Things keep rolling...

It's been almost 2 months since a contest. I miss the roar of the crowd. The last contest was the dumpling eating contest that I choked in. In the meantime, a new job and TV has kept me company.

The National Geographic special Humanly Impossible finally aired. It's currently in re-runs if you search your DV-R or Tivo. I thought the segment was interesting but I was sort of disappointed in it. First of all I was really surprised they only interviewed the doctors and not us. Upon viewing, it was even more surprising that they interviewed people that were in other segments. Perhaps they thought that there was already a lot there to begin with that they didn't need interviews. I guess we'll never know.
The other interesting thing to note was they they hooked us up with electrodes and made a point to show them hooking me up, but then didn't use any of the data. During the filming, the producers gave us some fascinating stuff. They looked at our heart rate. They told me I maintained a consistent heart rate but Pete's (my competitor) shot up. They looked at how we chewed. The data showed that Pete barely chewed and swallowed a lot and that I chewed a lot. I told them about our polarized eating disorders. Pete had anorexia early in his life and I've dealt with a binge eating disorder. None of it was used.
The last surprising thing they didn't show was that early on Pete bit his finger really hard to the point that there was a lot of blood. I was actually really surprised that they told the results. I was able to beat Pete in a 5 minute contest. This was pretty exciting on the day of the shoot, but I also realized that a) the finger bite probably altered his performance and b) since it was shoot and not a sanctioned contest, he might not have put 100% effort into it. I would love to have another 5 minutes with him to see what happens.
The burgers were also rock solid from being under a heat lamp, so I know if they were fresh, our numbers would have been a bit higher.
They also decided somewhere along the line to call me "Willy 'The Champ' Millender". I hate the name Willy to begin with but it's terrible for branding because if people (specifically casting people) search that, they won't find me. Ugh.

Aside from Nat Geo, I also nabbed a role on MTV's Silent Library. Here's an example of what the show is about...



It's a really silly show based of an even sillier Japanese version. I'm not a contestant, I'll be playing a role like the Frenchman in the video, but a much different skit. The shoot itself was a lot of fun. I met a bunch of interesting people including a professional pool player and some actors. They signed me up for 2 episodes (most people only got 1). The first one was great and the producers told me that mine was one of the best but the second episode is going to be bananas. It's an all girl episode and one of the other skits (which I could have chosen but was so ridiculous that I refused) is so heinous and funny that I'm not even mad it was so much better than mine, lol. It was just a great experience and I hope I get to work with those guys again.
Even though I wasn't technically playing anyone, it was my first TV experience where I wasn't being Will. I was "walk-on extra", which in the acting world ain't shit, but I'm looking forward to being able to do more of these types of gigs as they become available.

I also submitted one of my eating videos for another casting call that didn't announce who they were in the listing. I won't say what show it is right now, but it's potentially huge. They were really interested but I won't know anything for a few months.

As for work, I started my new position and things are going great. The job is relatively easy. The environment is really casual and laid back and my co-workers have been great thus far. I love my supervisor to death and look forward to the coming year. It's finally nice to be self sufficient. It's been a long time coming.