February 8, 2010, 9:52 PM |
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Flying into Vancouver takes your breath away. It is a utopia inspired view, a stunning mix of perfect pine tree islands, shimmering blue water and mountains whose peaks are so perfectly snow capped that it truly borders on fantasy. Why is it that I always get stuck in holding patterns in Jersey but never above something like this? 

The people of Vancouver are very friendly. It’s a genuine congeniality that you know comes from the heart and not because they have to be nice to you. I guess it’s the opposite of Paris. I had recently read an article that the Paris tourism board was spending millions on a campaign not to attract travelers as is usually the case but to convince their own Parisians to smile. Vancouver is a city often studied for its urban renewal, it should also be studied for its friendliness. On my day off I was taking the bus and missed my stop which took me over the bridge and into an area where there was no station or place to buy a return ticket, I also had no small change. I waited for the bus and when I told him that I missed my stop he said, “c’mon the ride’s on me.” (?!?!) That act of kindness sort of sums up the experience you have with Vancouverites.
When things go wrong they really go wrong. Even in Canada I am feeling the frustration of communications. I forgot my Verizon hotspot would be an added charge “abroad” and am now facing the possibility of my bill being in the thousands of dollars. I tried to access the hotel’s wireless at 15 dollars a day only to find the system could not detect my room which had me on the phone for nearly 1/2 an hour talking thru the problem with a gentleman in India. He fixed the problem and credited me two days of free wireless but then my computer acted up to the point where the screen and buttons would freeze. Making posting and responding to twitter a lengthy affair that surpassed an hour and ended with me slamming my laptop on the table. Cell phone costs … well I just have no idea. And by day four I bought a calling card since my skype would not be an option with my exorbitant Verizon and frozen hotel hotspot. The calling card is 5 dollars for 600 minutes — a virtual steal but when I go to check my messages — well I can’t. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.
Tonight ends with us shooting the fireworks competition on English Bay. We were all very excited for this international competition but we had no idea that mother nature would put on a spectacle that man could never match. As the sun went down brilliant hues of color swept across the sky and saturated the earth with an orange as deep as children’s cough syrup and a saffron yellow so intense you felt like you could just open your mouth and drink it in. The lightning started and warmed up our voices with the oohs and aahs we had reserved for the fireworks display.
I will always be endeared to the city of Vancouver not solely because of its grand natural beauty but because of its devotion to swings. Whenever I walk thru a park that is devoid of a set of swings I grow slightly suspicious of the people who live there. No fun, I think — too serious. I have never grown too old to think that I don’t deserve a good swing and the sets found in Stanley Park were among the best I have ever enjoyed. Tall as a Giraffe — a serious swing that provides not just a quick back and forth but a full voyage of movement. When other adults see me they join me, too.
We are here for the upcoming Olympics of course and Winter Olympic athletes are hard to come by in July. But I get a twitter that speed skater Chris Needham tweeted that he saw me and my crew shooting at Granville Market. So I tweeted him and then he tweeted me and Voila! I got to train with the US Olympic Speed skating team!
The flight to Whistler was even more amazing than I could have imagined it to be. We flew low over Horseshoe Bay passed the Beverly Hill style homes. Then gained about 5,000 ft of elevation to get above the mt range that hid like hallowed Easter egg jewels of nature like volcanoes, buttes and age old glaciers that reminded me of Aztec homes carved out of blue ice.
I’m so excited to finally be going to Whistler. As a skier, Whistler is the talked about winter destination and everyone who ever goes there just gushes about it. It’s the summer which of course puts a slight damper on my ski plans but I love mountains in the warm weather months too. I’m always in a great mood when surrounded by mountains, my emotions can’t help but strive to reach the same height of those exalted peaks and so I always feel like I am walking on air. We don’t have a day off while in Whistler which is a big bummer but we do end up having an early shooting day so when we’re done by 5pm I race back to my room to head out for a beautiful smile inducing hike.
