I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Baton Rouge on a shoot for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Susie (the producer) and I flew into Louisiana on Tuesday afternoon and met with a local MEP representative for dinner. She took us to a popular seafood restaurant near LSU. We ate fried alligator, hush puppies and fried fish. The alligator was nothing special. It just tasted like chicken.
Wednesday we visited a local company which makes some kind of membranes for oil platforms. They gave us a detailed description, but I have no idea what they are used for. We shot an interview and some b-roll to be used in an upcoming MEP video.
Today I shot an interview with Charlie Wilson (the Charlie Wilson's War guy). It took place in an enormous mansion on the Potomac. This was one of the largest houses I have ever seen, but they gave us a small room to conduct the interview and limited the amount of gear we could bring in. It lasted about 30 minutes and will be shown on an Afghani TV station. He mostly talked about the clandestine war he helped fight. The most interesting part was hearing what he had to say about the current Iraq war. He criticized it harshly and said that it was pointless. He also said that if the US government had helped build infrastructure in Afghanistan after the Soviet Union left, we would not have had to invade.
9/26/2008
9/16/2008
I just got back from the Grand Canyon with my family.
Emily and I flew to Arizona on Thursday. Lindsey missed her flight. She got on the next one and we had to wait a couple hours at the airport for her to arrive. We stayed in a very nice hotel called the Phoenician. Too bad we didn't get to sleep or see much of the hotel. I won't go into much detail on this one.
Friday we drove up to the Grand Canyon. Along the way we stopped in Sedona (too touristy) and at a Flintstones themed roadside attraction (spectacularly tacky). We arrived at the canyon in the evening. It sure is a big hole.
Saturday we hiked into and back out of the hole. It took five hours and was great fun. I have a very fit family and we made the long hike seem easy. But after dinner we were exhausted and went to sleep early.
Sunday Emily, Lindsey and I went horseback riding in the morning. It was a guided trail ride and the guide wouldn't let us go faster than a walk. The scenery was nice, but I would have liked to go faster. Lindsey lost her camera sometime during or after the ride. She was so upset you would have thought her best friend just died. After lunch, we took a helicopter over the canyon. It was amazing! I had never been in a helicopter, but I soon realized that it is the only way to travel. I'm trying to clear some space in my backyard for a landing pad. That way I will have somewhere to park when I buy one. That night before dinner Emily and I took another hike into the hole. This time we only went for an hour and a half. Nice workout before dinner.
Monday we headed back to Phoenix after a brief stop in Sedona. Mom, Dad, Emily and I had a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Lindsey opted to find takeout at another place. But she neglected to actually order any food, so she was quite upset when we left without waiting for her to eat. That night, we were suppose to stay at the nice Marriott near the mall, but were booked into the dumpy one near the ghetto. My mom was clearly not ok with the arrangements. She took care of the situation and we were promptly booked at the nicer hotel.
Yesterday our flight left at 9:30am and got in at 5:00pm. Stupid time change wasted the whole day. Emily and I brought small carry-on bags. Lindsey checked a large suitcase. Luckily her's was the first off the baggage claim. Or so we thought. Soon after leaving the airport, Lindsey got a message that Southwest had a bag with her name on it. We checked the trunk and realized that she had picked up the wrong bag. The bag we had belonged to a woman who was about to get married. Her wedding dress was in the suitcase. Lindsey turned the car around and swapped bags with the poor, hysterical bride.
Emily and I flew to Arizona on Thursday. Lindsey missed her flight. She got on the next one and we had to wait a couple hours at the airport for her to arrive. We stayed in a very nice hotel called the Phoenician. Too bad we didn't get to sleep or see much of the hotel. I won't go into much detail on this one.
Friday we drove up to the Grand Canyon. Along the way we stopped in Sedona (too touristy) and at a Flintstones themed roadside attraction (spectacularly tacky). We arrived at the canyon in the evening. It sure is a big hole.
Saturday we hiked into and back out of the hole. It took five hours and was great fun. I have a very fit family and we made the long hike seem easy. But after dinner we were exhausted and went to sleep early.
Sunday Emily, Lindsey and I went horseback riding in the morning. It was a guided trail ride and the guide wouldn't let us go faster than a walk. The scenery was nice, but I would have liked to go faster. Lindsey lost her camera sometime during or after the ride. She was so upset you would have thought her best friend just died. After lunch, we took a helicopter over the canyon. It was amazing! I had never been in a helicopter, but I soon realized that it is the only way to travel. I'm trying to clear some space in my backyard for a landing pad. That way I will have somewhere to park when I buy one. That night before dinner Emily and I took another hike into the hole. This time we only went for an hour and a half. Nice workout before dinner.
