Judah Friedlander and me, 24 years after our last encounter. (Jeez, I'm old...) I suppose this photo requires some explanation.

Judah famously likes baseball caps, as do I. Judah famously wears novelty t-shirts, as do I. But I would never suggest that his persona derived anything from my idiom, even though we were roommates at NYU for about a month back in 1987 (?). I can confirm that his persona was fairly established at that point. As far as I can tell, that character he plays on "30 Rock" is (largely) based on him.

The dorm room we shared was for five people, and even with one roommate (the one with the girlfriend) volunteering to live in the closet, people, especially 18-19 year old men, have a tendency to butt heads (hence the term), and jockey for alpha-male dominance, I suppose. We got into it over the phone bill - I think, who remembers how these things start? - and then the collective hive-mind took over, and four people decided they would be better off without person #5 in the room, but since we couldn't force him to change rooms, it seemed our only recourse was to make his life so miserable that he'd then have no other option.

So, pranks were pulled. Silly, childish pranks, the kind that 18-year olds are wont to pull. I'm not proud of it, I was along for the ride and I didn't voice the concern that I should have. Suffice it to say that if I were ever forced to go through a 12-step program and make restitution to the people I've wronged, Judah would at least warrant a phone call. Judah moved out, and was replaced by a guy who wasn't any better, and in fact was a whole lot less interesting.

What makes it all the more embarrassing is the fact that a few months previous, I was in a production course with someone who would go on to a prominent directing career - for legal reasons, let's call him "Chett Shatner" - who was supposed to be my camera-man and never, ever, not once showed up when he was supposed to. Plus, he was a dick about it. So while someone was being assholish to me, I was being assholish to Judah, and I couldn't see the irony inherent in that situation.

I should point out that college life at NYU in the late-80's was odd where celebrities were concerned, in the penthouse suite of our dorm lived an up-and-coming Adam Sandler, and in my freshman production class was Bianca Jagger (Mick's ex-wife). Famous actors often took NYU's summer production course in between films to get some behind-the-camera experience. Once I graduated I went to work as a PA on the music-video circuit, where I encountered all kinds of celebs (Rick James, En Vogue, Leon Redbone, Penn & Teller to name a few) and I didn't think about Judah again until years later when I started going to film festivals and caught him in "Wet Hot American Summer" and "American Splendor".

What were the chances that while I was paying my dues and climbing the production ladder up to mid-level management, Judah would work the comedy circuit and become a megastar? So let this be a warning, forget all that "on the way up, on the way down" stuff, and just don't be a dick to other people. You never know who's going to break through, enjoy some measure of fame, and show up at your Comic-Con booth two decades later, with the ability and the right to throw your past behavior back in your face.

Not that Judah did that, of course. He was incredibly gracious, and genial, and even asked about the other roommates, who I am not in touch with. In many ways, it's good to be an adult.

well i think almost all of my friends would know that i am totally obsessed with these band. well i love them alot and i cant stop listening to them and get sick to them! haha. and when they are here in singapore, you can say that i usually would go mad! haha:)

my friends would joke and tell me that i like click click click clikc click. haha. soo yes pretty much i am a fanatic. i used to go to the boards to see updates last time but nowadays i think i have not been there quite often as i used to.

so what the click five stuff do i own? well its not much but i guess its a start. lets see. magazines which they are in, posters, (i have 5 the click five posters.[for now]), 5 CD,s a tour booklet, 2 t-shirts, 2 badges. one given to me by skyla and the other one from ash. i begged him for the badge actually and he gave it to me. kinda sweet. lol. when my radio control was still not gone, i used my radio as my alarm clock and guess which CD is in the radio to wake me up? the click five. so i used to wake up to FLIPSIDE! i so love that song alot. lol.

so they came here 3 times to perform and i have only been to 2. the first one was because i didnt have any tickets at that time. i was so sad. but quite happy after that because they came again the next year and i got to take photos with them! haha. im such a groupie. and this year they came but i didnt take photos with them. i took photos of them. and well their concert here was awesome! i was jumping and video taking at the same time! wooots:D

enough of that on a side note, i would like to say that as i was taking this photo i was listening to avenged sevenfold. im so disappointed today that i didnt have tickets to go for todays concert. i got more sick after hearing that i couldnt even go today. and thanks alot to my cousin who is giving me updates and making me more jealous now which is making me more sick. im hoping i can cope tomorrow at work. i know i can . but i still feel horribly weak and tired.i blame the weather now. its like so cold and wet. and i went to school without an umbrella just now so i pretty much walked to school drenched by the rain.

i wanna thank most of my friends and mostly wj for cheering me up about not getting to go to the avenged sevenfold concert today. haha. vishal for telling me that the soundsystem there is crap and i shouldnt go. and he told me cheer up and that there is always next year. thanks dude. and najib, for encouraging me to go there and try my luck to get a ticket. thanks! and of course wj for offering to pay my ticket first and also told me he would buy me as much chocolates as i want.and to hear me whine and complain. thanks dear:)

for now i guess im still sick. wish me luck to last at work tomorrow! :)

24/10/08