Mr. Young on Disney XD

Now all of my American readers, and the European ones, can see the show I have been working on for the past year.

WHERE TO GO?

I found out on last Friday that I have the whole month of August off of work so my mind immediately began to dream of where to get away. As I wrote in the previous post, the weather here has been miserable. Spending all summer in a dark, windowless sound stage didn't seem like such a bad thing if the weather wasn't going to be summer-like. Usually those places heat up like an oven when it's hot out but not only aren't we getting any heat, we have a new air-conditioning unit that was installed over our break that keeps the place positively frigid. I had to dig out a sweater coat from my winter wardrobe so that I wouldn't catch a chill!!


I thought of a few options for a trip and so started to put out feelers for what it would cost:

Back to the BVI: I found a flight from YVR to STT for $945 - not great but better than I have seen in the past. When we were looking at flights in February of '09 for my daughter's wedding on Tortola, flights to EIS were $1,200+.

I got a smoking good deal on Jost Van Dyke at White Bay Villas. Their biggest unit, Plantation Villa, is a shared accommodation with private bedroom but shared kitchen, living room, and sometimes bathroom. The dates I was looking at, basically all of August, I would have the entire house to myself at $135 a night plus 17% tax etc. which is a spectacular deal as the house is gorgeous. And as I really want to go back to Jost for an extended visit the next time I go to the islands, this was my dream option.

White Bay, Jost Van Dyke

I also got a great deal at Chateau Relaxeau Caribe, a lovely place right on the beach of Apple Bay, Tortola; $100 a night including all taxes. As I really want to get to know the owner, Malcolm Boyes and his wife (who live upstairs) along with neighbours Island Jim and his wife, this was a very attractive option.

Chateau Relaxeau Caribe

I checked with Uschi at Sebastians on the Beach (the place where I spent 9 days on my trip in May of this year) to see what her summer rates are and she also gave me a great deal. The restaurant closes August 17th along with some of the rooms so her offer was a Beach-Rear room at $50 a night or a Seaside Villa Suite (with full kitchen so could cook my own meals if I wanted to save money) for $85 a night. The Villa Suites are up the beach a bit from where I stayed before and right by Chateau Relaxeau Caribe so I could still get to know the gang. This was the most economical BVI option.

Sebastians on the Beach

I then thought about sailing and how I have a standing invitation to join a fellow who is a full-time cruiser in the Caribbean. He is currently in Grenada, holed up for hurricane season. Grenada is somewhere I would love to visit, especially after reading An Embarrassment of Mangoes. There would be no cost to me for staying on the boat other than $200 a week or so for food. I checked into flights and the best I found was $1,100 going Toronto to Barbados to Grenada. I emailed the sailor and he was happy to have me come down but warned that the weather was such that we wouldn't be doing much sailing and so I would not get to learn how. Seeing how the point of going on such a trip would partially be to learn how to sail, this doesn't make much sense at this time.

Sailing the Caribbean

I considered a trip to Palm Springs to stay with the friends I stay with at Christmas as they always urge me to come back in the summer when the pool is open and it's lovely and hot. I checked flights and they were cheap at just under $300 return. So I sent a request down via email to see if the 'Red Room' was available and found out that it wasn't a good time for them. Plus the director friend I love to bits who hosts Christmas down there is in Los Angeles making a movie all of August so I wouldn't get to see him.

The Backyard of Where I Stay in Palm Springs

I have felt that my next big trip should be to England to go see family, especially an elderly auntie that has just moved into a retirement community. I talk to her every week or two on the phone and she really wants me to come and see her. The last time I was over there was 2008 and the last time I saw her was a year ago when she visited here. So I looked into flights there and the best I could do was $1,600+. YIKES!! So I emailed my travel agent and he found a flight for just under $700. This would be an economical option as, again, my costs would be limited once I arrived as I would stay with family. But eating out and other spending would be very costly due to the price of everything being so high and the exchange rate of $1.57=£1.00 - albeit much better than my last trip which was $2.20=£1.00. And it's a bit short notice for everyone who I would be staying with. But I'd really like to go so this is moving up to one of my most probable options.

