Stro

[Greg]

Our angel investor has agreed to partially fund the next project. This one will be about Michael D'Asaro.

You heard it here firstly.

I'm kind of excited.

Stay tuned to learn how you can be an angel investor, too. 

Or not.

[Drunk Monk]

Congrats Greg.  That's awesome.

Angel investor?  It's DOOM, bro.  Like none of us are rolling in benjamins.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I better work on my impression of Stro.

---

"It's like...."

"It's like....when you have...when you have a beer bottle...

"And you break the bottle on the bar before you cut the motherfucker!"

[Drunk Monk]

Beat in seconde - crude yet effective. A solid bread & butter technique.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

"...so I got my guy down and I got my knife and I'm tryin' to think of where I can stab him without killing the motherfucker. 4" inches of steel is a lotta fuckin' steel. Then I figure it out. I flip him over and stab him in the ass!"

[Greg]

Hey, kids, save some for the honeymoon.

[Drunk Monk]

"...so I got my guy down and I got my knife and I'm tryin' to think of where I can stab him without killing the motherfucker. 4" inches of steel is a lotta fuckin' steel. Then I figure it out. I flip him over and stab him in the ass!"

Lawd I luv that story. I remember Stro recounting it with such relish - his initiation into the NY gang the Red Hook Stompers (or as he said in that Brooklyn accent of his 'stahmpahs').

Save for the honeymoon? Come on now, bro. None of us saved anything for the honeymoon with any of our spouses. It's probably good for me and PPFY to get on the same page anyway cuz we wouldn't want any conflict vids to appear later.

[Greg]

I don't know what you are talking about.

I've already heard tell of the Red Hook Stompers. There's even a book about those lovely Brooklyn gangs from the '50s and '60s

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Helping Stro down the stair at TFC so he can have a smoke. I use the lighter that Gene gave me, the one he bought in Tienanmen Square that plays the PRC National anthem when you open it. Stro loved it. I told him the story and then made him take the lighter. He would have more use for it anyway.

"You know I was a vegetarian for a while right?"

"yeah, when you were with Gay."

"Riiight! Anyway, what do I get? Fucking colon cancer. I've been smoking since I was fucking 12. How are my lungs? They're fucking perfect. Instead, I get a fucking brain tumor. It just show that no matter what you do, something is gonna fucking get you."

*Or stomach cancer, or something like that

[Greg]

So, I loaded the truck with almost every piece of gear I had today for a shoot downtown.

I hired a crew. I got two sabre fencers, including one who is ranked nationally. And I dragooned my friend Lyndell to help me. I even rented a sound stage.

We stood outside the soundstage, my crew, my talent and I, for two hours staring at the locked door. I made multiple phone calls to answering machines.

I eventually sent everybody home after my tenth call.

About an hour after I got home, I got a call from the stage. They had me scheduled for next week. Grrr. 

They are offering me the moon and the stars to make up for it. It doesn't mean anything if I can't me fencers back. I know I'd have second thoughts about letting me waste their time again.

[cranefly]

Sorry to hear about this.  Usually it's the talent that is unreliable on smaller projects.  Not a professional soundstage.

Is there any way you get insurance for you undertakings?  That certainly doesn't help if you can't get your talent back.  But when I pay attention to movie credits, or when I watch a documentary about a problematic movie shoot, insurers and guarantors are usually front and center.  Just wondering if projects of your size can be protected in a similar manner.

[Drunk Monk]

*Or stomach cancer, or something like that

I've always had missed feelings about this story. It gives me great joy to know that lighter got to Stro. But it also betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of carcinogens, some you'd think his doctors would have clarified. Sure, smokers had a higher incidence of respiratory ailments but cancer is very mobile, so a carcinogen could manifest cancer anywhere. At the same time, cancer is a bitch. The cfs & I have some Kung Fu family that have cancer and they lived very healthy lifestyles.

It doesn't mean anything if I can't me fencers back. I know I'd have second thoughts about letting me waste their time again.

We know some fencers, fencing masters even, that'll fence like Amsterdam whores in gay club windows for only a few bucks and drink tickets.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Amsterdam whores are *very* professional, so I take that as a compliment.

[Drunk Monk]

Do tell.

I've not yet been to Amsterdam.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Go, my son. The single most convivial city that I have ever been to, and I don't smoke weed. I would move there in a second.