New Orleans

I'm at a loss over what's going on in New Orleans. It's just a horrible situation and I'm glad I didn't end up on the Costner/Kutcher show that was prepping down there.

What I can't help thinking, though, is when are the other countries of the world going to start pledging support and cash to help us out? If we had waited this long to fork over dough to someplace that suffered such a tragedy, our flags would be burned in protest. But we're at the top of the heap and nobody thinks we need the help, I guess.

I just heard they're predicting 100,000 dead.

Husband, I'm going to need a hug when I get home.

One Week Later

Just found out there's a good chance my show may push 1 week. What that means is the script isn't ready and they need more time. Not usually a problem but we have a plane ticket and car service booked. Hopefully they'll find out soon. That's what I get for trying to be prepared.

I have a friend who was working on a show in New Orleans. The studio chartered a jet and evacuated everybody. Don't know how much notice they had, but Kirby has a friend on a show down there who got 1 hour's notice. They had to leave all of their personal stuff behind. At least they're still alive.

Confetti Angel Food Cake

My oldest brother sent me 2 boxes of Betty Crocker's confetti angel food cake. I was so excited. This is something that we had when I was a little girl and I haven't seen one in a long time - they only seem to sell them in the northeast. It's really not anything special, but it means a lot. I used to help my mom make them, stirring the little confetti pieces into the batter. And she always turn the bundt pan upside down onto a Sprite bottle. I wish I had a bundt pan like hers. It had flat sides and a flat top. Mine's more typical with its curves.

I used one box yesterday and shared a piece with the husband. He thought it was okay, but seemed to understand it transcended mere taste. I'm not sure when I'm going to make the other one. It depends on how many more boxes my brother's going to send me!

Something Fishy

I've been hesitating to write about this because I think it'll make me sound like a loon, but I've decided the hell with it.

Everybody in accounting got betta fish last week. Mine is named Hamilton and he's very pretty, all sorts of colors from red to purple to blue to green. Anyway, Hamilton sits on a table in front of my desk where I can see him and he can see me.

We haven't been too busy lately, being 6 weeks out from shooting, so I've been spending a lot of time playing Freecell and Bejeweled and other video games. They can get kind of mesmerizing. Well, a couple of times while I've been playing and been zoned out, I've had the sensation that I was underwater. I could feel the pressure of the water and everything looked slightly wavy, but I could breathe just fine. It was weird, but I felt as if I had connected on some level to Hamilton and was experiencing the world the way he experiences it.

I know it sounds crazy, but it's what I felt and I can't dismiss it.

No Puppy For Sped

I got the message from Sped that she and her hubby couldn't take a dog right now. I totally understand how that goes.

If you want, I'll bring Sofie down to visit!

Cursed Show

I found out this morning that the tv show I was working on has had some really bad problems. The worst one involved a driver who was killed when another driver backed a truck over him. Just a terrible accident.

Then they were doing some explosions at a hotel. Turns out the hotel hadn't been cleared of civilians and when the stuff went off, it was bigger than expected. Nobody was seriously injured, but there were some cases of smoke inhalation and they're still getting bills for damages to the hotel itself.

I am so glad I got off that mess.

Dirty Secret

You'd be surprised at how many actors in Hollywood have herpes. I'm not talking about the sexually-transmitted kind. I'm talking about the cold-sore kind. Nobody in the real world ever seems to think about the consequence of all those kissing scenes, but that virus spreads.

How do I know this? I work in the accounting office and I've seen the bills come through for the medication. Yes, the actors submit their prescription receipts to be reimbursed when they're on a show. And yes, they get paid. Because if someone has a breakout, you either spend a lot of time trying to hide it or you lose shooting days. Both of those cost money. It's easier to pay for the meds and hope for the best.

Think about that the next time the people on screen are making out. They really are kissing everybody that other person has ever kissed, be it for work or for pleasure.

Sped, Your Dog Is Looking For You!

