In the world of journalism today, it’s not enough to simply write stories for print publication. You have to be multimedia minded to stay on top of the game. Personally, my job consists of so much more than just editing words: there are photo shoots to be produced, there’s always blogging, of course, which entails taking hundreds of photos then posting, writing and captioning them; keeping up with the barrage of daily web updates (which luckily Exile handles for the most part); there’s the occasional video production (storyboarding, scouting locations, directing, editing, etc.); and then we all love tweet-tweeting your facebook off every day. But last week in New York, I got to revisit another profession that I dearly love: The Stuntman. Yeah, stuntman. Like The Fall Guy. Okay, so maybe I’m no Colt Seavers, but I have been lucky enough to act in a couple projects. The first one, Brooklyn Rules was a few years ago and it was only a small role but it definitely gave me “the itch”. After that I attended the International Stunt School in Seattle to hone my skills as a utility stuntman. Dave Boushey is a merciless instructor and it was a grueling three weeks of training, but in the end it paid off and taught me valuable trade techniques that will stay with me forever. So last week I got the call to do some stunt work for a new HBO television show called Bored To Death. Jonathan Ames is the writer and executive producer, and the show centers around a 30’s something Brooklyn writer who decides to become a private eye. It sounds like it should be pretty funny, and with Wes Anderson-favorite Jason Schwartzman playing the lead and Out Cold’s Zach Galifianakis as his sidekick, it has the star power to succeed. The show was shooting in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens, a quaint little neighborhood just south of downtown and close to the historic Gowanus Canal. Rolling up to the “Honey Wagon”. My room. Pete Bucossi is the stunt coordinator, the mastermind behind all the shootings, beatings and car wrecks in The Sopranos. Once I got out of make up and put the wardrobe on, it was time to shoot. Me and the Schwartz facing off. Everyone had a good laugh at the resemblance. I don’t wanna reveal too many details, but the episode revolves around a stolen skateboard. We built a little rig for Jason to sit on. I tested it out to make sure it was safe. Golf cart steady cam setup. These HD Digi Cams are SICK! I had to bomb this hill quite a few times to get the shot. Skaters in pursuit. The Assistant Director sizing up the shot. Apparently this skater kid was Mos Def’s son! It was long day but in the end, I think we got the shot. Look for Bored To Death this fall on HBO. My buddy Timbo Baggins from www.highsnobiety.com even stopped by and gave me a shout out on his blog. Thanks Timbo. When nightfall came, it was time to hit the city and celebrate. I hopped a train outta Brooklyn and into Manhattan. There I met up with the usual suspects, Frank 151’s Craig Wetherby and Trouble Andrew at Café Select. We hit up the back room, Goodfellas style tru da kitchen. You know what time it is. Trouble is currently working on his new album. Gotta love those New York Dominican girls! Then we hit up Sutra for Kool Herc’s birthday party. If you don’t know you betta ask somebody. Mad Hip-Hop Legends were in the house. Evil Dee is on the mix, COME ON KICK IT! Tony Touch was on the turntables with DJ Premier as a special guest! It was unbelievable how much history this place was holdin’. And shit like this goes down on a nightly basis here, just another reason there’s no place like New York. It was an awesome couple days; thanks to everyone for all their help and stay tuned for hopefully many more stunttastic tales. As a bonus I even got to watch the Blazers embarrass the Nuggets in the last game of the regular season on the flight home. It’s playoff time now, let’s hope they can keep playing the same way. JetBlue Direct TV sometimes comes in handy.