Apropos <i>Juggling Chainsaws</i>, (but not this post) From an article about "Mad Chad"…<p><i>Tim Newman, a commercial director and cousin of Grammy-winning musician Randy Newman, asked if I could juggle chainsaws?  In my naïve enthusiasm I said sure.  I had opened my big mouth and the clock was ticking, with only 10 days to figure out how to juggle a live chainsaw without seriously injuring or killing myself.  The first four days I was so nervous that I wouldn’t even start the chainsaw.  Finally I pulled the cord and on my first attempt, I missed.  The chainsaw hit the ground and went crazy, buzzing at full speed.  Two policemen ran up and asked, “What the hell are you doing, kid?” I explained my dire situation and they thought it was cool.  They began cheering me on.  They wanted to see me do it!<p>On shoot day I show up for the commercial and get prepared.  I fire up the chainsaw and Tim Newman says, “Whoa, what are you doing?”  Long story short, after 10 days of practice, I find out they didn’t want the chainsaw running during the commercial (insurance won’t cover a stunt like that).  The plan was to just add the sound effect in post-production.  I felt a little stupid but it turned out to be the best mistake I ever made.  The seed had been planted and soon I was juggling three saws at the same time.  No one in Venice was doing a more extreme act.</i><p>There is a lesson about requirements gathering in there somewhere, and probably one about stepping outside your comfort zone.<p>Whole article: <a href="http://www.venicebeachbook.com/vbb2c.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.venicebeachbook.com/vbb2c.html</a>