Extra Work

I went to wardrobe today for my role as an extra in a film, called PRD. They fitted me with two nerdy 70's outfits that mismatch even worse than my normal mismatched clothes! It will nice to be in style May 8 and 9 (the days I will show up for the film work) when I am out of style. Sigh..Ordinarily, I dress out of style when I am supposed to be in style. Does that make sense? Never mind.
This film is to star Terrance Howard (had role in the film "Ray") and comedian actor Bernie Mac. PDR stands for Philadelphia Department of Recreation and is based on the true story of someone named Jim Ellis, a swim coach. Ellis coached a group of inner city, poor minority children, making them a champion swim team when few thought the kids could barely function, much less swim competitively. That's about all I know of the project other than the casting crew needs plenty of people like me for crowd scenes and other non speaking parts.
In depopulated New Orleans there isn't a big pool from which to draft extras but my state long ago gave Hollywood huge tax breaks to film movies here, and despite the hurricane we have had many films (One with Denzel Washington closed the Mississippi River bridge last night) coming here. Too, some of the films have come to use the destruction of the city as a background if it is germane to their film to see such sights.
This crew seems well organized. At wardrobe things were run well and I was fitted quickly (though the clothes are too tight). The other three people with me at the same time and I were given literature explaining the process. plus told that the film will call us the night before to give us the set sight and time to report. Most of the time, everyone on a films sits and waits, and I can understand why those actors and actresses become fidgety and bored. But for extras the concept of working a film is interesting, in seeing how putting together a film works. I have been in several other films here as extras and will enjoy the experience. The pay isn't exactly extravagant, being $15.00 per hour for extras. (I was paid for showing up at wardrobe today). Having written all of this, I still think Hollywood film making is crude and the products produced are geared for the 12 to 18 year old market. In a word most Hollywood films are "Unintelligent"..Hmmmmmmmmm That's a wrap (as they say on the film sets).
Everyone knows that China is changing rapidly. But it might be bad for people who snore. That's right! Snorers have been targeted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army and are no longer being accepted as officer material. No drug users, not tattoos and no snores allowed! That's what the new recruitment guidelines for officers say.
It is curious as to how the army will identify the snorers who want to go to officer candidate school, for the new requirements that order psychological and drug tests on the candidates may not catch the snorers. And only traditional tattoos of the ethnic minorities will be allowed, provided those are not too obvious to the naked eye.
It's all because army health official Li Chunming says that "tattoos will tarnish the military image, even the scars of removed tattoos. The policy changes allegedly have been implemented because of a huge drug problem among young men in China.
Hmmmmmm But I wonder if the candidates who take drugs to silence their snores will be booted out too.