On May 28’th 2024 my friend and I attended an Avril Lavinge concert in Mountain View at Shoreline. Unfortunately, due to traffic, we were running late and missed the first opener; we saw the end of the second opener. The openers were Royal and The Serpent and All Time Low. I had a good time singing along. I got to hold a phone and waved a flashlight around.
If you would like to see the concert you can see it here:
Have you been to a concert? Who did you see? Please share by commenting below.
You can visit the Contact Me page, where you can send me an email or follow me on social media if you want to contact me privately
In April 2012, I had the opportunity to meet Avril Lavigne at a Safeway. She was there for the opening day for Special Olympics. My girlfriend at the time invited me to go to the opening day for Special Olympics. When we got there, we took our seats. There was a table set up on one side of the room, and Avril Lavigne was sitting at the table. I could hear “Complicated” and “Girlfriend” playing on the speaker system. The event started with the torch lighting. Someone ran with the torch and put it on a stand. Avril Lavigne spoke and explained she was there to support Special Olympics. We walked to where the cash registers were, and she started bagging groceries. When that was over, we went back to where we were sitting before. Avril Lavigne brought the table closer, and my girlfriend and I got into a line to meet her. She autographed a picture of her for us. I have the picture hanging in my room.
Have you met anyone famous? Please share your story in the comments below
Last year I gave a presentation on how to make short films, and I uploaded it to YouTube. As you may know, I attended a film and media workshop where I learned how to make short films, which you can read here as well as watch some of the films I was involved in here https://elliotshares.com/blog/film-and-media-workshop/
Do you have an interest in making short films or videos or learning how they are made? Please comment below and tell me your story. I look foward to reading them.
If you have any questions about my presentation, please feel free to comment, or you can vist the Contact Me page where you can send me an email or follow me on social media if you want to contact me privately
A few years ago, my brother and his girlfriend surpised me by taking me to see Josh Blue in Sacramento. My brother got me into his car. My brother’s girlfriend told me we had a long drive ahead of us. We drove to Sacramento. I don’t have an idea why we were there. We went to Baja Fresh (a fast-food Mexican restaurant) and sat down. Suddenly, a person comes in, and my brother asks me Who’s that? It was Josh Blue. He walks over to where we were sitting. My brother introduces himself and tells him my name. I can’t talk because I’m very surprised. My brother says See you at your show. We go see his show. I died laughing during his show (he was much funnier in person than on YouTube.) After his show, we go over to where he’s sitting. I asked whether I knew you. I played a joke with Josh. I said You’ve been outpalsed (there’s a YouTube video explaining what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYrwudqIQ0). My brother gets a DVD and a shirt. Josh Blue signed my shirt.
Have you heard of Josh Blue? If you have how did you hear about him? Have you ever seen his stand up routines?
On May 19-22nd, I attended a Compass retreat called Compass Con, which was Renaissance themed. I got to meet some Compass admin and friends (many of whom I’ve seen on video calls). I really enjoyed meeting new people and making new connections. Now, I’ll need to find them on social media so I can continue my friendships with them.
On the first night, I went to dinner. I was a little late to dinner because I headed downstairs to check into my room. I wasn’t late by much, though. The part that I missed was just the introduction. There was a magic show that night. The magician was named Cody Clark. Before the show started, Cody came over to where I was sitting and introduced himself. The magic show wasn’t just a magic show. Cody is not only a magician, but he’s also a disability advocate, and he talked about living with a disability in his act.
That night as I was headed to my room for the night, I was stopped by one of the knights asking me if I would help during the show the following night. I asked what I would have to do. I was slightly nervous but I figured I’d give it a try. The knight told me that I would be jousting with another knight, would have a lance (a long pole), and would knock him off his horse.
The second day, I woke up and had breakfast in my room because I was running late. I went to the Peanuts museum and ice rink. When I got there, it was time for lunch, so I got in line and ordered. I had a tuna sandwich, a brownie, and a Coke. The tuna sandwich was good. When it was time to go to the ice rink, I found out that I could go on the ice! I waited until the door to the rink was open. I waited until it was time to get out on the ice. I slowly made my way onto the ice rink. I was nervous because I didn’t know which way to go.
After the ice rink, I went to the Snoopy museum. It was a guided tour. I learned about Charles Schulz, who was the cartoonist who created the comic strip Peanuts. It was pretty interesting learning about his life.
When I got back to the hotel, someone came and found me to rehearse what I was going to do that night. I went around to where I was going to be. One of the knights helped position the lance and explained how I would move and knock the knight off his horse.
That night, I was enjoying the music and eating dinner when the show started. There was a projector showing what the knights were doing when they were offstage. There were a few scenes. When it was time for the jousting scene, I waited until it was time to go up. I got into position and was handed my lance, and the knight was coming at me, and I moved foward and knocked the knight off his horse. If you would like to see some of the event, you can check out https://www.instagram.com/p/DYnt3dYEzWN/
I also got to participate in a film project I’m working on with Compass. I don’t know when the film will come out (I’ll post it when it comes out)
On the final day, I attended a few workshops. I attended a Magic workshop, a knight storytime, and a making friends workshop, which was similar to speed dating.
That night, I got to meet the one and only Zach Anner! His wife was there also. I got to meet with them and film an interview with Zach, which was very fun. Talking to Zach was like talking to a friend. After the interview, I got the biggest surprise ever. Zach is going to help me with my video making projects! Zach and his wife also gave me two lav mics so I can do interviews.
I’m really glad I decided to go to Compass Con this year. It was definitely worth it!
Here are a few pictures from Compass Con:
If anyone has any questions or comments about my experience at Compass Con, please feel free to comment below or use the Contact Me page on the homepage.
Around 2012 I attended a film and media workshop through a day program that I attended when I lived with my brother when I was twenty one. I heard about the film and media workshop through a staff who worked at the day program. I signed up to attend the film and media workshop (which was next door to the day program)
I went to the film and media workshop to learn how to create films. My dream job was to be a movie director. One of the first questions was what do you want to learn when you are here. I said I’d like to learn how to direct movies. Our first assignment was to write, direct, and edit a one minute short film based on a real event
I wrote a script to present to the workshop and I got to direct my own story. For the other one minute short films, each student got to participate in helping with each piece. My favorite job was to direct and be in control. I learned a lot. Every Friday, we watched a movie and noticed and pointed out things we learned in the workshop.
I got to meet Joey Travolta (John Travolta’s brother)
David Zimmerman (He was a cameo in Meet The Fockers, he played Dom Focker)
Here are some videos I got to work on: (Please watch the credits to find out what I did in each video)
Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments regarding my experience with the Film and Media workshop (To reach me, you can go to the Contact Me page on the homepage)
