Guild Shoot Season 4 - Day Eleven

Back on the Guild set for Day 11 of a 15 day shoot. I have to say this was one of the funnest days so far. The scene they were shooting is one of the funniest and coolest scenes of the season. I got a bunch of cast and crew interviews done, it was a very productive day.

Visting Family

Today Harry and I went down to visit my family (Dad, Brother, Sister-in-law and Nephew). It's been a few weeks and I like to see these guys as much as we can. When we got there my mom was there visiting as well so it was great to spend some time with her as well. We visited with everyone for a hour or so and then took dad out to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant Hong Kong's. After that we had planned to take Dad to a movie but he had plans to play poker later that day so instead we headed back to their house and visited with family for a few more hours before heading home.

It's always great seeing my family and now that I'm an Uncle I love seeing Kenobi as much as I can as he is growing up so fast. He'll be 1 years old next month, I can't believe how times flies.

Star Wars Love

Today marks the 30 anniversary of Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back. This is my favorite of the first trilogy and one of my all time favorite movies. I was 9 about to turn 10 when I first saw this. My first viewing of this movie is one of the most vivid childhood memories that I have. I remember who I was with, where I was when I saw it and how it made me feel.

The original Star Wars shaped my childhood, it made me the lover of Science Fiction and Fantasy. I wouldn't be the GEEK I am today if it wasn't for Star Wars. So when I heard there was a sequel being made I was over the moon. Luckily my Dad was an avid fan (we saw Star Wars 14 times in the drive in theater) so we were there on opening day to see Empire. It's hard to put into words what I felt while watching this movie... it was pure ecstasy. I was transported to this wonderful world of good and evil, creatures and space battles and I loved every minute of it.

Nothing will every compare the same feeling as seeing Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, this was before computers, internet and mass media. Movie openings were EVENTS, Going into these movies you knew nothing (at least I didn't as I was still very young). These movies were the forefather of summer blockbusters and nothing will every take their places.

Happy Anniversary Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back.. thank you for allowing me to take a journey to a galaxy far, far away

Ironman II

It's been months since we've been to the movies so I was excited to finally be going. There are several movies on my list that I want to see before they leave the theater (Clash of the Titans, Kick Ass, How to Train your Dragon and Ironman II) So today we saw Ironman II. I was a huge fan on the first Ironman so my hopes were high for the sequel and it didn't disappoint. The story was good and the special effects were EXCELLENT!!! I love these kinds of movie as they require very little thought. You just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Here's a synopsis of Ironman 2:

With the world now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire inventor Tony Stark faces pressure from the government, the press, and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, along with Pepper Potts, and James "Rhodey" Rhodes at his side, must forge new alliances - and confront powerful enemies.

Be sure to stick around after the credits for something special.

Vehicle Maintenance, Lunch and a Movie

Today we got up early because Harry had to take his truck into the Dodge dealer for it's 12,000 mile check up. He likes to take it to the dealer he bought it from which is in Canoga Park. We left the house around 9:45am as we both had to get gas before heading down. Harry drove his truck and I drove my jeep. We dropped off his truck at 11am and they said it would be a few hours before it was ready.

I needed to get one of my tires fixed as I had a flat tire last week and was using my spare which didn't look so hot either. I went to Just Tires in Reseda as I have used them in the past. I was told that my flat tire was not repairable as the puncture was on the side. So in the end I bought two new tires. They replaced my front two with the new tires. Took my front tires and put them on the back and took the one good back tire and I'm not using it as my spare... all in all what I thought would be a $30 fix turned into a $250 fix. Things never go as planned.

After that we decided to go to lunch. We headed toward Wienersnitizal but I then suggested Wood Ranch at the Northridge Mall as it's a place that we both love and have only been to a few times. We got there, parked and went in and noticed that the entire waiting staff were in the lobby area. We were informed that the resturant was closed due to something. They gave us some coupons and said they didn't know when they would be open again. We then decided to go to Claim Jumpers as it was near by and again it's a place that we both like but very rarely go to. I got a chicken lunch when Harry got a steak lunch. Harry really loved his lunch and my was very good but you know how it is when you're in the mood for something but don't get it. Well I was really in the mood for Wood Ranch chicken, baked beans and their incredible rolls so lunch was a big disappointing to me.

