Well, it's almost the end of 2007 and all that I have to say is... well, what a year! Lots of changes both good and bad, but that's what life is all about. 2008 will definitely be an interesting one as I'm already making some changes for the new year. Some will be quite radical and others not-so-much.
Work has been a roller coaster full of excitements and disappointments, but the one thing that I can say is that I'm absolutely loving my new job as an I/O Coordinator and Visual Effects Editor. I hate the fact that because of the Writer's Strike, the show will be coming to a (temporary) end or "HIATUS" as is often called in the Film Industry. Do the writer's really think they are winning? Do they realize how many people they are putting out of work? I support the writer's strike, but I'm beginning to re-think my position. Both the producer's and the writer's are taking too fucking long to come to an agreement.
As far as my family comes, well, it's been a tough year. Quite a tough one actually. I had a half-sister that was abruptly taken from this world by cancer and half-way through this year, my youngest sister was diagnosed with cancer. It was a big shock as she's fairly young. After 4 life-threating surgeries, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. She's dealing with Chemotherapy right now, and it's absolutely heart-breaking. I was in Canada this Christmas and when I received the pictures of the family reunions and parties I was in a bit of shock and quite a bit sad. She didn't look the way that I remember her, but my little sis' has a strong willpower (better than mine) and she's on her way to making a full recovery but the whole situation has really put a toll on the family, specially my mother. But if there's something that I'm thankful is that my family pulls together and between all of us make the best out of anything and this was no exception, amid the tears, the laughter overruled everything and even though I was the only one missing this Christmas, we still managed to have a great time over the phone (the phone bill is gonna be through the roof) and I can't wait to see them in April.
As for my physical fitness, well, that took a back seat to everything else. But for the last week I've been good and I'm getting a head start. I'm back with my trainer 3 times a week and hopefully in the next 2 months I can be back at my (almost) flat stomach and bigger upper body. I'm gonna make this a priority this year as it really affects the way that I function, the way that I feel and my overall energy levels. Like I've said before I'll be putting up pictures of the progress, but for the next month or so.
And I've received a few new toys. I got a Canon Digital SLR EOS Rebel XTi which is awesome and I'm taking pictures like crazy, so from now on there'll be lots of new pictures on my blog :-)
I also bought a lot of complete TV shows (mostly on shows that I've worked on). There's Dead Like Me, Supernatural, Futurama (will be arriving soon), The L Word, The Office, and will have to buy the complete series of my new favorite show Heroes!
Here's a pic of me playing with my new toy. It came with 2 lenses and I'm getting anew camera bag and a whole bunch of accessories for it.
Kermit's Reaction to 2 Girls, 1 Cup (12/3/07) [View | Hide]
By now you must have seen this awful video, but this video of Kermit's reaction is just too funny not to publish it on the blog. Oh Kermit...
Ben Cohen and his Gay Fans (11/8/07) [View | Hide]
Embracing his Gay Fans
English rugby star Ben Cohen to hold a gay night celebration.
By Jim Buzinski, Outsports.com
Many times athletes run away from an association with gay people
but not English rugby player Ben Cohen. He embraces his gay
fans, so much so that he is throwing a party for them next
spring.
Cohen, 29, who helped England win rugby's World Cup in 2003,
told Outsports through his representative about his plans. "Ben
is currently in the middle of his testimonial year celebrating
the last 10 years of his rugby career. He understands that a
high proportion of his fans are gay and to thank them for their
constant loyalty through good and bad times he is planning a gay
night celebration in London in March. Full details will be
announced later this year."
Cohen has also launched his 2008 calendar, which his rep touted
to us by calling it "very sexy, shower pix and all so I thought
you might like a little preview!"
Cohen's website is not bashful about showing off his best assets
and features several shots of him shirtless. Cohen, who is
married and whose wife was expecting twins, says that he "enjoys
his boy's toys, his latest project being to learn to fly a
helicopter, swapping the two wheels of his Triumph motorcycle,
his previous hobby, for the tycoon approach of rotor blades."