The next day we are shooting the Downhill Mountain biking segment. I really love being on a bike but am a little nervous about tackling the vertical ski trails. This is a serious sport here and there are just as many bikers in the summer as skiers in the winter. A serious sport calls for serious gear and I become even more nervous when I see the safety equipment I have to put on. I know I’m going to be wearing a helmet but a chestplate? Should I really be doing this? As we go down what is considered a beginner trail — Easy Does It, I think the name is — I can’t imagine going on the intermediate trails. This is hard! There’s also very little pedaling and all breaking so by the end of the ride my hands have seized up into two carpel tunnel nubs. I think I’ll stick to riding in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, where my rides usually end with less pain and an ice cream sandwich.
Posted By: samantha brown
February 8, 2010, 8:52 PM |
Comments (4,660) |
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Flying into Vancouver takes your breath away. It is a utopia inspired view, a stunning mix of perfect pine tree islands, shimmering blue water and mountains whose peaks are so perfectly snow capped that it truly borders on fantasy. Why is it that I always get stuck in holding patterns in Jersey but never above something like this? ?¢‚Ǩ¬®?¢‚Ǩ¬®The people of Vancouver are very friendly. It’s a genuine congeniality that you know comes from the heart and not because they have to be nice to you. I guess it’s the opposite of Paris. I had recently read an article that the Paris tourism board was spending millions on a campaign not to attract travelers as is usually the case but to convince their own Parisians to smile. Vancouver is a city often studied for its urban renewal, it should also be studied for its friendliness. On my day off I was taking the bus and missed my stop which took me over the bridge and into an area where there was no station or place to buy a return ticket, I also had no small change. I waited for the bus and when I told him that I missed my stop he said, “c’mon the ride’s on me.” (?!?!) That act of kindness sort of sums up the experience you have with Vancouverites.
When things go wrong they really go wrong. Even in Canada I am feeling the frustration of communications. I forgot my Verizon hotspot would be an added charge “abroad” and am now facing the possibility of my bill being in the thousands of dollars. I tried to access the hotel’s wireless at 15 dollars a day only to find the system could not detect my room which had me on the phone for nearly 1/2 an hour talking thru the problem with a gentleman in India. He fixed the problem and credited me two days of free wireless but then my computer acted up to the point where the screen and buttons would freeze. Making posting and responding to twitter a lengthy affair that surpassed an hour and ended with me slamming my laptop on the table. Cell phone costs … well I just have no idea. And by day four I bought a calling card since my skype would not be an option with my exorbitant Verizon and frozen hotel hotspot. The calling card is 5 dollars for 600 minutes — a virtual steal but when I go to check my messages — well I can’t. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.
Tonight ends with us shooting the fireworks competition on English Bay. We were all very excited for this international competition but we had no idea that mother nature would put on a spectacle that man could never match. As the sun went down brilliant hues of color swept across the sky and saturated the earth with an orange as deep as children’s cough syrup and a saffron yellow so intense you felt like you could just open your mouth and drink it in. The lightning started and warmed up our voices with the oohs and aahs we had reserved for the fireworks display.
I will always be endeared to the city of Vancouver not solely because of its grand natural beauty but because of its devotion to swings. Whenever I walk thru a park that is devoid of a set of swings I grow slightly suspicious of the people who live there. No fun, I think — too serious. I have never grown too old to think that I don’t deserve a good swing and the sets found in Stanley Park were among the best I have ever enjoyed. Tall as a Giraffe — a serious swing that provides not just a quick back and forth but a full voyage of movement. When other adults see me they join me, too.
We are here for the upcoming Olympics of course and Winter Olympic athletes are hard to come by in July. But I get a twitter that speed skater Chris Needham tweeted that he saw me and my crew shooting at Granville Market. So I tweeted him and then he tweeted me and Voila! I got to train with the US Olympic Speed skating team!
The flight to Whistler was even more amazing than I could have imagined it to be. We flew low over Horseshoe Bay passed the Beverly Hill style homes. Then gained about 5,000 ft of elevation to get above the mt range that hid like hallowed Easter egg jewels of nature like volcanoes, buttes and age old glaciers that reminded me of Aztec homes carved out of blue ice.