After the lunch we headed over the Lens crafters as I have been wanting to get new eye glasses as I get occasional headaches and I think it's because my prescription has changed. Anyways we get in there and find out that the next appointment is 2 1/2 hours away, so instead we head to the movie theater in the mall area. There wasn't really anything that both Harry and I wanted to see playing at the time. We headed to a larger movie theater in Winnetka and found a showing of Ironman II playing in less then 20 minutes of us arriving. So we saw Ironman II (which I'll review in my next blog). After the movie we headed back to the Dodge dealer and picked up Harry's truck, which we found out there are several recall issues he will need to deal with so we have to take it back in a few weeks.

All in all thought we spent a few hundred dollars today it was nice to just hang out and have lunch and a movie with the Hubby.. we both agreed that we are going to try and do this at least once a month.

Guild Shoot Season 4 - Day Ten

Around 3:30 I got a call from Brian who informed me that they were almost done shooting and if I wanted to interview Sean (Director) I would need to get down there soon. So I took a quick shower, packed up my equipment headed to set. Got there around 4:30, they were still filming so I hung out with Kim and Greg for a bit until they were done. I then helped to wrap the location and finally got to sit down with Sean and talk about the past four days of shooting. We now have two days off and start our final days of Season Four shoot of The Guild.

Stuff Around the House

I got up around 9am and checked my email, I still hadn't gotten my call sheet for today so I wasn't sure if they were going to allow me on set today. Since they are in very close quarters they are having a skeleton crew Around 11am I got a call my producer Kim who explain what was happening today on set and said I could come by if I wanted to. I then got a text from Brian, who is doing the The Guild EPK and he said I should come in later in the day as not much is really happening. So instead I watched a bit of TV, caught up with some emails and yard work.

My Unexpected Day Off

Well I never made it to the set of The Guild today as planned.. luckily Brian got some good stuff for in my absence. Instead I caught up on some everyday "life" things (emails, housework, tv). I also worked on re-designing my Knights of the Guild podcast logo.. what do you think? (Click on the image to enlarge)

Still haven't gotten a call sheet for tomorrow so I'm still unsure if I'm going to set tomorrow or not. Guess will find out when I wake up tomorrow.

No Ordinary Family & The Cape

Two new Fantasy/Scifi/Geeky TV series coming this fall/midseason.

First one is on ABC this fall called No Ordinary Family, from the preview it reminds me of the Pixar movie The Incredibles.



The second one is on NBC and will be coming midseason and it's called The Cape. This one reminds me of a Batman kind of superhero. Don't have super powers but has cool techy toys and awesome fighting ablity.



Both shows look AWESOME but most of these shows don't make it pass a season. Let's hope these new shows can capture a large audience.

Guild Shoot Season 4 - Day Nine

Well today I was asked not to go to set as it's a smaller set and space is limited. I was bummed as I enjoy being on set but understand as Brian the EPK guy is going to set today and I'll be going to set tomorrow while he takes the day off. Brian plans on interviewing a cast member and I really wanted to be there for that so Kim gave me the okay to join him when he does this. So until I get that call I am at home working on organizing all my audio bites from the past eight days of shooting. So much good stuff.. have to listen to them and place them in the appropriate episode folders. This will make it easier when I build the "companion" podcast for the new episodes of The Guild.

Guild Shoot Season 4 - Day Eight

On location again today but this time with no extras and man is it quiet on set today. Only a few cast members, but the same large crew but the feeling is much more subdued. Just me today on set as Jenni had to work. I got a few good interviews and watched some fun scenes being shot. We had a really good lunch today (not that we normally don't) but today's was particular good. After the shoot we wrapped from that location and man it was exhausting. On to another location tomorrow.

Guild Shoot Season 4 - Day Seven

Another day on location with a ton of extras. Working with the extras is always fun as all are fans of the show, most are not actors just people who want to be part of The Guild experience. The entire cast was on set today which is always fun when you can get the core six cast members together. Besides the fact that Jenni and I got several great interviews we were both extras in a fun scene along with Marshall (Jeff Lewis' wife). We had tons of fun between takes. Not sure how much you'll see of us, but it was still fun to take part as it's a tradition for me as I have been in episodes from Season 2 & 3 and now hopefully 4.