Cohen's approach to his gay fans may be in part shrewd marketing
from a photogenic athlete, but more power to him. He is clearly
comfortable enough with himself and appreciative of all his
fans. You can add Cohen to the list of good guys in sports.
So not much to reports on the workout updates lately. Working 12 hours a day makes it nearly impossible to find any time to workout during the week, and it seems nearly impossible to find a personal trainer willing to work on the weekend. Working on a tv series set with catered meals and full-on craft service tent does not help. Specially when all the fatty bad food looks so damn good and the only healthy options are on the end of the buffet table and they make sure it looks awful too. Well, as I've said before many times, and I'm sure I'll keep saying it in the future, it's time for me to get back into shape! Yeah, that right, AGAIN! I would like to have a trainer during the week but this hectic schedule makes it impossible and so far so trainer want to work out at 6 am to work out with me.
So for now, Saturday work outs are it and Sunday volleyball. I guess I'll have to find one of those "bootcamps" that start at 6 am in order for me to get moving again. I just wish that there were more "bootcamp" places that are actually TOUGH. Not many of those places in Vancouver, and the oly one that is TOUGH and HARDCORE bootcamp, does not work with my schedule. ARRRGG!
I'll post pictures of me soon. I know there's a few of you wondering what I look like lately...
I'm currently working on a new look for my blog. This will include a few new changes and there will also be a bit of change content-wise. I've been working the last week "behind the scenes" to improve the blog and it's look, but there's been lots of other things keeping me really busy like the 12 hour workdays and Volleyball and some private family issues.
Links...
I'll be also updating the links to my blog. Some of the blogs that I currently have on my blog roll have closed and some other have just changed their addresses, so expect a new blog roll soon.
In the meantime, I've been enjoying the Rugby World Cup, the new season of volleyball and my new job, which I'm really, really loving (a lot).
I know I haven't been doing much, but there is quite a few things that I'm gonna be posting soon, once the blog is re-done. For example, when I met John Cameron Mitchell at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. I even have (crappy) pictures to show!
PS> If there's a link from my blog to yours, let me know if your address changed. Thanks!
It's been quite a ride these past couple of months. I had a job with a production company and another opportunity came on knocking (way better than the previous one, it's one of the prime-time shows for the CW) and on top of that I have the personal trainer, volleyball, rugby and getting my stupid driver license thing sorted out (I still have my international D.L.) and get my new BC Drivers License. And let's not forget the physiotherapist for my shoulder and knees (and now lower back). I still need to figure some stuff out and slowly get things done in the hopes to find a nice daily rhythm for the next year or two.
Besides all that craziness, I ran the 10 K in 1 hour and 6 minutes, coming in at #126 out of 379 people. Not bad for my first 10 K run. I have some pics of the event. But they highlight was to meet Benjamin Bradley and Ethan Reynolds aka The Ginch Gonch Boys.
Also, the Vancouver Queer Film Festival is starting this coming Friday and I urge you guys (if you live in Vancouver) to come out and check it out. There's lots of awesome movies and the guys and gals who put on the Film Festival are absolutely amazing and they always put on the best gay film fest in Western Canada. For more info visit www.outonscreen.com You can find me in the late movies throughout the festival and with my volleyball peeps on August Friday 24th at Tinseltown for the screening of "Four Letter Word".
The updates will be a little slow in the meantime but I'm not stopping the blog. I have lots of pictures to share that I'll be putting up as time passes.
Before I forget, this was my first time marching in the Gay Pride Parade. I was with my Volleyball organization, which was lots of fun, but next year, I'll have to remind myself to wear tons of sunscreen!!!
Hope you guys enjoy the pics. As for my workout updates, I'm working with my personal trainer to switch things around mostly because of my new work schedule which is pretty much 12 hours a day because I'm working on set. But I do have some new pictures to show but I'll put those once I downloaded them to my mac.
