My Big Hollywood Career

When I first began this blog, I wrote about being an extra for a location shoot here in San Francisco.  It was for the TV series Party of Five.  I was in London when “my” episode was broadcast, and the later seasons of the series have not yet been released on DVD.  It’s taken fifteen years, but today I finally got to see my big moment onscreen.  It’s season four, episode 6: Immediate Family, which aired on October 29, 1997.  I walked behind Julia (Neve Campbell) and Griffin (Jeremy London) as they strolled through Alamo Square.   Here’s the scene, followed by a slow motion clip of my walk through.  I only know it’s me because of the hat I was wearing.  Such exciting stuff!

 

Here’s the photo I took of my friend and Jeremy London at the Legion of Honor the day before, where we watched another scene being filmed.   That night in Alamo Square, once we were done filming, we got London to autograph her copy of the photo.   We didn’t want to bother him too much, so mine isn’t signed.

So, my Hollywood career ended almost as soon as it began, with a couple of seconds of actual screen time in a dimly lit park on a chilly San Francisco night.  It was fun while it lasted.

San Francisco Halloween 2012

Every year, I take my camera to the Halloween block party off Central Avenue on Grove.  This year, I got there before the light left and the rain began.  What a great bunch of kiddies and doggies this year!  My thanks to the parents and dog owners who do such a great job with the costumes.

(Click on any photo to scroll through larger versions.)

An Argo/Tout Sweet Birthday

Today is my birthday, and I celebrated by going to see Argo with a friend.  Sometimes the movies that have a lot of Oscar buzz leave me cold.  I recognize their excellence but I feel disconnected, without an emotional involvement in the characters and story.  Not the case with Argo.  I was totally engrossed from the beginning, which gives a brief but helpful overview to the events leading up to the Iran hostage crisis.  I was a junior in high school when it began, and while I was aware of the overall situation during those years, I was also busy living my teenage life.  The movie made me realize how little attention I’ve paid to the major historical events in my lifetime.  Anyway, I recommend Argo, even though the hair and fashions will make you cringe.  Believe me, I was cringing then, too.

After the movie, my friend and I headed to Tout Sweet Patisserie, Yigit Pura’s new dessert shop in Union Square.  It’s a lovely space, with a delightful staff and a great view of the Square.  I had the Petit Tout Sweet cake and my friend had the sous-vide poached egg sandwich.  I met Yigit Pura a couple of years ago at the GLAAD Media Awards, and again last October at the Meals on Wheels calendar signing at Macys.  I’ve been following the progress of Tout Sweet through facebook and twitter, and today was the perfect day to visit.  Yum!

Happy Birthday, Castro Theatre!

Folks have been asking where I’ve disappeared to recently.  I’ve been at the Castro Theatre, which is celebrating it’s 90th birthday today.  It opened on June 22, 1922.  This week, it’s one of four Bay Area cinemas playing host to the 36th annual Frameline Film Festival.  I’m a volunteer captain for the festival, organizing ushers and ticket takers and generally making a nuisance of myself.  As soon as it’s over and I’ve recovered, perhaps I’ll have the energy to write a full report.  In the meantime, here’s to one of my favorite movie palaces.  Happy birthday!

Castro Theatre, San Francisco

 

Wil Wheaton’s Book Event, 2005

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Like many, I first saw Wil Wheaton in Stand By Me (1986), then watched him mature on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-94).   He dropped off my radar for many years after that.  I gradually became aware that Wheaton was writing and blogging.  When I started working at Borders Books, I spent a lot of time browsing the entertainment section.  I knew of Wheaton’s Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek.   One day, Wheaton visited the store as a regular customer.  Whenever we had a famous person came into the store, the news spread quickly.  From a distance, I watched him talking animatedly to a co-worker.   He looked friendly and approachable, but I didn’t go over to meet him.  Later, I started reading his blog and leaving the occasional comment.  I also read his books and enjoyed them.  When he posted on his blog that he was appearing at the January 2005 MacWorld convention here in San Francisco, I left a comment encouraging him to visit my Borders again.  He messaged me about doing a book reading.  When I asked the area event coordinator, she told me I would have to organize it myself.  I’d been assisting with lots of events, so I felt ready to take it on.

I had to make sure we had enough copies of Wheaton’s books in the store, although I had no idea how many fans would turn up.  I posted flyers at nearby computer stores to get the word out.  The hardest part?  Getting the event added to the Borders website and automated phone information line.  I don’t think those ever got fixed.  Of course, the most effective promotion was Wheaton’s own blog post about the event:

“Good news, everyone!

When the press release went out about MacWorld, a lot of WWdN readers asked if there would be a reading or signing for people who were unable to afford admission to the conference.

Well, it turns out that we have a mole at Borders in Union Square. She made an introduction for me, and I am super excited to announce that I’ve been invited to their store for a reading and signing when I’m in town!

It looks like the Borders website hasn’t been updated yet, but I’m scheduled for Friday January 14th at 7pm.

Oh! I just got a Really Big Idea™, that could be a whole bunch of Supercool: I have a short list of stories from Just A Geek that I choose from when I perform at bookstores. Based on comments and e-mail, I know there are a lot of WWdN readers in NorCal. How about, instead of me choosing what to read, I let you guys pick what you’d like to hear? If you’re planning to come out on the 14th, say so in the comments, and leave a brief description, or chapter number, or page number, or whatever, and the majority will rule.”

