FIRE!

Apparently, our sound stage is on fire. We don't have any details, don't even know how serious it is. We sent W down to have a look and I called N and asked her to go out and see what she could see. More to come...

Pictures!

Bart and his trainer Doug. We just went up to have a look and Bart put on a show for us.












This is Moon. When I stopped to take the pic, Moon wasn't really paying attention. Sausha (the trainer) came up behind me and had Moon stare. It made quite a difference! Look at those eyes.









The Ghost Whisperer base camp outside our trailer. You can't see JLH's trailer in this shot though. Sorry.

Moving

The husband and I are thinking about moving. Although I don't really like living under the restrictions of our Home Owner's Association, I do like our condo. It's not up to what I want it to be, but it's on it's way.

The problem is there are plans to tear down the apartment buildings next to us, and the apartment buildings next to them, and the apartment building around the corner, and the 3 houses next to that one. Not to mention the 2 apartment buildings on the next block or the office building that's converting to lofts one block north.

All that construction is not the biggest problem, though. Our condo is 1st floor and it looks out onto a wall, about 8 feet high, then onto said 2 story apartment building - there's about 20 feet between the 2 buildings. It's not a great view and there's not a huge amount of light getting in, but it's ok. When the new building goes up, it'll be 3 stories. If the building is as close as the apartments are now, then our little alley will be more like a cave than just a bit dim.

And since all of this construction will produce shiny new condos, our's will be the old, tired unit if we need to sell it. So I've been looking around and I've found a couple that I like enough to consider putting an offer down. One is the very first one I saw and I saw the other this past Sunday. They both have good and bad things about them and while I was in love with V, W is starting to grow on me.

We have one more weekend's worth of work to do before we can put ours on the market so it's not a big rush. There's no way we're going to take on 2 mortgages.

Photos

When I get home tonight, I want to post some pics. They're all on my laptop and I just don't think about them.

But I have to get a pic of Sofie right when she wakes up from a nap. Who knew a dog could get pillow face?

Let Me Clear That Up

The husband informed me that I didn't make my point very clear in my last post. The link between #3 and #4 is the director. He was heard to make the comment (several times) that he would hit $175 million and deprive the parent company of its profits on a "war machine."

I can agree with that.

Gossip

This morning I found out some very interesting gossip about this show:
1) the lead female actress sucked
2) the director did not want to do this movie
3) the parent company of the studio supposedly makes $175 million in profit selling missiles to the goverment
4) the budget of this movie just hit $175 million

I've spent the rest of the day getting my name off the catalog mailing lists of several companies. I prefer the emails to the paper wasting catalogs.

Better then yesterday, where I had to take a nap on the couch in Don's old office for about 20 minutes. So exhausted.

Who I've Seen Outside My Trailer

The base camp for Ghost Whisperer is set up in our parking lot again - have been for a few days now. It's a nice change of pace to have something to watch while I'm killing time.

Yesterday I saw Jay Mohr and today we've spotted Camryn Manheim (she drives a blue Prius). I've yet to see Jennifer Love Hewitt but she has a very nice trailer.

This morning when I went down to set to get our usual eggs and berries, I heard a wolf howling. Turns out the wolves are back and a couple were on set working. The ones left in the trailer were howling about it. It's a very lonely sound but it was fun to watch the people walking around trying to figure out if they really were hearing wolf howls...

Home Improvement

Last night I decided it was time to clean the walls in the guest bathroom, as well as move the cat box into the shower and free up some floor space. That done, I decided I'd better figure out where the leak was in the toilet. We'd had a bit of water on the floor for a couple of weeks, but never had the time to suss out what was going on. Turns out the tank was loose and the water was seeping out the bolt holes.

Of course, this all sounds very pleasant, but it was a fiasco. I got all freaked out when I couldn't get the wrench on the nuts and every time I touched something the water leaked even more. The husband came to help and I yelled at him because I wanted to do it myself and letting him help made me feel like a useless girl. It took a bit of time and a broken float but we finally figured out what needed to be done and I went off to HD for parts while the husband bailed water out of the tank (did I mention we coudn't get the water to shut off?).

So I got back with a new float and new tank bolts. We decided to go ahead and try to fix it ourselves, something we've never attempted before (I was very proud of us for that!). The husband unscrewed the bolts, then I held the tank, still attached to the water line, while he put the new ones in. It took a bit to figure out the directions, but only because the tank wasn't on correctly in the first place. It's supposed to have 2 sets of hex nuts, one to hold the washers in place and one to hold the tank onto the bowl. Ours only had the bowl set... no wonder it was loose and leaking! Anyway, we got the tank reattached to the bowl and set to fixing the float. Pretty easy since all we had to do was unscrew the float arm and attach it.