My boss forwarded me an email from a friend of hers who rescued a dog out of traffic about 2 months ago. Twenty minutes after the friend got the dog home, it gave birth to 8 puppies. They are a mix of golden lab and a kind of Austrailian dog that I've seen before, but don't know the name...
Anyway, they are 7 weeks old now and the landlord has given them until Friday to find homes. Don't know what will happen if they don't but I just love this little girl. Her name is Wiley Rose and I think Sped should adopt her! What do you think, Sped? Wanna be a puppy mommy?

Tix

Just booked the husband's ticket for the trip to Hawaii. It's weird only booking one knowing we will both be going... I made sure to give a copy of his reservation to the APOC so she could book me on the same flight through the studio. He's only going to be there for a week but I'm getting to stay for 17 days! I love my job! I'm hoping we get the chance to go to a luau or see a volcano - something exciting. Actually, considering the trip is only costing us the price of his ticket, a rental car, the dog's boarding, and whatever we pay the cat-sitter we don't really have to do all that much to make it worthwhile. But that doens't mean I want to sit in the hotel every night!

Dogs That Hump

I took Sofie to the dog park last night. She looked so bored I just couldn't stand it anymore. Sad to say, it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped...

There were a lot of dogs there, at least 50. As soon as we got in the gate, Sofie was accosted by a Boston terrier and a brown scruffy mutt. Both of the made it their mission to hump her. I pulled them off and finally managed to pick her up, both of the boys jumping on me to try and get to her. I would walk away, then put her down and they would show up and start all over.

The owner of the scruffy finally showed up as I was once again pulling him off Sofie and actually asked me if she was going into heat. I just stood there looking at him until I managed to say she was fixed. He decided the boys were trying to "assert their dominance." Whatever. It's not like Sofie isn't the most passive, pathetic dog out there. She tends to just lay down and show her belly first thing.

So I pick her up and walk her to the other end of the park, where things go much better for a while. Then the scruffy finds us again and as I'm pulling him off of Sofie, I hear the owner yelling at me from across the park "let me do that, please let me do that." He's still saying it as he finally makes it to where we are. My comment is to say "Yeah, I couldn't wait that long." He grabs his dog by the cheeks and starts yelling at him to stop it. The dog actually yelps during this.

So, Sofie and I head off to another spot where she starts playing with scruffy's sister. At least, I think it's playing. They're running and jumping and all the other sorts of stuff dogs do. Now, I know that dogs play rougher than people do and that what we may think of as abusive is nothing to them. But when my dog jumps into my arms to get away from another dog, that's not playing.

If you take your dog to the park, keep an eye on it. If someone else's dog has to suffer while you make your way over, then maybe you should monitor more closely and gossip less.

If I see those 2 dogs again, I'm going to do whatever I need to do to keep Sofie happy. Damn the owner.

Purpose

I started this blog as a way to remember my trip to London, then as a way to disseminate the "truth" about stuff that happens during the making of a movie. Now I'm thinking I should dedicate it to the destructiveness of my dog. The husband called to tell me that by 1pm (PST) she had eaten 3 dollar bills, a dvd, and a pair of panties. I guess we'll be puppy-proofing the house this weekend...

Lost the Shuffle

I've lost my Ipod shuffle. I had been using it at work but brought it home every night. Now I can't find it anywhere. The husband said he'd have a look for it, but I'm afraid it's gone. Just my luck...

Hawaii

So this show I'm working on is going to be shooting in Hawaii for a week and I get to go! It's so cool, I've never been there before and this way, I get to go for free. The show is paying to fly me over there, put me up in a hotel, pay me per diem, and pay my regular salary. The husband is going to come for at least the first weekend and we'll play tourist for a couple of days. Sometimes I really love my job!

It's Sofie!

I finally figured out how to post photos!

This is Sofie at 3 months - it's the snap of her the animal rescue used. Who could resist this face?