Monday we headed back to Phoenix after a brief stop in Sedona. Mom, Dad, Emily and I had a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Lindsey opted to find takeout at another place. But she neglected to actually order any food, so she was quite upset when we left without waiting for her to eat. That night, we were suppose to stay at the nice Marriott near the mall, but were booked into the dumpy one near the ghetto. My mom was clearly not ok with the arrangements. She took care of the situation and we were promptly booked at the nicer hotel.
Yesterday our flight left at 9:30am and got in at 5:00pm. Stupid time change wasted the whole day. Emily and I brought small carry-on bags. Lindsey checked a large suitcase. Luckily her's was the first off the baggage claim. Or so we thought. Soon after leaving the airport, Lindsey got a message that Southwest had a bag with her name on it. We checked the trunk and realized that she had picked up the wrong bag. The bag we had belonged to a woman who was about to get married. Her wedding dress was in the suitcase. Lindsey turned the car around and swapped bags with the poor, hysterical bride.
9/08/2008
Today I was out shooting b-roll of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The whole time I was waiting for a security guard to stop me. At Fannie Mae, they just told me to get off the grass. But at Freddy Mac the security guard started bothering me. I was hoping this would happen.
He said, "You can't film here, this is private property."
I said, "Not anymore it's not." And that was the end of that conversation.
He said, "You can't film here, this is private property."
I said, "Not anymore it's not." And that was the end of that conversation.
9/06/2008
We got back from the RNC yesterday. We had dinner with Emily's mom, step-dad and sister, before picking up the dogs. Today we slept until 2:30 pm. I don't remember the last time I slept that late. We saw the movie TransSiberian with Kat and Lindsey. It was really good. Lindsey kept getting scared and grabbing on to me. But it wasn't a scary movie, just suspenseful. Now Emily and I want to plan a trip on the Trans-Siberian railroad.
9/02/2008
I flew into Minneapolis on Friday. Emily, Malcolm, Denis, Steve, Kate and I spent Saturday at the Mall of America. It is the the biggest mall in the country, but it has the same crappy stores as every other one. The only difference is the indoor theme park in the middle. We rode a couple of the rides and Dennis screamed like a baby the entire time. Emily was laughing so hard that she was crying (on the roller coaster).
Sunday we spent most of the day setting up at the RNC. That night we went to the Minnesota State Fair. It was amazing! They must have had every game, ride and fair food ever made. All of the food was either fried, on a stick or both. We tried the peanuts and chocolate on a stick, pork chops on a stick, enormous hotdogs, cotton candy, fried cheese curds, french fries, mini-doughnuts and fried cheesecake. Malcolm, Steve, Denis and I played all of the throwing and shooting games, but didn't win anything.
Yesterday was the first day of the RNC. The convention was cut short by the hurricane, but all of our clients went ahead with thier events. It was another long and busy day. It is a bit easier than the DNC though, because everything is in one building. We don't have to walk far to get anywhere and don't need seperate credentials to get into the convention events. I was pulled out of our morning shoot to interview Laura Bush. I didn't even have time to change microphones, so I had to record into the on camera mic. I rushed upstairs, found her surrounded by press and secret service and put a camera in her face. She mostly talked about Palin and I got some good soundbites. The interview was shown on Politico.com, Yahoo.com, Channel News Asia, and the Newshour online and TV.
So far all of the discussion at this convention has been about McCain's senseless choice of Sarah Palin. No one knows who she is and she still has not made a public appearance since she was announced. When we call the campaign to find out her schedule, no one knows where she is or what she is doing. She is suppose to show up at the Texas delegation dinner tonight, but she probably wont. I am going to head over there in a minute to wait for her.
Sunday we spent most of the day setting up at the RNC. That night we went to the Minnesota State Fair. It was amazing! They must have had every game, ride and fair food ever made. All of the food was either fried, on a stick or both. We tried the peanuts and chocolate on a stick, pork chops on a stick, enormous hotdogs, cotton candy, fried cheese curds, french fries, mini-doughnuts and fried cheesecake. Malcolm, Steve, Denis and I played all of the throwing and shooting games, but didn't win anything.
Yesterday was the first day of the RNC. The convention was cut short by the hurricane, but all of our clients went ahead with thier events. It was another long and busy day. It is a bit easier than the DNC though, because everything is in one building. We don't have to walk far to get anywhere and don't need seperate credentials to get into the convention events. I was pulled out of our morning shoot to interview Laura Bush. I didn't even have time to change microphones, so I had to record into the on camera mic. I rushed upstairs, found her surrounded by press and secret service and put a camera in her face. She mostly talked about Palin and I got some good soundbites. The interview was shown on Politico.com, Yahoo.com, Channel News Asia, and the Newshour online and TV.
So far all of the discussion at this convention has been about McCain's senseless choice of Sarah Palin. No one knows who she is and she still has not made a public appearance since she was announced. When we call the campaign to find out her schedule, no one knows where she is or what she is doing. She is suppose to show up at the Texas delegation dinner tonight, but she probably wont. I am going to head over there in a minute to wait for her.
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