka: RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!)


my aunt-->she eventually found the viewing car too!

AND FURTHERMORE! …THE UGLY!...so remember my tangent from a moment ago!? Well I was pretty excited about the adorably inquisitive nature of this little 5yo girl so I was havin a great time talking with her!...that is until her mother came to the viewing car to find her! She was maybe mid thirties, obviously rural (which is totally fine!), and not very friendly! She sees that the little girl is with me, gives me a stern and dirty look and asks the girl what she's doing. The girl starts ranting about how I'm a musician and how pretty my voice is, but her mother cuts her off, grabs her hand, and says "We don't talk to strangers!" I tried to be polite and friendly and told the little girl her mom is right and introduced myself to the mother, but she starts walking away and then whispers, "You don't know if she's a scary black person!"?She obviously did a poor job of whispering this to the little girl, because I heard her very well!

MAY 31st
Short note. Okay so we just got off of the train in L.A. and it's colder here than it was in Chicago…something's wrong with this situation!


the rental car guy couldn't find us because the LAX shuttle dropped us off in an odd place so my aunt told him to look for the girl with the blue guitar! and BAM...there he was!

Posted by Mojdeh Stoakley at 1:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)