Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent...



There is a lot of truth in that silly phrase. It has been cold and drizzly for the last two days here in the Bay City. Tipping 24 feet of gear when it's wet is a game for young men and I'm really getting too old old for this nonsense but that is what God created stagehands for.
I made Mike walk from the Bart station at Powell and Market to the top of Nob Hill where we are staying at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. He's still not speaking to me. Not only am I getting older but I seem to be slightly out of shape. Today is show day, the wrap party for Wall-E then I get to go home tomorrow after we load everything at in the morning. It will be good to be home.


Saturday, May 17, 2008

Narnia-ed Out


Slowly losing my mind.. Can't take much more.. Only 20 minutes left.. Hopefully this is the last time I have to sit through Prince Caspian...

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Guess I'll never grow up.



Some of the fondest memories from my childhood involve trains. Those memories include the model trains my Dad had, the layout my Brother had under the pool table downstairs and the model layout(s) I had. My Dad took lots of pictures of trains both before I arrived on the scene and many with me posed in front of them. Taking pictures of them comes pretty naturally. Then there were the train rides to Los Angeles with my Grandparents. I guess there is some deep-seated fascination with trains in me. So I drove out to Golden Colorado and spent a couple of hours prowling around the old trains.





Just like riding a bike. One hand on the Johnson bar the other hanging on for dear life..



I may be getting older but I doubt I'll ever grow up....

Monday, May 12, 2008

Gotta Blog More...



There was a comment that I should blog more often. While I have no doubt that is true, I plead lack of internet connectivity as the reason.

I left Los Angeles on Friday morning; Miqui drove me to the airport so there would be another car at home while I am gone, and flew to Chicago. By the time I checked in with the theatre, into the hotel and had dinner I called it a night. No blogging…

Saturday I was at the theatre bright and early to check out the equipment, build the print and rehearse the movie. Given a comedy of errors, I finished the run through at 2:30 for a 3:00 screening. This tour is for “Prince Caspian” and it’s a two and a half hour movie so by the time I had the print torn dawn and back in the cans it was 6:30. There was just enough time for dinner and bed, as I was leaving for New York in the morning. Again, no blogging.

I figured if I left the hotel at eight and caught the train to O’Hare, I’d arrive about two hours before my flight. I should have taken the rain as an omen. And not a good one… Fortunately, my Sweet Wife suggested I inquire about the train schedules as it was Mother’s Day. Turned out that CTA was doing track maintenance that day so there would be at least half and hour delays. Screw it. I’ll take a cab, thank you. Now I was checked in more than two hours early, no problem, I’ll grab some breakfast. As I was finishing my Chili’s Breakfast Taco’s, my phone rang. Who would be calling me this early? “This is United Airlines with an automated update. Flight 642 to Newark has been cancelled. Thanks for flying the friendly skies”. Swell. Not only was my flight cancelled but so was the one after that. Great. After doing the O.J. sprint, twice, through the airport, I arrived at gate C19 where the 9:00am departure to Newark was still at the gate. Could I get so lucky? I doubt it, but it’s worth a shot. When I told the gate agent that the next two flights were cancelled, he said, “Oh, really… You want to jump on this one, I have six seats left”.
“Sure”, I said.
“You check any baggage”?
“Yeah”
“Hopefully, we’ll get it to you sometime”.
So now I’m on a 9:00am flight that didn’t leave until 10:15. That’s a whole different story. It was almost 1 o’clock by the time I got to the hotel. I walked to B&H camera , had dinner at Don Giovanni’s and figured it was bedtime. My bags arrived caught up with me around noon today.

A sad excuse for not blogging? Probably. But it’s the best I can come up with on short notice. We’re about to start our 7pm show in New York than it’s back to the hotel and bed. I leave for Denver in the morning…