A Bridlington Street, the Town My Aunty Lives In

I also toyed briefly with the idea of flying to Los Angeles to visit the set of Ant Farm, a show by the creator of Mr. Young (the show I work on). I thought it might be beneficial for me to shadow the script supervisor there and see how he does things. I actually had a telephone conversation with him earlier this week about timings as we were having some issues with that on our show. I mentioned to the AD on our show what I was thinking and before I knew it, she had arranged for me to stay with the people who rent the house she owns in Burbank, so accommodation would be free. Flights were cheap and I could rent a car for under $300 a week. But there were mitigating factors that made me decide against this option. I would have liked to do this though as I could also have met up with my director friend in LA for dinner and perhaps visited him on set at the old RKO studio lot, which would have been fantastic.

Hollywood, December 23, 2009

Then this week, summer arrived!!!!!! FINALLY!!!! The sky is blue, the sun is HOT, and British Columbia is showing it's best side. Do I really want to leave in the only good weather we get all year??? Especially to the Caribbean where it's hurricane season so probably leaving sunshine for rain? It rained for over a week on my recent trip there thus I found that there's not much to do but read when it's raining in the Caribbean.

And to be honest, I am a bit travel weary after just getting back from 5 weeks away. And by travel weary I mean airport weary. I used to love being in the airport, people watching, excited at the prospect of flying away, loved ones waiting with you until you went through the boarding gate. No hassles, no line ups, NO SECURITY CHECKS. I loved flying. Now no one can wait with you unless they are traveling too, line ups everywhere, the dreaded TSA minions, no decent food on the flights AND my feet swell to the size of loaves of bread on the long flights.

So what to do, what to do?

I have decided to stay home for most of the month. I need to save my money for a new (to me) vehicle as mine is on it's last legs. I also need to save up for the rest of my dental work. As much as I love being spontaneous and adventurous, sometimes practicality has to prevail. It's a bummer but that is the way it goes.

But I did book a flight today. Just an hour long each way. I am going up to Kelowna, the lake country, to spend 11 days with my daughter. She is working during the week but I am staying two weekends and I have a good friend up there who I miss dearly and love to bits so we will hang out as much as we can (and she has a pool!!!! - which she even lets me use when they're not home). Kelowna is the holiday destination for most Vancouverites and Albertan's so why not me?

Kelowna, Home of the OGOPOGO

I need to take advantage of the sunshine here while it lasts.

MORE NUMBERS

Here's a GREAT number - 15,000. As of today, that's how many visits there have been to my blog pages - fifteen thousand!!!!! I am quite seriously blown away by that. This blog is not even two years old, and has been on this site since the end of August 2009, just over a year and a half, so the count is actually from that point. Before then I had it on a site strictly for people traveling and, as my plans to do so long-term failed miserably and I ended up back home after five weeks, I didn't feel right continuing to blog on that site (although the blog is still there), you can take a look at it HERE if you like.

I was going to stop blogging entirely as the whole purpose was to document my adventures sailing around the Caribbean and didn't feel that my life back at home was interesting enough for anyone to want to read. But a few readers urged me to continue writing, one or two going so far as to saying it was like reading a good book that you never wanted to end. I have to admit, I was very flattered by those comments and so felt very encouraged. I moved the blog here and - I can't say 'the rest is history' because that is way too pretentious, but ... here we are.

I have struggled a bit to figure out what the theme of this blog should be since coming home and decided it's just about whatever I am doing at the time I write it. Mostly that has been about work and moaning about wanting to go back to the Caribbean. But, starting in two weeks, it will become all about the Caribbean again, at least for a month, as I travel back there finally. I am so looking forward to it... only 13 more days. Although, I won't be in the Caribbean until the week after but that's when I leave for the Mexico part of the trip. For that first week, my blog will be all about getting dental work done in Mexico. For now it's mostly about prepping for travel.

Another number today is ONE. One Peking duck and one bear on set today. A 'Cinnamon Bear'. The scariest animal I have worked with to date was about four years ago on Blood Ties with a black panther. The thing was huge - it had an enormous head. And glowing gold, sinister eyes. I expected the bear to be a lot scarier than the panther but he's actually really sweet and will do almost anything for a Tim Bit (doughnut hole).

