223. Wrapping Up Interview with Sam Shrout, Fisherman, by UCSB Campus Point

This early Friday morning was inspiring and purifying. It temporarily cleared my stress and anxiety and neck pains and head aches, and all other possible anxiety-induced ailments. I just finished up my interview with Sam Shrout--dah-bomb fisherman, marketman, production crew guy (he helped move my stuff and set up my equipment), all around super human being. He was particularly relaxed and in good humor this morning (today is his day off), and I really enjoyed the company. I woke up 730 am, crawled out of bed, slight pains and such around my head and neck, cleaned up the back of the car, slithered to Kmart to buy some batteries for the audio equipment, and some sugar-free candy, called Sam Shrout--he ended up not being at the harbor. We ended up improvising. He didn't have a rock crab either. Shxt. So, I said I can borrow that brown fiesty rock crab from Shane Anderson. It took me a while to get it--because Shane wasn't there. I snuck in the marine science tanks (the door was unlocked though closed), and I had a five minute battle trying to get that dxm old brown rock crab into my housemate Karl's cooler. That crab was so defensive and it clawed the hood of the cooler. It almost clawed me, and after five minutes, it started to poop out. I have a feeling that is the most bitter, old aggressive rock crab I have EVER encountered. Due to such intense personality, I am now calling this creature "Sumo" the brown rock crab. I think from now on I will be in borrowing terms with rock crabs because I already killed three rock crabs, and one of them was $17.50 out of my own pocket from the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company. $6.50 per pound. Shxt. I'm still not over it. I hate killing crabs. I know when I ritualistically place them back the ocean, they will be consumed and recycled, but it sucks to think that three of them passed on under my own management, and I didn't even eat them or anything. Same thing happened to me with those dxmmed killifish and sailfin mollies as an undergrad. It's like Konscious Killing. New music band name, I am sure. Operating on scientific premises: kill a few, save the many. Why it works for other organisms and not scientific experiments on human beings, I am not sure. Sam was wondering what planet I am from, and I told him, I think Mars. And he said it figured. I told him I suspected this a while back and I've been questioning my parents where exactly they picked me up from.

Sam zoomed on this bike off of Patterson. Good thing UCSB is near by his house. I had time to set up, so by the time he showed up, everything's on a roll. Audio's good, visuals. Batteries, all set up. I am glad Sam didn't have to wait like LAST time. God. He's so good with all that. So we did the visual continuity exercises with the rock crab, from left to right, right to left, and then the MTV angle shot. We even had enough video tape left such that Sam could do some cartoon drawings of where he fishes, and even then, we had enough time for Sam to draw his cartoon crab, the carapace made out of the dollar sign :-). It was very beautiful setting and hardly anyone out at the ocean. Didn't even see Armand Kuris' car out. *Sigh*

Lots of pelicans, shorebirds. Couldn't believe that the "white noise" racket today was a bunch of frickin' sea gulls. Like shut up, would ya? One seagull attacked my bag full of candy and trash. It was nice to be inspired and purified this morning.

Five follow up things.
(1). I will have to set up the card table across from Sam Shrout's operation on Saturday Fish Market, so I can ask them questions about consumer habits. Grocery store. Rock crab. Etcetera.
(2). I will need to buy more mini DV tape, Sony brand.
(3). I will need to ask everyone what is their favorite music, so that I can create stuff that they like.
(4). I need to record a song at UCSB called "Manufactured." I am saturated. So I better get that started.
(5). I got permission from Sam Shrout to look up data he has with Carrie Culver. I am also interested in science, environment, and the psychology of collecting. How people interact with their environments, and how they collect "data." Whether Sam is collecting crabs or scientists collecting other forms of measurements, or Kent is collecting receipts, etcetera. I am always fascinated by human collecting and organizing habits--probably because I am so particular of the collecting habits of my own.

There's not a consistency of environment with Sam, but that's cool. I'll improvise. I tried to make the backdrop "indistinctive" and not marked with "UCSB Campus Point" all over it. There was a slope. It was uneven, oh well. Whatever. I think Sam took off his shades. I hope.

I parked illegally today. No one seemed to mind. It's funny. Everyone else is DONE with the quarter system. And I just seem to be STARTING!

I will be hunting down Kent 630am to 7am tomorrow morning.