I’m so excited to finally be going to Whistler. As a skier, Whistler is the talked about winter destination and everyone who ever goes there just gushes about it. It’s the summer which of course puts a slight damper on my ski plans but I love mountains in the warm weather months too. I’m always in a great mood when surrounded by mountains, my emotions can’t help but strive to reach the same height of those exalted peaks and so I always feel like I am walking on air. We don’t have a day off while in Whistler which is a big bummer but we do end up having an early shooting day so when we’re done by 5pm I race back to my room to head out for a beautiful smile inducing hike.
The next day we are shooting the Downhill Mountain biking segment. I really love being on a bike but am a little nervous about tackling the vertical ski trails. This is a serious sport here and there are just as many bikers in the summer as skiers in the winter. A serious sport calls for serious gear and I become even more nervous when I see the safety equipment I have to put on. I know I’m going to be wearing a helmet but a chestplate? Should I really be doing this? As we go down what is considered a beginner trail — Easy Does It, I think the name is — I can’t imagine going on the intermediate trails. This is hard! There’s also very little pedaling and all breaking so by the end of the ride my hands have seized up into two carpel tunnel nubs. I think I’ll stick to riding in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, where my rides usually end with less pain and an ice cream sandwich.
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December 18, 2009, 5:30 PM |
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We actually shot the first half of this last year in December thinking it would just be a ½ hour episode. After the editors put it together we all realized that it would be great to do a full hour and turn it from a Great Weekend shoot to my very own holiday special. I can’t tell you what a threshold it is when you have YOU’RE VERY OWN Holiday show. I felt like I had entered into an elite group of people before me: Johnny Mathis, Kathie Lee Gifford …The Muppets. Alas, there was no singing around the fire for this one on account of we couldn’t afford the rights to any Christmas music and my Brooklyn apartment that I share with my husband of three years does not have a fireplace. When we shot the scene for my party in my home my cameraman actually had shot Kathie Lee’s Holiday Special for Home and Garden TV. He went on about how amazingly huge her house is. Sorry, don’t make Kathie Lee money and I quite like the fact that when I am watching TV and need something from the fridge I only have to walk ten feet.
One of the highlights of the show for me was to show off Dyker Heights Lights. This is a quintessentially Italian neighborhood. Every Holiday season the entire neighborhood gets all decked out for Christmas. Growing up there you always saw that ONE home that was outlined in twinkling lights which displayed the Nativity scene, Frosty the Snowman, bundled up penguins and Santa and his eight tiny reindeer all on the same front lawn. Now imagine house after house of the store bought spectacle. That’s what I love about it. It’s not the 65-foot Norwegian spruce in Rockefeller Center, or the million dollar windows of Saks and Bergdorf’s. These homes are the efforts of the little guy-with no corporate funded budget, market focus groups, or degree’s in design but what they accomplish is nothing short of holiday magic.
Watching the show you may recognize my friend Liz who is making her now third appearance on the shows with me: Girlfriend weekend in Miami, Cruise, and now the Holiday Special. She’s the best and I always love having her on because on top of everything — beauty, razor sharp wit — she’s a complete professional. I remember while shooting the cruise special I was at a loss for words due to being out in the sun all day. When I hesitated and then went blank she naturally took over and resumed the conversation. It was a small moment but I remember how grateful I was to be with someone who just knows how to keep the energy and pace going. We had a great time together helping sort coats for the NY Cares coat drive. Liz heads up a group and I helped last year so we thought it would be a nice addition to the show.
Another very nice addition to the show was the Indego Africa Fundraiser. Indego Africa is a non-profit that helps African women compete in the marketplace and alleviate poverty thru fair trade. I got to lend my speaking skills to the auction which I enjoyed until I was the thing being auctioned. I actually had to auction off a dance with me. Sometimes I think my producers hate me and just want me to wither in front of the camera. I started the bid at 25 cents. I believe a dance with me went for 80 dollars so I was happy and humiliated at the same time.