Say Hello To Hamilton

Yesterday, my boss and I went to the pet store and bought bettas. I'd been thinking about getting one for the office for a while and when I got here, Kirby had one. Although by the time I saw it on my first day, it was floating tail up. I had to ask if it was a real fish, just to make sure it had died... it had. The thing didn't even last a week. Anyway, he wanted another one and Donna and I decided we wanted one, too. So off we went. We picked out a dark red one for Kirby to replace the dead one (kind of like Arnold and Abraham), Donna got one that's kind of an orange-red, and mine is mostly blue with red and purple in the fins. He's also got a touch of green in the right light - almost iridescent. We also picked up these really cute betta tanks and some fake plants. Kirby's is named Juan Dos (the dead one was Juan), Donna calls her Karby, which is what her 2 year old son calls Kirby, and mine is Hamilton. I have no idea where the name came from, it just popped into my head. I couldn't think of any reason not to name him Hamilton, so there he is. I hope he lasts longer than a week.

Sofie ate through another harness last night. She's a menace, but so cute. I showed her picture to one of the APOC's here and she wants me to smuggle her onto the lot. Maybe, but's it kind of a hassle.

When One Phone Just Won't Do...

I took the husband to T-Mobile and got him a new phone on Friday. I felt like a moron telling the guy my dog ate the phone. Imagine how stupid I felt yesterday when I had to go back and tell the guy the same thing about my own phone. Yes, the dog ate my phone as well. It was working after she got her sharp little teeth on it, but I think she punctured the battery and it eventually died Saturday night. Now the husband and I have matching phones again. And a lot of phone chargers.

Family Photo

My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last Thanksgiving and the whole family was there. Unfortunately, we managed to NOT get a family portrait taken.

I wrote to the siblings a couple of months ago and suggested we try to meet up at Christmas and have one taken as a surprise. Didn't hear much back from people. I tried again this week, since I'm working now and can't make it home until New Year's. One brother said he couldn't make it then (because he had a job, too), so I wrote back that if one person wasn't going to be there, then that was that. It wasn't going to happen. Then another brother wrote and asks if we're cancelling Christmas! Sometimes they aren't the brightest. The first brother then writes to suggest that we all send him a photo of ourselves and he'll photoshop us into one picture. Moron. I didn't even respond to that one.

Destructo Strikes Again!

The dog ate the husband's cell phone yesterday. I should start posting pics of the damage she causes.

The Million $ Notepad

I was telling my new boss (DGH) about this yesterday and realized it would be a good story to post.

I was working on a show for the mouse a couple of years ago and the star of the movie didn't like the script. She requested a rewrite from a specific writer, a woman who has a lot of clout but only 1 really good credit to her name (in my opinion). The woman was paid a million dollars for this rewrite, far more than the original writer had been paid. She delivered her draft on a Friday. By Monday, another writer had been hired and the copies of the script were recycled into notepads for the production and accounting offices. Yes, it was that bad.

And the star? She ended up dropping out of the project to do something else.

Now you have some idea why ticket prices keep going up.

Day 2

So far, and it's only the 2nd day, I like this new job. The people seem friendly and professional, but still able to have a good time. I got stuck in an inside office with the future clerk. No windows and the possibility of a psycho, but I've got plenty of wall space to make it homey. I managed to mess up my phone while rearranging my desk, but it seems to still be working.

We're not on the Universal lot, but we're right outside the gate and we have a golf cart to take us up to the commisary or for coffee. I've been here before, so I'm not that excited about the studio store. They don't have very good deals on DVD's, but I think the music may be better priced. There's always the Panasonic store... I may check their prices on a couple of things.

Sofie has earned her super-villain name of "Destructo." I'm amazed at the number of things she has managed to destroy with her sharp little teeth. Last night she pulled a couple of candles out of a basket and ripped the packaging to shreds. I was sure the candles would be gnawed, but she seemed to prefer the tissue paper and plastic bag. Weird dog.

