This collection of entries is from September 26, 2003.
THEME
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I left Montclair/Chino and tried my damnedest to get to Burbank by 5:30. But that's over 25 miles away, and it's a Friday rush hour in Los Angeles. The traffic is horrendous and I decided to override "Wendy" (That's what I called my Hertz Neverlost GPS Navigation system) and found a route that had no traffic. I programmed the wrong end point, though. I'm heading to Universal Studios, but I didn't want the main gate. I needed to go in the back way, and enter at Barnham Blvd. and Lakeside Plaza Drive.
I made it at 6pm and park in a special lot after I clear the security at the gate. I have to walk through a metal detector in the middle of the parking lot. I'm at a studio again, and again I can't take any photos. I hate that. I get to stand around and wait. I don't mind. Really. It's a gorgeous evening. The sun is setting, there's a slight breeze and it feels good just to stand around. I'm still in my suit from the funeral today. I had hoped I had enough time to check into the hotel and change before I came here, but there was no way in hell that was going to work out that way. The girls in front of me in line are eating dinner from In-n-Out Burger. That's when I realize that I didn't eat my honey baked ham sandwich during the drive.
There's a bunch of yellow signs everywhere that say "Paramount" and "Enterprise". I wonder if there's something shooting here today?
Two white shuttle buses pull up that have the Paramount Pictures logos on them. We board the buses and head over to Stage 42 at Universal.
I'm here to be in the audience for NBC's new show Coupling. It's a direct rip-off of the BBC version of Coupling (that's shown here on BBC America), which is actually a rip-off of Friends.
Tonight's episode is called "A Foreign Affair" (but the BBC version was called "The Girl with Two Breasts"... I wonder if they're using the same scripts???)
Allan Murray is the warm-up, and for the first time in my life, I actually get picked on a few times, interviewed by Allan, get a t-shirt, get tickets to the Laugh Factory (where he's performing tomorrow night) and I even get some quiet kudos for doing a good job laughing and reacting. Cool.
We get to watch the pilot episode of the show, since it was just on last night and we may not have seen it (I was eating Jack in the Box watching CSI - sorry). The cast is introduced and we start shooting.
Now, this is were it starts to get difficult.
Each scene is shot. The audience is good, the actors are OK, and the script just feels like it needs work. There's a large huddle that happens in front of me after each scene is shot, where there is hardly any major changes made. The scene is then reshot. Almost every scene that we see during the course of the evening is shot three times. It's really difficult as an audience to even try to laugh naturally after seeing the same thing three times in a row. I feel bad for the cast. It almost feels like the life is being sucked-out of the show. The cast is really pretty good. The show is getting scathing reviews, but it's more about the reheated "translated" scripts that seem to almost not work on American television. The original BBC series is a scream and somehow doesn't "translate" well to American prime-time audiences.
The curtain calls come at around 10:15pm and I'm back at my car by 10:25. It's time to get some sleep. It's been a long day.
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I'm dressed and on the road at 7:27am, out amidst the fog again. I drive to Montclair. What a lovely little town. Clean, nice. The church, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, is this nice, small mission-style church. Children were going to school as I pulled into the parking lot.
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I quietly make my way into the church. I'm trying to be as nondescript as possible, but slowly people are starting to recognize me, even though I may not have seen them in quite a while. I meet my cousin Karen who looks exactly the same as I remember her from my childhood. She's the only person that - in my mind's eye - never changed. Weird. Then my cousin Mark the kid I traveled to California with back in the 60's. He doesn't look the same, but I see the boy in the face of the man in front of me. He finally introduces me to his sister Laurie, who I haven't seen in decades. She too doesn't look the same but I see the kid in the lady in front of me. She looks at me and has no recollection of me at all until Mark whispers a few words to her: "Beam me up". The electric smile comes to her face and she gives me a big hug. Laurie had wheeled in Aunt Mary. She's in a wheelchair now, and I can hardly recognize her.
The family slowly gathers. There's a bulletin board full of photos of Uncle Frank and Aunt Mary's life (or, as we all call them here , Babe and May). I notice a box on the table in the vestibule, next to the picture.
That's when I realize that it's Uncle Babe. In the box. The label says he was cremated on th 12th. Uncle Babe is gathered up, along with a US Flag for his military service and we go inside.
Mark has a eulogy prepared, and it's long and complete and I learn more about the uncle that I thought I knew. Then we had a full Catholic funeral mass.
After mass, we gathered all out front again. We all drove a mile or two into Chino to a Marie Callender's that opened early just for us. It was the site of their 50th anniversary not so long ago.
After lunch, we went over to Mary's brother's condo, to socialize, drink, eat, and watch old 8mm film transfered to videotape. Uncle Babe was never without his camera. Laurie had the film transfered, and it now fills two 2-hour videotapes. It was a wonderful, sweet trip down memory lane.
I didn't know there was going to be a dinner to end the day. I had made plans to be in Burbank (again) by 5:30-6:00 tonight. I had over 30 miles to get there in Friday afternoon rush hour traffic.
I didn't want to leave. I wish I didn't set this up, but my time out here is very limited. Laurie made me a sandwich to eat on the way, along with some cookies.
I slowly say my goodbyes. It's been years since I've seen some of these people, and I don't know if I will ever see any of them again. I hope that's not the case, but life takes odd twists and turns. Most of these people live out here and it's not like I visit California very often at all.
It's hard leaving family, even if it's extended family. I have done what I've been sent out here to do.
It's 4:20 and I slowly walk to my car.
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Time for another Friday Five... but this week, there is no a href="http://fridayfive.org/" target="_blank">Friday Five - they're taking a week off (which is good since I, too, am off in southern California!)