This is a shot a crew member took of the panther on Blood Ties

I took this shot of the bears on our set - the real one is fairly obvious I would think

As I type this, I am sitting about 15 feet away from the cave set where the bear is. All that separates me from it is a thin set wall called a 'flat'. We have two trainers on set, one whose name is Houston. I do not want to hear 'Houston, we have a problem.'

IT'S ALL ABOUT NUMBERS

Today I am thinking a lot about numbers.

It's my beautiful daughter's 26th birthday today.

The show I am working on, Mr.Young, is YTV's #1 watched show!

Only 17 more days until I leave for my trip!!!

All very good numbers indeed!!

Some numbers I am thinking of that aren't so good:

My baby girl turning 26 today means that I am turning 53 in a few weeks, well into middle age, and it scares me. Life is going by way too fast!

How many days will it take for my mouth to feel better after the 3 days I will be in the dentist's chair?

Is $55 per day enough money for food and fun on my holiday (I won't be spending much in Mexico so that leaves more for the BVI)?

It's a lot of numbers.

FOLLOWING YOUR PASSION

I feel guilty that I haven't posted a whole lot on here lately. I see my readership drop off and I know that I am losing people every day. It's hard to know what to write about when all I am doing is working.

It's been a lot of fun though... the working thing. Such a great show; lots of laughs and really great people. I am sad when I see the number of binders (containing the lined script and my notes) lined up on the shelf near my desk at the office, each one representing a completed episode. We are off on haitus this week and when we return next week we start episode 118. How did it go by so fast? With one more week of hiatus in March, that leaves only 8 weeks before we wrap the show on April 15th. We are all hoping to hear, sooner than later, that we are coming back in July for season two.

So what to do in the two months off between April 15th and (hopefully) coming back in July? I could try to get on a couple of MOW's (movies of the week). But then life is all about work, work, work. And what do we work for if not to be able to follow our passions in our free time? My passions are my kids (who are all grown up and don't really want mom around all the time any more), my faith, writing, and travel. As you know I have been longing to get back to the Caribbean since I was there for my daughter's wedding in February 2009; I can't believe they've been married two years next weekend! But then - I can because it seems like a lifetime ago since I was in the beautiful British Virgin Islands. How I miss that place.

SO... SO.... I AM GOING BACK!!!!!!!! YIPPEEEE!!!!!!!

Just this past week, I booked a flight (FABULOUS price on Ticket Pilot - ended up being $860 including taxes!!!), one night on Tortola at Beef Island Guesthouse in beautiful Trellis Bay (I arrive too late for the ferry to Anegada), a 17 night stay at Neptune's Treasure on Anegada, a 9 night stay at Sebastian's On The Beach on Tortola, and one night on St. Thomas for the early flight home the following morning.

I arrive on Tortola to start my stay on my BIRTHDAY, April 28th. Best birthday present to myself ever ever ever.

Before I head to the BVI though, I am flying to Yuma Arizona where I will take a taxi to the Mexican border and walk across to the small town of Los Algodones, spend a week at a B&B, and get some much needed dental work done. I have wanted to do this for years. I hate the dentist; I have a very deep seated terror due to growing up in England where the dentistry hadn't changed much in 200 years (or so it felt like) and one dentist slapped me across the face when he was done (I was 6) for being the 'worst patient he had ever dealt with'. So I haven't been in the past 20 years or so, I only go when in a lot of pain. I have a few teeth that need fillings; I'd like to have the mercury fillings replaced with porcelain; I need some bridges; and I want some veneers on the top front teeth. I plan on using this year's tax return to pay for the work, so I will see how much I get back and how much the estimate is. But I have high hopes that I will be able to get most of it done as the prices are 70 - 75% LESS than here in Canada. I have spent the last year researching getting dental work done in Mexico and there are highly qualified dentists that cater to the US and Canadian people and we actually account for most, if not all in some cases, of their business. I have every confidence in the clinic I finally decided on, TLC Dental. I just hope I can behave in the chair and they don't feel like slapping me.

So ... this blog is about to get a whole lot more interesting in the months to come. I hope you all stay with me, and a heartfelt thank you to those of you who have. I appreciate each reader and I LOVE getting feed back.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!! FOR PETE'S SAKE!!