Then we held our breath and let the water flow back in. YEAH! Nothing leaked! We even flushed a few times and it looked good to go. He took Sofie for a walk and I cleaned up the water and that was it. I wish I hadn't yelled at him, though. It could have been a really good bonding thing for us. We work pretty well as a team, but we don't do a lot of home improvement on our own. I guess maybe we really should try and replace the Pergo this weekend. We could probably do it very well, together.

Boo and Willie

Just got back from set where we had lunch and I passed out paychecks. My boss decided we should go over and see what animals were around today.

One of the trainers brought out Boo, who's a lemur. He was so beautiful, with his black and white fur and his gold eyes. His face reminded me of Sofie's - long snout with whiskers, but if you caught a glimpse of his mouth from below, he has these huge fangs. They're totally hidden from above or straight on. Anyway, Boo wasn't that friendly. We tried to pet him, but he kept chattering at us and it was loud. My boss and I finally got a chance to pet his long tail, but he really didn't want anything to do with anybody. It was his lunch time.

Then another trainer brought out Willie - the 2 year old chimp. He was cute, cute, cute. He started giving everybody he knew hugs, then she had him give the newbies high fives, low fives, and knuckle bumps. That was almost surreal, to get hand jive from a chimp. She had him show us more of his tricks, including "boogie" which involves him standing with one hand on his hip and the other pointing in the air (a la Travolta) and bouncing. It was really cool getting our own little show and he was such a ham, eating it up and starting the clapping if he felt we waited too long on our own. When the tram went by, she turned him around and had him wave and the folks just went nuts. Heads whipped around and cameras popped up all over the place. It was nice of her to do that, because that ride can be a bore.

So I met Boo and Willie and even though Willie was the more charming, I think I still liked Boo better.

My Day

I'm sitting at my desk, stapling timecards to copies of paychecks (last week's stuff - I fell behind because it's so f*cking boring). I've got to finish these and file them, then do this week's stapling and filing. Bleah. Welcome to the glamorous world of movie making.

Every morning, I'm awakend at 5 am by Sofie ("she who will not let mom sleep in"). We go on a walk and then I either get ready to go to the gym, or crawl back into bed, or find stuff to do around the house. If I'm lucky, I curl up and watch a movie. Yes, I know it's 5:30am, but I'm awake and alone, I can watch whatever I want.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are my bootcamp classes from 6-7am. I love those classes and would gladly go 5 days a week. I really hate going to the gym anymore and I've been avoiding it, but I need to work out more than 3 days each week so things are going to have to change.

Anyway, at some point I shower and dress and scoop the litter box. Then Sofie and I go on our "8 o'clocks" up and around the cul-de-sac. When we get back, I pack up my crap and head off to work. I'm supposed to be in by 9 and I usually make it, but sometimes I run late and sometimes traffic sucks.

Once I get to work, my first task is to go down to craft service and get hard-boiled eggs and mixed berries for myself and my boss. I also take special requests, getting W a chocolate donut w/ nothing in it or M a banana or apple.

Then it's nose to the grindstone. HA! I only have about 3 hours of work each day but it's spread out - I do my thing and send it off for approval, then sit and wait for it to come back around 5:30 each night. Then I have to finish it off. It's pretty damn boring, but the pay rocks. And lunch is free. It seems ideal, but I'd really like to be a bit busier. I get out of work mode too easily and it's hard to get back in. Sometimes all I can do is put everything in a big stack and go thru it piece by piece - dealing with it one thing at a time. Sad but true.

Anyway, I usually manage to leave for home by 6:15 or 6:30. Then the husband and I have dinner and watch some tv and take Sofie for another walk. Then it's off to bed.

I need a hobby. Well, I have a hobby. I need to participate in my hobby.

The Truth Is Out

Yes, it's true. I am working on the most expensive comedy ever made. Evan Almighty is reported to cost $175 million dollars and that's just production. Marketing and stuff should push it to $250 million.

Makes my paycheck seem a bit paltry...

Grandma's House

http://www.saintmeinrad.edu/enews/Extreme%20Makeover2.htm

What I Learned @ Lunch

Just got back from lunch where I learned a couple of things:

1) Lions have very small testicles (smaller than hard boiled eggs).

2) My car could have been in You, Me & Dupree - as he was dropping us off at the trailer, the captain on EA asked who my car belonged to. Apparently while they were scouting on Dupree they came back to the office and the director spotted my car and said that's what the slut librarian should be driving. But my car is a stick and she couldn't drive it.