All in all both years of shooting this special-were just that …special. It was great to be home as it always is during a great time of year.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Posted By: samantha brown
December 18, 2009, 4:30 PM |
Comments (5,214) |
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We actually shot the first half of this last year in December thinking it would just be a ½ hour episode. After the editors put it together we all realized that it would be great to do a full hour and turn it from a Great Weekend shoot to my very own holiday special. I can’t tell you what a threshold it is when you have YOU’RE VERY OWN Holiday show. I felt like I had entered into an elite group of people before me: Johnny Mathis, Kathie Lee Gifford …The Muppets. Alas, there was no singing around the fire for this one on account of we couldn’t afford the rights to any Christmas music and my Brooklyn apartment that I share with my husband of three years does not have a fireplace. When we shot the scene for my party in my home my cameraman actually had shot Kathie Lee’s Holiday Special for Home and Garden TV. He went on about how amazingly huge her house is. Sorry, don’t make Kathie Lee money and I quite like the fact that when I am watching TV and need something from the fridge I only have to walk ten feet.
One of the highlights of the show for me was to show off Dyker Heights Lights. This is a quintessentially Italian neighborhood. Every Holiday season the entire neighborhood gets all decked out for Christmas. Growing up there you always saw that ONE home that was outlined in twinkling lights which displayed the Nativity scene, Frosty the Snowman, bundled up penguins and Santa and his eight tiny reindeer all on the same front lawn. Now imagine house after house of the store bought spectacle. That’s what I love about it. It’s not the 65-foot Norwegian spruce in Rockefeller Center, or the million dollar windows of Saks and Bergdorf’s. These homes are the efforts of the little guy-with no corporate funded budget, market focus groups, or degree’s in design but what they accomplish is nothing short of holiday magic.
Watching the show you may recognize my friend Liz who is making her now third appearance on the shows with me: Girlfriend weekend in Miami, Cruise, and now the Holiday Special. She’s the best and I always love having her on because on top of everything — beauty, razor sharp wit — she’s a complete professional. I remember while shooting the cruise special I was at a loss for words due to being out in the sun all day. When I hesitated and then went blank she naturally took over and resumed the conversation. It was a small moment but I remember how grateful I was to be with someone who just knows how to keep the energy and pace going. We had a great time together helping sort coats for the NY Cares coat drive. Liz heads up a group and I helped last year so we thought it would be a nice addition to the show.
Another very nice addition to the show was the Indego Africa Fundraiser. Indego Africa is a non-profit that helps African women compete in the marketplace and alleviate poverty thru fair trade. I got to lend my speaking skills to the auction which I enjoyed until I was the thing being auctioned. I actually had to auction off a dance with me. Sometimes I think my producers hate me and just want me to wither in front of the camera. I started the bid at 25 cents. I believe a dance with me went for 80 dollars so I was happy and humiliated at the same time.
All in all both years of shooting this special-were just that …special. It was great to be home as it always is during a great time of year.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
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September 8, 2009, 3:10 PM |
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I have found it very hard to convince people that I’m a nature girl and that I have absolutely no problems roughing it. This maybe because I spent a good part of my career with the Travel Channel staying at exceptionally luxurious hotels where I would indulge in their award winning food, wine and spa treatments. With that show I certainly grew a fondness for a nice bed and a deep soaking tub but I wouldn’t wither away if I didn’t have that. So let’s just say I am really excited, no overjoyed, about this trip. Even though I love the outdoors I never camped — my family preferred the kidney shaped pools and scratchy small bath towels of Motor Lodges. But I always thought that I could really get to love camping if I just had the chance.
Before we start our next few days of camping we are staying at a beautiful hotel called the Lodge at Buckberry Creek. Located on top of a mountain it looks out over a beautiful forest with large balconies and even larger fireplaces. First order of business is to go for a quick hike to absorb the outdoors, next is to buy beer and wine for the crew. I headed down to Gatlinburg to find a liquor store when I brought my order to the counter the older gentleman asked me if I was going to Dolly Parton’s parade that night in Pigeon’s Ford. “Is Dolly Parton going to be there?” — ask a stupid question — “well, yeah” he said, “that’s why they call it Dolly Parton’s Parade.” I deserved that.
