Nice Weekend

It's weird how when you think you've seen it all, something new happens. Thursday I was on the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Las Vegas), which of course is filmed in L.A. at Universal Studios. For this scene, I was a night clubber, but we got to shoot it in front of a green screen. It was kind of neat. It felt all high tech and stuff. But it was weird because there was just a blank screen behind us, and there going to put the scene of a club on it for the episode. Also in this scene, a man and a woman get into a fight at the club and the man throws a glass of wine on the woman. The "wine" in the glass was actually this green liquid gel type stuff. They used the gel because anything that is "green" on camera can be digitally altered to make it look like anything you want (which is why we couldn't where any green that day). They obviously had to do multiple takes of this scene and the woman had on a white dress and green gel all over it. But it didn't matter because they could just digitally remove it when they make the final edit. It was cool Hollywood technology in full force.

Yesterday I went exploring L.A. My friend, Eunice, who I know from OSU and now lives in Chicago was in town for a friend's birthday party. We met up and went hiking at Griffith Park. Griffith Park, for anyone who doesn't know, is a huge park area in the hollywood hills. There are numerous hiking trails, picnic areas, horseback riding, and the Los Angeles Zoo is here. In the picture to the left, I'm pretty much standing next to the Hollywood sign. You can see Griffith Observatory with dowtown L.A. in the background. There are such great views of the entire city from these hills, but once again, it is pointless to post the pictures because the smog and haze kind of drown everything out.

We went on a short hiking trail to the "Old Zoo" which was built in 1912 and used to house lions, tigers, elephants, etc. The cages were really small and made out of stone. It was also sad to see the amount of grafitti on everything, as you can see on one of the cages to the right. I can't believe people have nothing better to do than to go spray paint some old vacant cages at a park. They actually had to shut off the hiking trail that goes to the Hollywood sign because they had too many graffiti problems in the past. After Griffith Park we drove along Mulholland Drive. It really is a nice drive that you can do over and over again.

After all that we headed to the Santa Monica Pier to eat and just hang out. We got there just in time to see the sunset that you see at the right. This one is for Sheila. I know how much she misses them. It really is beautiful sight, especially for someone like me who's never lived near an ocean. For those who haven't been to L.A. or don't know what the Santa Monica Pier is, it's a pier that goes out into the water, obviously. It's basically a small amusement park on a pier. There are restaurants, coffee shops, games, a roller coaster, a ferris wheel, artisits, and lots of people fishing from it. Do you recognize the lifeguard hut in the picture? On these beaches, about 2 miles north, in the Pacific Palisades, is where Baywatch was filmed. The mountain that you see in the distance is Malibu. The beachfront property in Santa Monica is really nice. The houses, or condos, or whatever you want to call them, are skinny and 3 levels (to fit more in I guess). And they all have winding stair cases on the outside that go up to each level, and then up to the roof where there is a sun deck and sometimes a pool. I could definitely see one of these being a beginner house for me, but not in Santa Monica. There are way too many tourists. I don't want all those people walking right in front of my place all day.

That's all I have. I'm booked on a show tomorrow that could be potentially very exciting if a certain person is working, but I'm not going to say who or what yet. I'll post midweek and say whether I got my wish or if I was let down. Oh, and for anyone out there wondering, I'm not talking about Mariah Carey!! She is still on tour. Yes, she is my #1, but I do have other celebrity crushes, so there!