After a fun last week of work, where the story centered around a school fair with giant food, I was very thankful to go home to a weekend of getting ready for Palm Springs - FINALLY! It feels like I have waited for this trip for ever.

Saturday was all about getting the hair and nails looking worthy of the company I would be keeping in that sunny playground. I met a friend after for a drink at the swank new Fairmont Pacific Rim and then a marvelous dinner after at a cozy trendy spot called Burgoo Main Street. I had the French Onion Soup and it was divine; finished of with sharing their Toffee Pudding. Yum!!

Sunday was all about packing and buying trip insurance and a last minute Christmas present for someone at home. It was hard to know what to pack because the weather in Palm Springs is rain until Wednesday. So sad to hear that. And I always stress out about having overweight luggage and having to pay the ridiculous fees that incurs. It doesn't matter where I am going, sunny or cold, winter or summer, I can't seem to pack less than 50+lbs and I don't know why that is. It's frustrating and I have put it down to hair products. A can of hairspray and a can of mousse plus a jar of crude clay and then the blowdryer and two brushes... it all adds up. I don't ever pack clothes I don't need. I am careful to pack only one outfit per day, and sometimes not even that much. So I can't figure it out but it is what it is.

I couldn't sleep Sunday night. I went to bed at 10 because I was setting the alarm for 3:45 to be out of the door by 4:30. I tossed and turned until way after midnight and finally gave up and watched Survivor which I had downloaded earlier to watch on the plane. I lost battery power half way through the after show and so laid back down and dozed until the alarm went off.

On the drive to the border, snow flurries started and that freaked me out a bit because the highway down to Bellingham can get more wind and snow than the rest of the area and I didn't want it to be an issue. But I needn't have worried because it died off by the time I got to the border. The guard was a bit surly and wanted to know why I was going to Palm Springs at Christmas - didn't I like being home with my family at that time of year? How presumptuous of him to assume I even had any family - lots of people don't. I told him my kids were grown and scattered and I'd rather be in the sun than the cold. He handed my passport back and waved me through.

I finally understand why Ron Oliver complains about children on airplanes. The worst I have encountered in my travels is a kid kicking my seat, and don't mistake me - it drives me crazy when that happens - but it's easy to rectify. You just ask the parent to keep the kid from doing it and they usually do. But this time, there was a 19 month old girl with a temper sitting in the seat in front of me, and she had the sort of cry that is preceded by an ear-splitting scream. She cried almost the whole trip. I found myself too tired to read so gave up and tried to sleep and every time I would just nod off, she would start up. It was honestly so painful on the ear drums, I had to plug my ears. I won't ever fly without ear plugs again.

As we descended into PS airport, we flew through a huge bank of clouds and the turbulence was frightening. I don't mind turbulence as a rule, but this was the first time I had experienced it so close to the ground and so violent. I was truly afraid that we might bounce right off the tarmac. But we got through it right before landing. I could see that the rain had been heavy as there was a road blocked off by fire trucks and there was a washed out portion just beyond them. And all the roads were very wet. It's interesting to observe that they really aren't used to this much rain here as none of the houses have gutters and the sidewalks and pathways aren't angled for drainage so there's huge puddles and rivulets of water gathering everywhere.

Ron was busy with a conference call about post on his latest film so Eric picked me up at the airport and drove me to his parents house where Ron pulled up just as we arrived. Eric was worried Ron would berate him for being late for me when, in fact, the flight landed 20 minutes behind schedule due to strong winds on our nose. He ran over to Ron's car saying, "I wasn't late, I wasn't late!" So cute! I unpacked a few things and hung them to get rid of wrinkles and then Ron, Nelson and I piled into the car and drove out to Palm Desert to have lunch at Tommy Bahama's. We had lunch there last year and so I was excited to go there again. This time I had the fish tacos and they were delicious! We walked around a few of the shops there and I got the coolest gift for Shonah, my daughter. She is a Star Wars nut and a kitchen shop had a pancake flipper with Darth Vader's head as the flipper part. I got the last one. She'll love it. We stopped in at Trader Joe's for a few things and I was really looking forward to buying their Wasabi Almonds but it turns out they don't have them any more. I was so disappointed. We then headed to Ron's to hang out for a bit and Nelson had a nap, and then we went to meet Ada and Bob, my hosts, for BINGO at Alibi's. We munched on appetizers and played the cards and twice I came within one number of winning. It was a lot of fun and I basked in the deep pleasure of being back in Palm Springs with some of the best people I have ever known in my life. I feel very blessed.