Gatlinburg is an interesting place. Considered the gateway to the Smoky Mountains, an area of extreme natural beauty, there’s actually nothing natural about it. In fact I needed to buy a few more pieces of outdoor clothing and foolishly thought I could pick something up in town but driving down main street with its fudge shops, t-shirt emporiums and wax museums, I realized that it’s easier to buy camping equipment on the island of Manhattan. Unless of course the t-shirt which listed why a six pack of beer was better than a man had wicking technology. The one place we all desperately wanted to go for dinner was a place called Cooters with a replica of the General Lee out front. We never did make it.
Morning at the trailhead we all feel like we are school kids away from our parents on a field trip. We have a very challenging hike ahead of us — 7 hours to the top of the over 6,000 foot Mt. LeConte. I think I practically skipped the first third of it I was so happy. Rory on camera and Damian on sound have a more challenging task due to the added weight of their gear but everyone is pretty fit. Even Christina my intrepid stylist is hiking along. There of course is some concern about “my look” a large hike followed by camping with no water or electricity means no shower or blow dryer. Let’s just say I don’t wake up looking like I do on camera — no where near it in fact. Actually my skin’s pretty good, I don’t need or like a lot of make-up but my hair is another story. Not blessed with beautiful hair when I wake up I could pass for one of the members of 80′s rock bands like Poison or Flock of Seagulls. So in Christina’s bag she has packed dry shampoo, Velcro rollers and hairspray. Items you would never find at an R.E.I store.
We all did very well on our hike until I would say the last hour. The trail was at its steepest and 18 inches of snow had dropped two days before making it a bit more strenuous. The good news was the snow had forced a group of hikers to cancel their trip so a large cabin opened up and now the entire crew would be sleeping in a cabin as opposed to a bear shelter (???? — I didn’t ask). By the time we got to the top I was too tired to move my lips. I could have so easily curled up in the snow and fallen asleep. We still had to shoot the dinner and as we sat down with the camera rolling my mind went blank and I couldn’t remember what the fluffy white contents in the bowl were (mashed potatoes) I think I just mumbled “please pass the…the…” and then my voice trails off. The people who run Mt. LeConte Lodge are just awesome. Smiling happy faces — a welcome site for tired souls and soles. They even made me a birthday cake. As exhausted as we were at the end of dinner the crew and the staff sat around a kerosene lantern with mason jars of wine and talked. Well fed and exhausted it was time for bed.
We were all sharing the same Cabin which had a large main room and two smaller rooms off to each side. Christina and I were in one of the side rooms WITH BUNKBEDS! There’s something really wonderfully awkward about sharing such an intimate space with the people who you work with. We end each shooting day exiting a van, confirming tomorrow’s call time and saying good night ultimately going our separate ways to our own rooms behind bolted doors. Now it was like a 13 year old’s sleep over party. Christina and I ended the night in fits of giggling — about what I now forget — and we all yelled good night to each other like our last name was Walton.
Posted By: samantha brown
September 3, 2009, 12:38 PM |
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This is my first time to Nashville. Then I think, maybe I’m wrong because
that just sounds weird. How could I have traveled to places like Nicaragua
or Xi’an China and not good old Nashville? The theme of the episode has got
me very excited — I have to become a Country singing sensation in two days. I
like this theme a lot because along with visiting places that the normal
traveler/tourist could visit we are also showing a more immersive insider’s
view that will bring out the essence of this city that might not be so
obvious to someone traveling there. I like when I get to go “behind the
scenes” so to speak. Instead of standing and watching a band at a famous
Honky Tonk, I get to spend time with a band and get up there myself and
hopefully convey how truly difficult it is to “make it” in this city. It
reminds me of NYC in a way in that it’s a real creative center. Where NY is
known for actors, Nashville is filled to the brim with songwriters. Both
have to hold survival jobs, which is usually waiting on tables. Something I
became very good at for 8 eight years in the Big Apple. When we arrived at
Loveless Café I was more than happy to put on an apron and see if I still
got it. The plates rested on my arms so easily and the pencil still fit
snug behind my ear… it’s like I never left. Good to know I still have
waitressing to fall back on.