Big Bear

The husband and I took Sofie up to Big Bear on Thursday. It turned out to be a great trip, although it started out badly. The Jeep sprang a leak (radiator) and started overheating pretty badly. We had to backtrack down to a gas station and buy some coolant. Everything eventually went back to normal and we made it up the mountain. It was cool and rainy up there, but that was a nice change of pace from home. Sofie seemed to enjoy it, but it could just be she was glad to get out of the car. That was the longest car ride she'd ever taken and while she did really well, she wasn't thrilled.

We took her down to the lake to see if she liked the water. She was hesitant at first, not sure what to do. But I walked out with her and she got used to it pretty quick. She even laid down in the water! Then she noticed the ducks and seemed to think barking at them would make them come closer. I think she would have tried to swim out to them if I had let her. But not gonna happen. We took her back to the cabin and tried to dry her off, but she still smells a bit like the lake.

The trip home wasn't a lot of fun. We kept stopping to put coolant in the car and since we didn't want to make it worse, we barely ran the A/C even though it was 100 degrees in the Inland Empire. Sofie was sleepy and panty almost the whole way. We took the Jeep over to the shop, but we haven't heard what the problem is or how much it'll cost to fix. Maybe we'll end up getting the new car sooner rather than later...

KB from my new show called on Friday to tell me where the office was and how to get on the lot. He seems like a nice guy - we'll see. I hope he's not one of those people who think payroll answers to the first. I hate that. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He did ask for a recommendation for a 2nd and I gave him Nancy's info. I hope it works out - it'd be great to work with her again.

Got to go now - Target and Ralph's are calling. I have to get cat food. I ran out putting extra food down for our Big Bear trip and they ate most of it - furry little pigs. I had to put out treats last night and that always ends badly.

Luck Dog Day Part 2!

I thought yesterday was it, but my boss hates doing payroll so much she had me come back for one more day. Not that I have anything to do, but I'm trying to keep myself busy. Mostly by sorting through the miscellaneous papers that seem to appear at the end of a show.

I also found out yesterday they allow dogs here. Most studios are very strict about letting dogs onto the lot. I guess it's a fear of lawsuits if the dog bites someone. Plus, most people don't seem to understand the concept of "curbing." Anyway, I met Lola - a big, beautiful, sweet mutt. I seriously considered bringing Sofie to work today, but I realized she's much too young and hyper. She'd go crazy. So she stayed home. I am going to take her by my old job tomorrow so she can say hi to them. Have to call first and make sure the Producer isn't in - she doesn't like dogs. But I think thats about all Sofie can handle - a quick visit.

I guess I'd better email BG and let her know I've taken that Universal show. I've been putting it off but since I start Monday, she'd better find out.

Lucky Dog Day!

I'm not as glad to be leaving this job as I was the Showtime job. Man, that one sucked. But as much as I don't like the crap I've had to deal with on this reshoot because of the fast pace, I've really enjoyed the people I've been working with. Except for the PA. Now, I'm willing to cut any newbie some slack, but how many times do I have to tell him that I'm not authorized to call in a drive-on to the Disney lot? And hasn't anybody told him that the PA gets lunch? It still cracks me up to think about him giving his pad thai order to the accountant. Oh well. He'll either make it or he won't.

The husband and I are were going to take a day and go up to Santa Barbara, but I checked my dog guide and there aren't many places that allow dogs up there. Maybe we should go to Big Bear instead. It'll be cool and green and they like dogs. We'll see, since I still have to finish the unpacking. Ugh.

I did manage to finish the new Harry Potter book. I liked the ending. If it's really true, then I say about time. Harry needs to get out there and kick some ass. He's going to have to come to terms with his dark side before he can win and he can't do that with the old man around. Yep, sounds a bit like Star Wars, doesn't it? Not the new crap or the revisions. The 1977 classic.

Gotta get back to work. Still have people to call so they can get paid. I hate being a babysitter. Nobody in the real world has someone calling them to let them know they haven't filled out all of the paperwork. But what a hassle if someone doesn't get paid. Just not worth it.