Now if the rain would just stop and the sun would come out. I am seriously needing the warmth of some sunshine in my life.

Oh my goodness. A frog just started croaking somewhere outside my bedroom window. It really does need to stop raining!!

WHEN WILL IT STOP?

It doesn't seem to work for people in Canada, but for my American readers, you can go here to see a trailer for Smoke Screen (now I can tell you the title!), one of the movies I worked on this summer starring Jaime Pressly and Currie Graham, based on a book by Sandra Brown. It premieres Sunday, Nov. 21 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT on Lifetime Movie Network. Please watch it!

I have been kept very busy working on my new show, Mr. Young. What was supposed to be four day weeks with 10 hour days and every Monday off, has turned into four day weeks except for the pilot episode, which we shot last week, and was 5 days, and more like 12 to 15 hour days (not that I am complaining about the extra hours - being a union show, it means a much fatter paycheque). And any time there's a stat holiday, like the recently passed Remembrance Day, then we work the Monday to make up for it. So I have only had about two long weekends so far. Good news is, we are on hiatus this week so I get nine glorious days to recover before we start banking an episode.

Yep, banking an episode. I had to ask what that meant when I first read it on the shooting schedule.

It means that, in addition to our already packed four days, we will now start to shoot one third of another episode per week so that we can cram 26 episodes into 22 weeks. I have no idea how we are going to do this. What's worse, nor does the director who has been doing this for a decade. He says that he's never heard of such a thing and what probably looked like a good idea on paper to someone in an office is going to be next to impossible to accomplish. I say lets not accomplish it.

I remember when MOW's (movies of the week) were shot in 21 days. Then they dropped it to 18 and we all freaked out at first but managed to get it done quite nicely. So the next thing we know, they dropped it to 15 days. We really freaked out at that and yet somehow still managed to get it done. Then I got a call to work on a show that was going to be shot in 12 days - two 6 day weeks. I wasn't looking forward to that schedule but needed the work so took it. It was a total grind but we got it done and, suddenly, what was supposed to be a 'one off' ended up being the norm for that production manager. Then, a year later, I got a call to work on two shows shooting back to back, each in 10 days. Yep - two MOW's in one day less than it first took us to do one. If it wasn't for the fact that we had an incredible director who not only knew how to be very efficient with his shots, but had a fabulous sense of humour that kept the whole crew happy, I don't think it could have been done. Or, maybe it could have but the end product would have been total crap and we would have been a miserable bunch doing it.

***Let me just say here that two of the movies I worked on this summer, the above mentioned Smoke Screen, and On Strike for Christmas were shot in 15 days each. MUCH more civilized and you can actually make a good MOW in that time. Thank you Jim and Damian!!! (I love those guys.)

So now here we are, once again attempting to accomplish the impossible and, if we do manage it, I can just see season two being two episodes per week. We HAVE to stop keeping up with everything producers throw at us or we will all be in an early grave with the stress and lack of sleep... not that it isn't happening anyway. I am shocked at the amount of 'In Memoriam' notices I get from the union and at the ages of those who have passed. No wonder we have a healthy retirement fund - no one lives long enough to collect! I was mentioning it to someone on set and they said that IATSE members have the shortest lifespan of members of any union in North America. That's sobering.

On a much lighter note, look at these awesome candy apples I saw in Vancouver when I was out for lunch with my daughter and her hubby right before Halloween. I didn't buy one but I thought they were great.










And here's three guys from work filling in for cheerleaders while a shot is being rehearsed. Bob - your pom poms are backwards!