I've been feeling very overworked and tired because of the new TV show that I'm working on that I've neglected A LOT of emails from a lot of wonderful guys (and girls!) for a variety of reasons. This is to let you know that I have not forgotten about you. I have just been really busy. I'll be replying to everyone. But in the meantime I wanted to say Thank You! It's always exciting to wake up and find all the awesome emails from everyone.
PS. To the Rugby Clubs that I mention/post on my blog. I'm absolutely honored to be able to promote your club. If I'm in your town, you can bet your ass that I'll come down and play with you guys on the pitch. If you know of a club that is starting out or are having your next club fundraiser let me know and I'll throw some publicity your way. And yes, I do play rugby... I'm a back...
The run is this Saturday July 7 and I need your help to reach my goal of $1500.
Here's more info on The Underwear Affair in Vancouver: I've decided to do it. I'm going to strip down and shed some light on things!
That's right. I'm going to help uncover something big: a cure for cancers below the waist. Cancers "down there" don't get enough attention. Prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer... we need to do something big so that we can kick these diseases to the curb!
That's why I'm running in BC Cancer Foundation's The Underwear Affair! Thousands of excited people are going to go the distance in whatever state of dress or undress they want, in either the 10K run or the 5K walk. It's going to be a lot of fun, and it all benefits a great cause. Altogether, we're going to raise a lot of money that will go directly to the BC Cancer Foundation to fund the work of the BC Cancer Agency to find cures for these terrible diseases. With all of us dedicated to this purpose, we'll put cancers below the waist on the run!
I've set my personal goal at $1500. So I need your help! I've only raised $500 out of my personal goal. Would you please consider making a donation of $50? or $25? or even just $5? Use the link at the bottom of this email, and go visit my site -- and please take the time to support me. Cancers can affect all of us, and they'll continue affecting future generations unless we do this now.
About BC Cancer Foundation Proceeds from the Underwear Affair will benefit BC Cancer Foundation, an independent charitable organization supporting research and care at BC Cancer Agency. With cancer survival rates better than any other province in Canada, BC Cancer Agency is a model for cancer care and control around the world. Its cervical cancer screening program was the first organized program in the world and is credited with an 85% reduction in the number of cervical cancer cases and has reduced deaths by 75% since the 1950s. BC Cancer Agency is leading the way in uncovering cures and putting these cancers behind us.
First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of updates. There has been a few "big" changes in my life recently that included a brand new job and with that a whole set of wacky situations between both jobs. It's funny how I went from working in a Film and Television Post-Production house to being a client at said Post-Production house. Treating your old co-workers in a different manner is a little weird. Heck, even talking to my old boss as a client is very weird, yet there's a kind of hidden pleasure because no matter what they have to be really nice to me from now on 'cause I'm a client and all. HA!
The way that I got my new job was a little bit weird, since they wanted me to start pretty much right away and I still had a show to finish. So everything happened pretty much in the span of 2 days and it worked out perfectly. Now with this new job, I have had basically no time for anything. I've been working 7 days a week for 10-16 hours a day (yeah, you read that right!). So by the time that I get home all that I want to do is sleep. I probably haven't slept in my bed in about 3 weeks, because I sit on the couch to watch TV and I immediately pass out till the next day. Even though with this job I'm only working on 1 TV/film show at a time, it's really nice to be able to do different things and learn quite a bit on the way and the money ain't bad, either.
My workouts are the only thing that I've been able to keep doing (I've been trying my best to show up for my personal training sessions) and I've seen some progress but I'm just not gaining the weight that I had hoped for. I'm still stuck at 185 lbs but my goal would be to add about 10lbs of muscle and shred those damn love handles that I have. I just can't seem to get rid of them. No matter how much I run or how much I try to control my diet. The last 2 weeks I've been getting ready for my 10 k run for a cure for cancer below the waist. I've only raised $500 so far out of my $1500 goal. So if you feel like giving a little bit to support me reach my goal, I'll be putting a big notice on my blog later today. I only have about 2 weeks to raise the last $1000 of my goal.