We were setting up a shoot at Ernest Tubb Records with Those Darlins, the
band I’m going to join on stage if I don’t chicken out. I was in a back
room reading a short article about their music as they were setting up their
instruments and amps. I am not in any way exaggerating this story
– promise — but as I was reading the description of their style “sometimes a
playful 50′s romp with screaming thrown in like in Leader of the Pack — look
out, LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!!!!!” At that moment I heard screaming come from the
record shop, then I heard some smashing noise and other people shouting. I
thought to myself, man this article ain’t kidding. When I came out something
very different than playful music had happened. One of the girls was being
electrocuted by an ungrounded mic, the voltage running thru her body was so
intense that her body curled around the stand making it impossible for her
to be released from its hold. She was physically unable to utter even a
cry for help so for a long time no one even realized it. Enter MY
HUSBAND!!!!! (the hero in this story) who was the first to recognize what
was happening. As it was later described to me he leapt onto the small
stage and firmly smacked the metal stand to the floor. At which point the
poor thing dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Needless to say we
cancelled that scene. She went to the hospital immediately and wasn’t truly
alright for another three days.
I don’t get to meet a lot of celebrities in this job and certainly don’t get
to sing with them either so meeting Vince Gill was a bit of a nerve racking
experience on so many levels. I had heard he was simply a good person, as
normal as can be. How can you be normal with over 30 Country Music Awards,
Grammys and American Music Awards? I don’t know his music well, I know him
mostly as the host of the Country Music Awards, which was his gig for over 12
years. (An interesting fact about me is that I don’t really follow country
music but I never miss a CMA awards show — even with my travel schedule, the
stars somehow always align and I’m in a hotel room watching it every year.)
Although we are really excited to meet Vince Gill, the ladies in my crew –
Christina my stylist and Elizabeth my executive producer — are HUGE fans of Amy Grant, Vince’s equally talented wife, and really, really hope she comes along to the recording session. We all loved Amy, we all wanted her hair, her
clothes, and her corn fed girl next door style. She didn’t come. But let
me tell you what a great guy Vince was and how I will now always be a big
fan. First off whenever we have to play any kind of music or I, heaven help
me, have to sing the clearance issues are a real nightmare. Managers,
agents and lawyers go back and forth round and round earning their
retainers. So when we walked into Dark Horse recording studios we just had
no idea what was going to happen. Especially since Vince Gill agreed to be
on the show at the last minute so there was no time for all the legal eagles
to get involved. We asked him if there was a song he wouldn’t mind we used
on the show. He said sure, which song do you want? Ummm … well, which one
would be okay and cleared to use for repeated broadcast? What do you mean?
he asked. Ummm … well. We usually need the writer of the song, publisher and
singer to sign off on it. Then he said something that to me summed up his
incredible music career in one sentence. “I wrote, published, recorded and
sang all my own music. You can pick whatever you want.”
We had a great day with Vince.
Posted By: samantha brown
August 9, 2009, 12:58 AM |
Comments (6,344) |
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Like most people I have always wanted to see Graceland. I had heard about and seen in pictures the over the top interiors, the massive white couch and the shag carpeting not only on the floor but on the ceiling. I had expected to be in awe half snickering at the out of date-ness of it all in the same way you do when you see pictures of yourself back in the 70′s with feathered bangs and blue eye shadow. But what I didn’t expect would be to really feel a more personal side to the man we call The King and that even though this has become a shrine and museum like for the masses who make a pilgrimage here it still feels like a home. Which it very much still is. Priscilla apparently visits frequently (it’s by law her residence) and what shocked me - she stays there. We did a basic tour of the house but were then given access to something very few get to see…Elvis’s stables. Elvis loved horses and his estate will have them so that his spirit is always at Graceland. The plan is to eventually open up the stables to visitors as well so that gives everyone who has been to Graceland another reason to go back.