3) Some crows have white feathers, they aren't all black.

Anniversary and Stuff

Yesterday was our 8th anniversary. We decided to wait until the weekend to celebrate and go to Dave & Buster's out in Arcadia (that's "our" restaurant - the Wednesday before we got married, the husband took me to dinner at the one in Atlanta, which was only 1 interstate stop from where we lived). I love the place - the food's ok but I really like the arcade, especially skeeball and the coin drop games. We went to the one in Honolulu last year and I'm glad there's one in Arcadia now because otherwise we'd have to drive out to Ontario or down to Irvine.

So I got the husband a 250 GB Iomage external hard drive and he got me a diamond bracelet. I think I won that round but he's happy.

A strange direction to go now, but I was reading today on Fark some of the responses to Ms. magazine printing the names of the women who had abortions. I can understand women not being ashamed of it but I can't understand wanting to put yourself out there for fundies to have at you. I don't know anyone who's had an abortion, I don't know anyone who wishes they'd had an abortion, I have no first-hand knowledge of it. I just think I would keep it between myself and the father - it seems to personal. Whether or not you believe life begins at conception or at some point in the 2nd or 3rd trimester, getting pregnant opens a door into all sorts of potential futures. I can't imagine finding out I was preggers and not wondering if it was a boy or girl, what it would be when it grew up, picking out names, etc. I am adamntly pro-choice, but I don't think I'd be able to have an abortion myself. I do want it to remain an option for those women who need it, though. Recreation, not procreation.

What I Saw Before 9am

When I got to work today, I took the cart up to the Upper Flatlands so I could give L her pictures w/ Bart the bear. Not much going on up there yet, a bunch of extras dressed in camos and military gear and a crane setting up some blue screen.

On the way back down, I went by "Wisteria Lane". I don't usually go that route because you get stopped while they're shooting and today was no exception. I didn't see any of the actors, just a couple of extras and a short school bus.

While driving thru Old West Town though, I had to stop my cart and watch a deer trot by. A guy was standing there watching, too and when the deer had run off he turned and said "too cool". I was looking in his opposite direction and saw a baby deer come around the corner and trot after its mother. So cute. I watched it bound off into the trees and realized it looked more like it was hopping than running. Never noticed that before.

So it's been a good morning, even though I did get an email slideshow (http://www.saintmeinrad.edu/slideshows/slideshow.aspx?ss=extreme1) showing those bastards at ABC tearing down my grandparent's house. It didn't make me as sad this time. At least now the husband will get a chance to see what it looked like. And I'm glad I had the chance to have a beer at the Shady Inn. The place was a bar and it was so fascinating. You could hear the people and music late at night while trying to sleep - it was only one vacant lot away. My dad and I went to see my grandpa while I was in college and that was my one foray into that mystery from my youth. Oh well, change happens. The little market where my grandma sent us to buy candy has been gone for years now...

The Good and Bad of Emails

I got this good email from my friend S who I have known since high school:

Hey Film-Chick,
I enjoyed reading your blog. BTW, since when did you suffer from a bowling injury? (since the wrap party for Scorpion King) Oh, I have a story to share about a bus experience. Before every Monday morning meeting, someone is always asked in our dept to share a "reflection". It's a Lutheran institution, so go figure. Mine usually tend to be funny rather than reflective. Our admin asst, Sh, shared an email her sister wrote the other day after she took the bus in to work on a Saturday to catch up on some office work. Her sister wrote that there was this young couple on the bus. He stared lovingly at every inch of her face...and then reached up with a pink daisy razor and shaved something off! Sh's sister was horrified. We all got a good laugh. S

I got this bad email from my sister:

Aunt L called Tuesday evening. It seems Uncle M and N went to southern IN last week for a reunion of some sort. While there N wanted to drive by Grandma & Grandpa's house (like we do when we're there). Well, they couldn't get to the house - the road was blocked. So they went down further and turned where you go to the Guest House. Tried that road - it too was blocked. So they got out of their car and walked down the street towards the house. Met up with two gentlemen - one was a contractor and the other worked for ABC. It seems a home was chosen to be on Extreme Makeover - Home Edition. You guessed it - it was Grandma and Grandpa's house!!!!! According to Aunt L the woman who lives there has four children and she's been diagnosed with cancer. N told the gentlemen that he and all his cousins grew up in the house and both he and Uncle M were taken on a tour of the home. Aunt L said the foundation was going and some interior walls were crumbling. Both N and Uncle M told them all about Grandma and Grandpa, how the land for the Monastery was given by our family, etc. The crew had already torn down the Shady Inn - no longer there. They tried to take pictures but weren't allowed. Uncle M said the episode is suppose to air sometime in December so be on the lookout. How cool is this!!!!!