One of the reasons why I'm doing this run is because I've been affected personally by cancer. My half-sister Siuly passed away at the age of 30, 5 years ago. My dad has also been diagnosed with prostate cancer about 7 years ago and some of my aunts suffer from skin cancer. So if you can spare just $5 and help put an end to cancer once and for all I'll really appreciate it. Five bucks is not that much, it's about the price of a beer so next time you're out instead of getting hammered, save the 5 bucks and donate it for a good cause. You'll feel better inside and out!
I do have tons and tons of updates but I just don't seem to have the time to post much lately. By the way this film is turning out, I should be really busy for the next 3-4 weeks (still working 7 days a week and all that jazz) but I'll try and find some time and do some of my updates.
I need to get some pictures of my and my progress but that will have to wait till after the run so that I can concentrate on putting some muscle instead of worrying about endurance for my 10 k.
I'm out!
Luis Alejandro
PS> I might not be making much sense in my paragraphs above because I'm running on about 4-5 hours of sleep a night and add all the stress that I've been in with this show, and lately my english and spanish have been mixing somehow in my mind. I need a vacation so BAD!!!
On Wednesday I had the pleasure to go and see Bjork perform in Vancouver. I had a great time, and it was great day to be outside and Bjork did what Bjork does best. Here's a picture of me from far away. I wanted to be close to the sugar-coated mini-doughnuts. At the bottoms there are some videos of Bjork performing in Deer Lake Park in Vancouver.
Well, after checking the stats of my blog, I found out that every 100 visits, 30 seem to go to the RuggerBugger site. It has the most "Out Clicks" that I've the last few weeks. It also seems that most of my readers out there are looking for pictures or naked, sexy rugby players, and some pics of Danny Roberts, Tory Belleci, Ben Cohen and jockstraps. So since RuggerBugger is the #1 Sponsor of The Rugby Days, I'm inviting all of my readers to go and check out the site! Specially since all of you seem to be looking for some rugby beef. Go and check them out, they have some cool pictures, and also some pretty awesome videos (lots of locker rooms) of your favorite players. Here's a sample of what is inside...
Family's Punching Bag Holds Smelly Surprise (5/24/07) [View | Hide]
A Cincinnati-area family got a smelly surprise when they opened a punching bag they purchased earlier this year.
Joe Heckel said he and his son were moving a TKO brand heavy punching bag from their garage to the basement when they decided to see what was inside in case the bag later leaked. But Heckel said that instead of sand or plastic pellets, he found the bag full of men's and women's underwear, some of it used. "(There were) bras, thongs and bathing suits. We could not believe there were clothes inside instead of sand," he said.
Heckel said the smell was "bad, real bad." Heckel said that contacting the store where he'd bought the bag didn't go anywhere. "I called to ask them if they could tell me if these were clean underwear, but I don't think that he believed me," Heckel said. "I said 'I'm a cop, I'm telling you that's what's in there!' He stated that he had never looked in a bag so he didn't know what was in them."
Heckel described the discovery as "gross but kind of funny in a way," and couldn't help but chuckle as he told his story. He and his son finished installing the punching bag after taking pictures, but he says they have yet to use it.
A spokeswoman for the store told partner Web site WLWT.com that they were unaware of what had happened, but asked for Heckel's phone number so they could contact him about the matter.
Attempts by WLWT.com to contact Technical Knockout Inc., the company that owns the TKO brand, have been unsuccessful. A number listed for the company was "unassigned." But on Thursday, a company representative saw Heckel's story on a Houston Web site and called him. Heckel said Thursday that the representative told him that the underwear in the bag was a "quality problem" that they were dealing with, and that the people who had made the decision to put underwear in the bags had been fired.
The representative said a new, non-underwear-filled bag would be shipped to Heckel shortly.
Online now