 

At Sun studio records the famous studio where Johnny Cash, Jerry lee Lewis and of course Elvis recorded music. Memphis is a city of music from the Soul, early rock and roll and Gospel taking in the city you can feel how all three have influenced each other. During the tour of the studio I noticed that a good number of people were actually visitors from England and Ireland – coming to see for themselves what would eventually become our greatest export to them — great music. While at the studios I wanted a picture of me and Elvis’s microphone so badly that I fumbled carelessly for my camera which then fell out of my hands and fell hard on the wood floor. It’s broken. I have had my new camera for all of two months. I really should keep a ledger of all the electronics I go thru while on the road and the total costs, which I am thinking is up to a year in tuition at a nice liberal arts college

The only downside to my job is that there are things I don’t get to do-so close and yet so far-as I always say. Every destination has its own list but in Memphis it’s the National Civil Rights Museum at The Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Since we are working during its open hours the best I figure I can do is at least stand in its parking lot looking up at the rooms. So that’s what I do.
Posted By: samantha brown
August 3, 2009, 1:19 PM |
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We are in Key West with my crew: Michael Wechsler Producer, Lesley Grossman AP, our Travel coordinator Rosalind making a rare appearance, Dave Gaffney on sound, Rory Mclees behind the camera and of course as always the lovely Ms. Burns. All of us are traveling on the day that just about 20 of the 50 states were hit by a terrible winter storm. We are all very happy to be in Key West.
First up aerobatics. Up in a bi plane doing loop de loops, flying upside down that sort of stuff I get motion sickness pretty bad, so the danger doesn’t scare me as much as the thought of being nauseous does. There are three cameras taping this: one mounted outside on the tail, a lipstick camera in front of me to capture my expressions and Rory the cameraman in a helicopter doing side by side shooting. If I get really sick at least it will be well documented.
Up in the air I am nervous because I really don’t know how my body is going to handle this. We go up and position ourselves next to the chopper and that’s when the fun began. Flying upside down was crazy and I belatedly realized I should have removed the change from my pocket. I certainly shouldn’t have brought my camera. The tricks got more and more extreme and at one point we flipped over tail over nose. That’s when I started to feel sick. The good news was we were done and heading back to the airport.
We got back to the hangar and while I nursed an ice cold coke and put a cold compress to the forehead Rory and Michael went to check the tape in the cockpit. That’s when what everyone fears in production happened. Absolutely nothing was caught on tape. The deck cut out when the plane engine was turned on. We have Rory’s shots from the helicopter which are no doubt impressive but we have nothing to cut to as the camera rigged to the back of the plane didn’t give us anything really interesting.
“I’ll go back up” (it must have been the nausea talking). I see Michael, my producer’s eyes go wide as even he — A PRODUCER! — wouldn’t have suggested such a thing. My dare devil Pilot Fred asks me if I’m sure as going up again will absolutely without a doubt make me sick. I just think we didn’t come this far for nothing. Just have another coke ready for me.
This time I hold a monitor in my lap with a running time code — this way I’ll be able to tell immediately if the camera is not rolling. The engine starts up and cuts off the camera, Rory makes a few adjustments and we are back in business.
I was told we didn’t have to go thru all the aerobatics just a few to get some of me on tape. We do a side roll and I’m feeling fine, we fly upside down and I feel great. So I tell Fred to do more because with each turn my headache, my nausea is going away to the point where I feel actual euphoria. It’s the strangest thing. Fred asks me if I want to do the doozy of aerobatics again: the forward tumble. Its name means headache in Czech so I don’t remember it. We go tail over nose again — which is just something no plane should do – but its sooo much fun.