FIRST THREE IN THE CAN

Let me say right off the top that I am sorry the formatting of this post is such a mess. It used to look great, when I first posted it, but something has happened to my formatting since and it has screwed up the layout of a lot of my postings. I started to work through them all to fix it but after hours of working and not getting half way through, I gave up. I don't know that many people are reading these older posts and certainly not enough to warrant such a huge amount of my time dedicated to repairing them so - sorry - but it is what it is and I am sure there will be more as you work your way through the blog entirely. They get back on track by fall of 2011 when I worked with the new formatting. (Dec 31,2011)

I am loving working on this new show. Not the least of why is because we are indoors, relatively warm and very dry. Last week, Stargate SG1 was filming outside on the backlot beside us well into the night and it was a cold night. I tried not to feel smug as I got into my car at the reasonable hour of 9:30pm knowing I'd be fast asleep long before those guys wrapped.

I said relatively warm because on Tuesday and Wednesday we are blocking all day and not shooting and the guys leave the big bay doors open so that they can move in and out of the studio freely with supplies. It makes it kind of cold on the stage. So on those days I wear a warm sweater or turtle-neck. On Thursday and Friday we are shooting so the doors are closed and it gets really hot under the lights, then I wear light clothing - basically my summer tops.

We have three shows 'in the can', as it were - although it's more like 'on the disk' as it's recorded to a chip similar to the one in a digital camera. All of the cast are great and so are the writers and producers and most all of the crew. It makes for a very pleasant and even fun environment. Our director for the first four episodes is Adam Weissman and he has been wonderful. He is very patient with all of us as we learn this new format and I haven't seen him lose his temper or yell once. Well, that's not entirely true. He surprised me and yelled for everyone to be quiet one day while he was trying to sort out the blocking of a scene. The set was full of background actors - all kids as it was in the high school cafeteria - and they were having a grand time yakking. But, other than that one time, he's never once yelled or lost it.

Shooting in front of a live audience is great. It brings an energy to the process that you just don't get making a movie. It's very satisfying when they laugh at all the right places without being prompted. Although, last week most of the jokes were falling flat. There was a bit of laughter but nothing like we had experienced from the other two audiences in the preceding weeks. I was a bit worried that maybe the jokes just weren't all that funny. Then we were informed that the whole center section of the audience was comprised of a group of students from an ESL school. That explained a lot. Even if their English was good enough to understand the language, humour often does not translate well from one culture to another. They did laugh at the sight gags, however. So all was not lost. But I don't think the audience coordinator will be making that mistake twice.









1)Dueling Booms.
2)The Audience.
3)Actors on Set.
4)Daria our very talented Editor
































Last week we had visitors to the set. A really gorgeous teen-age girl and a set of teen twin boys. I had no idea who they were, but the producer/head writer seemed to know them well. I had to ask someone who they were and it turns out the guys were Zach and Cody and the girl was Debby Ryan. I had no idea. I'd never even heard of the show until this show came my way... the 1st AD gave me the paperwork from a show so I could see how it was done and it was from Suite Life on Deck, and it meant nothing to me. My daughter who works for Disney was disgusted to hear it. Oh well!


A set of blackboards that I came up with and wrote for a series of scenes set in a detention room that was also an English classroom. And a tease for a GREAT scene.

This week we are on hiatus as the writers get caught up with scripts for our next three episodes. So I have been taking advantage of living close to downtown Vancouver (I am cat/apartment-sitting for a month for my friend who lives at the Athlete's Village) by taking the Aqua Bus from Science World, which is right next to where I am living, over to Granville Island and downtown. It has been miserable weather though and so not as much fun as it could be in the sunshine - until today! We had a gorgeous day today and I had plans to have lunch with my daughter who works at a daycare just across the way. I picked up sandwiches at Quiznos and we sat on a bench overlooking the water and had a lovely visit. I cherish those sorts of moments with my kids as they just don't happen very often anymore. We used to pack a lunch and head to the beach a lot when they lived at home. I really miss those days.