I can understand how this may seem cool, but it made me cry. I hate to think of that house not being there anymore - not cool at all. I know it's a good thing for the woman living there, but they're going to show the before and it's going to look like crap. But when my grandparents lived there, it was always clean and tidy and perfect. I really hate change sometimes.

I wonder if AFG still works for that show... maybe I'll write her and see what's up...

Chipmunk

My paymaster told me a story yesterday while we were kvetching about all the animal wranglers. Apparently, a feature she was on had a chipmunk and therefore a chipmunk wrangler. Said wrangler was making his way to set one day, which was up a rocky slope. He took a tumble and managed to squash his chipmunk - he'd had it in his pocket instead of in its cage! The poor guy was hysterical and had to be flown back to LA. It took them a week, but they found another chipmunk and wrangler to take his place.

She got word of all this because they decided they needed to pay the guy right away and she had to process his paperwork. Turns out the guy wasn't in the union (yes, there's a union that covers chipmunk wranglers - Teamsters) and they had to come up with another job title. He was about 3 seconds away from having "chipmunk killer" on his paystub.

It's sad for the chipmunk and I do feel bad, but for 2 people who are tired of animal wranglers it was pretty funny.

Witnessed At

The husband and I took the subway downtown to the library yesterday. It was more crowded than we've seen before, which is good, but I don't know how busy it is during the week.

The husband thinks I don't like going to the library, but I just don't like the drive. That and the fact I rarely have anything I want to check out - it's usually his quest for books that takes us there. And for some reason I always get really sleepy inside that building, like they pump it full of something to keep people quiet...

Anyway, we got off at 7th Street and walked up Hope where we passed some production setting up a shot on Wilshire Blvd. We didn't see any signs indicating what show it was, feature or tv, but we think it was tv. On our way back to the subway stop, we saw some postings that they were going to have a car explosion between 1pm and 5pm, but we decided not to wait around and watch. It did look like there was a Hummer parked crossways on Wilshire and we figured that was the one to die in a fire.

So we're waiting for the train and a woman is on the platform talking really loudly (I thought she was talking to the guy standing next to her and if I had been him, I would have told her she didn't need to yell). The train comes and we all get on and the husband hands me a book to read during the ride. I'm trying to focus and the woman starts talking again, except I realize it's more a singing or chanting than talking. And it's loud. She was only 5 or 6 feet from me, but the entire car could hear her.

So I ask the husband if maybe she had foreign Turretts - we really can't figure out a word she's saying. Then she starts talking about being saved and needing god and basically witnessing to the trapped riders. I did find it pretty amusing that she kept telling us how she, too, needed god and how she was no better than anybody else. But mainly it was miserable. Everyone kept their head down and tried not to make eye contact and no one tried to make conversation. A couple of stops later the woman got off and there was a huge sigh of relief.

So I still like riding the subway and will continue to do so, but if that happens again I think I'll get off and wait for the next train.

Paraguay 9/23/06

The final email from my brother:

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry for the late news from the mission. The week has been very busy. The team performed surgery on Monday through Thursday from 7am until around 8pm. Then the wait for the bus and again the 45 minute ride back to the hotel for a meal at the restaurant and then to bed at 11.

Friday we finished by 4pm and could catch a cab to do what we wanted until the party at 10pm. A few of us went to the city port area where a local surgeon bought us a few beers and a few local snacks. It seems that all the food in this country revolves around meat. The Adkins diet delight. The vegeterians on the team have suffered.

The party last night started at 10pm and ended at 3am with the 45 minute bus ride back to the hotel. Up at 8:15 to see some of the team off then back to a local market to see some local trinkets for gifts. The Paraguayan culture is limited to a few local customs developed by the Europeans and the indiginous Indians called the Guirani.

Leaving for the airport at 2pm and back home. Amen. A short stop in Brazil and Atlanta.
Hope to post some pictures soon.
K

Paraguay 9/19/06

Another email from my brother:

Hello,
Sorry for the late entry. Sunday was a team day and we were out on a very polluted lake for a day at a club. Not much to do but the view was interesting and everyone had a chance to meet. Yesterday was crazy with a lot of work but all the kids did great and the parents are very happy. The kids, not so much.
Try to write again soon.
K

The past few days must be operating days, as we haven't heard from my brother. They do a lot of work in a short amount of time and it amazes me they can do it at all, considering how surgeries work in the US.