Going barhopping with a group called the Bone Island Buccaneers. I get to dress and talk like a Pirate. I have no idea why that is so much fun but it is. We raid bars, entering them and brandishing our pistols and daggers demanding patrons buy us drinks and hand over their jewels. This is Key West so our group of marauders is not seen in any way other than a normal fun group out on a Saturday night.
Walking up to a bar a man came up to me and told me that he wrote a book and I am in it. The book is strangely about coincidences. He gives me one of the books and finds a passage where he writes how fun it would be to travel with myself and Mr. Bourdain. He goes on to write that I am “Hot in a weird way.” Okay, I’ll take that
At dinner with the crew, at a restaurant called Abbondanza. It’s a perfect place for us as it’s a cozy place and not at all crazy like the restaurants on Duval Street. We all get big bowls of pasta that could feed a family of four. I ordered the spaghetti and homemade meatballs which is my favorite comfort food dish.
One of the best days shooting ever. Road trip to Key West. (We are shooting out of sequence.) To mix things up a bit during various points, members of my crew will be joining me in the shotgun seat for some good road trip banter. What’s that saying? Nothing like a fistful of wheel and a full tank of gas?
It’s funny what you learn about somebody while driving and listening to 80′s music. I found out that Christina loves to listen to musicals like Cabaret and Sweet Charity and does her own choreography while driving and Rory likes the song Total Eclipse of the Heart which embarrasses him and his friends still make fun of him for it. I personally love that song and have it on my Ipod right now.
On a morning off I headed to a local favorite, Camille’s, for brunch. I had their supreme omelet — eggs, peppers, cheese, potatoes and turkey sausage. Didn’t have to eat the rest of the day.
Just got to get up on stage with the band Mile Marker 24 and make fresh margaritas using a blender powered by an outboard motor while singing along to their song “Blame it on the margaritas.” I get to sing the chorus and botch almost every note. I can’t believe it after 12 years of voice lessons its official: I can no longer carry a tune. I guess I could just blame it on the margaritas.
Really bummed, because we are losing light, we now don’t have time for me to learn how to kite board. It’s that crazy sport where a boarder is hooked up to a parasail which can lift them up off the water and in the air. I have always imagined that to be one of the best feelings ever. All we have time for is a quick jet ski — fun but not as thrilling.
Posted By: samantha brown
July 24, 2009, 4:33 PM |
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Last time I was in Montreal was when I was 13. It was a business trip for my father and we all tagged along. I don’t remember it that well except for one very vivid memory. My parents bought me a really cool outfit that was mustard yellow and charcoal grey. It was a sophisticated ensemble that would betray any New Hampshire Mall purchase and make me stand out in 6th grade.
Montreal is a dead ringer for Europe and we are visiting at a time when due to dollar/euro conversion rates more people are looking for European alternatives. The two are so similar that even though flight time from NY to Montreal is a whopping two hours with no time change I still feel tired. I have phantom jet lag triggered by European architecture and the smell of cigarette smoke.
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Posted By: samantha brown
July 15, 2009, 9:20 PM |
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In Colorado, I was buried in the snow in a mock avalanche rescue drill to teach dogs how to find people who may still be alive. Kevin from Breckinridge dug out a very nice cave in the snow so that when I laid down in it felt like a cross between a tanning bed and the egg in Mork from Ork. Once in, Kevin started piling the snow up to close up the opening completely. I heard him ask on his walkie if the dog Lucy was ready but she wasn’t, in fact she was about twenty minutes away. I was told I would only be in this slightly claustrophobic situation for five minutes. So there I lay. I am sure when someone is truly caught in an avalanche and buried alive under snow their thoughts tend to be of the more serious kind: death, leaving of loved ones, things never done. Mine were more of the what should I order for lunch? Hamburger and fries? The chili in the bread bowl — a ski resort staple? But after ten minutes I found myself getting cold so I started to do sit ups just like I did back in Ely Minnesota while camping out on the ice I found that the shivering to death really made it hard for me to get a good night’s rest. Doing sit-ups to keep warm while lying on ice once in your life is an experience but twice? Continue reading: Colorado »
Posted By: samantha brown