1.A Grey Day to Start
2.A Pretty Courtyard Downtown Vancouver
3.The View While I Wait Outside the Daycare for Ashleigh


I walked for HOURS between yesterday and today. All thanks to a tailor who has no concept of time. I bought a dress that I wanted shortening and he was highly recommended to me. It takes 20 minutes to walk from Yale Town, where I get off of the Aqua Bus, to where he is. Yesterday I had an appointment in Yale Town to get my hair cut so I left early enough to walk up to the tailors and drop off the dress. Only, when I got there at 11:00, there was a note on the door saying that he would return at 1:00. I couldn't wait so I walked back down to Yale Town and had my hair done. I walked back up when I was all cut and colored, and dropped off the dress. He said I could pick it up the next day at 1:00. So today, I left early so I could pick it up before my daughter got her lunch break at 2:00. I climbed the two flights of stairs to his little workshop, and the door was closed with the same note on it. Only this time it was 1:05. I waited until 1:20 and he still hadn't showed up so I walked all the way back to Yale Town to the daycare center, stopping to buy lunch on the way. When lunch was over and Ashleigh had to be back at work, I walked the 20 minutes back to the tailor and picked up the dress. By my calculations, that is 2 hours and 40 minutes of walking just to get the dress hemmed. He did a great job, but I won't ever go back there. I need to know that people will be punctual and be where they say they will be.








The ride back on the AquaBus was at twilight and was lovely. It's great to be on the water, even if that's the only way I can do it. At the Yale Town dock, there's a huge boat called After Eight that is almost always at the dock. It has a full-time crew of eight and all they do all day is clean and polish. It looks gorgeous. And it's a crying shame that it never gets to go any further than B.C. If it was mine, we'd be on our way to the Caribbean by now.


1)After Eight-The Boat I Wish I Boarded. 2)The Boat I Boarded. 3)Science World and The Athletes Village on the Right. 4)Science World and The City

WORKING ON MR.YOUNG

I spent Wednesday and Thursday at the studio in Burnaby for the production of Mr.Young. Everyone seems really great and I think this is going to be a fun show to work on.

I am breaking new ground for Vancouver Script Supervisors. The AD (assistant director) on the show has worked on sit-coms in LA and handed me two scripts and paperwork from one of the shows she recently did. What a huge help it is to me. I went through it and it answered a lot of my questions, and those it didn't - she did. Also, a script supervisor from LA answered my plea for help on a discussion board I belong to with her phone number and two words - 'call me'. So I did and she was immensely helpful. Thank-you Jane Slater! But what both of them said, which has helped me more than they know is, "This is your deal. You're the first script supervisor up here to work on a sit-com. You set it up however you want and just make sure that the editor can work with it. You're the boss - this is your world - just go for it." So that's exactly what I have done and I am thrilled with the results so far.

This won't mean anything to anyone except another script supervisor but I have to say it anyway because I am so excited... I have halved the paperwork involved. HALVED. There's no facing pages; just the lined script and the shooting log - which I have completely revamped for a multi-camera format; there's no detailed descriptions of what each camera is seeing - the editor doesn't need it as they get a line cut feed (basically that's a feed of what the cut should roughly look like generated by the technician in the control room who is switching the feed between the four cameras as we shoot per the directors instructions at the previous days technical rehearsals); there is only one line on the script page for four cameras and it goes straight through all dialogue and action with no squiggles needed because all four cameras see everything - there's one line for each take, and the line starts over at pick-up spots; there's still a DPR at the end of the day, but only two days out of four (as we only shoot two days). There's lots of notes to take on the other two days for changes in the script as we block and rehearse. I will go over the notes with the writer's assistant and the script will then be rewritten to reflect the changes. Rewrites happen a LOT and so I don't do a one line synopsis - I go off of the AD's. I don't do a pre-timing, I time at the table read-through on Tuesdays and when we reherse; I've created a form that has all timings for each scene so that the writers and director can see how it all compares and make changes accordingly. Basically it all means that the workload is drastically - DRASTICALLY - reduced for me. I heard the director say that sit-coms are the best kept secret in Hollywood and I am starting to believe it!!

Here's a look at our sound stage, still under construction. We did a test taping of one scene last night. It went great. We film before a live studio audience on Friday afternoons at 5. The audience arrives at 4. If you want to be part of our audience you can get the information here. We welcome large groups such as school drama classes, etc. Bus pick-up will be arranged.

1)My rolling podium where I will do all of my work from.
2)School Courtyard
3) Down the Soundstage