I was excited and nervous when the day arrived.  Once the chairs were in place, the book displays set up, and the posters hung around the store, I just had to wait.  Some enthusiastic fans showed up really early to get good seats, and one of them came up to me to complain.  He’d heard a skeptical employee making snide comments about Wheaton.  It was just the kind of attitude that Wheaton was writing about, coming from people who thought of him as “that guy who played Wesley Crusher.”  I let my supervisor deal with the situation and went off on my dinner break.

When I got back to the store, a co-worker told me that Wheaton had arrived and was waiting in the employee area.  I rushed down and found him alone, sitting on a desk.  I felt bad, because the people who came to do store events were often given the manager’s office and some VIP treatment.  I presented Wheaton with some gifts and introduced him around, and he signed my copy of Just a Geek.  Then we took the elevator upstairs to find a big crowd waiting.  In fact, it was standing room only.  I got to do the introduction, and somebody took a photo and posted it on the internet the next day.  I can’t believe I wore that sweater!  Oh well, nobody was there to see me.

Wheaton had the crowd right from the start.  He’s a great reader.  Somebody posted a brief video of his reading on YouTube:

After the reading, the folks waiting to get their books signed were in good spirits, and it was obvious that Wheaton was enjoying himself.  I should have ordered more copies of Dancing Barefoot, because we ran out. Wheaton was also a great salesman for his favorite poker books.  I kept myself busy taking lots of photos of everything.  The event coordinator dropped by to check things out, and it seemed to me she was basking in the glow of a successful event that wasn’t her own.  Several of my co-workers told me that it was one of our best, including the skeptic.  After it was all over and I was saying goodbye, I finally got awkward talking to Wheaton.  It’s always easier when you’re kept busy!  I was excited to see how he would describe the evening on his blog.  As far as I know, he never got around to it.  It only took me seven years to get around to it, but I’ve got an excuse.  I haven’t been blogging that long!

Later, I received a delightful email from Wheaton:

Hey Stacey,
I have this horrible habit of getting so overwhelmed by everything, I do 
nothing.

. . . like remember to thank you for sending me the amazing photos you 
took when I was up in San Francisco. Oh, I've looked at them and I've 
showed them off to my kids and my friends . . . and I've said, out loud, 
"Stacey was so cool, and look at all this great stuff she helped me get 
done . . ."

But I kept forgetting to just sit my stupid ass down here and type it 
out to you.

Thank you, so very, very much, for making it possible for me to read in 
your store. 

I owe you, big time, and I won't ever forget it.

So thank you for sending me such great photos, and thank you for all 
your support.

I hope this finds you well,
Wil

I saw Wil Wheaton again in fall 2009, at his first wOOtstock performance in San Francisco.  He remembered me, but I made two big bOO-bOOs.  I went up to say hello while he was tweeting (bad twitter etiquette?) right before his performance.  I couldn’t stick around after the show, but it’s not cool to bother a performer before they go on.  Anyway, wOOtstock was great, and I’d love to go to another one.  I very much enjoy Wheaton’s guest appearances on The Big Bang Theory.  Did he influence me to start blogging?  Maybe just a bit!

Other reports of the event:   Doug’s Online Journal       stomachpains      brainwagon

An Evening with Jane Lynch

Last night I went to see Jane Lynch at the JCCSF (Jewish Community Center of San Francisco).  She was a last minute replacement for Glee executive producer Dante Di Loreto, and nobody was complaining!  The event was held at the Center’s Kanbar Hall, a theatre with 468 seats.  I was lucky enough to have an empty seat in front of me, so I had a great view of the stage.  I know the seat was sold when I bought my ticket, so I feel sorry for the person who couldn’t make it.  Three nights ago, at Napoleon at the Paramount, I told a couple of the gentlemen I met about this event.  The first thing they did when they got home from Napoleon was buy tickets.  I saw them in the auditorium, and they were even more thrilled than I was to meet Jane Lynch and hear her speak.   Lynch is charming and delightful, and yes, very funny unscripted.

After a clip of Lynch was shown from Glee on the screen behind, she was interviewed onstage by David Wiegand.  They mostly discussed the show, and Lynch’s character, Sue Sylvester.  She said the kids don’t ask her for career advice, mostly because they’re too busy working.  She described how hard the young actors work, and how exhausted they are at the end of the day.  She also said she loved that feeling of exhaustion after doing work she clearly loves.  Lynch also talked about the tailored track suits she wears, and how she’s actually never thrown a slushie herself on the show.  Even though they don’t really use ice, the slushies are cold and miserable to be hit with, and the kids have to shower and get hair & makeup redone every time.  Retakes are NOT popular if somebody misses. She likes her scenes with Quinn a lot, and she’s clearly fond of Chris Colfer.  She described how, when the show first began and they all had to have physicals, he confessed that he’d never been to a doctor by himself before.  Lynch loves to sing but isn’t a dancer, so she finds it ironic that she’s done more dancing than singing on Glee.  It sounds like she really enjoyed the Madonna number she got to perform.  Wiegand asked her a few non-Glee questions.  Lynch described how she met her wife here in San Francisco at the Westin Saint Francis Hotel.  She also made several references to her memoir, Happy Accidents, which I now must read.

I’m new to using the video function on my digital camera, but here’s a quick clip.

After the chat onstage, Lynch answered questions from the audience.  Two ladies had portable microphones, and they moved around the auditorium choosing raised hands.  I wanted to ask Lynch about her performance in the play 8 by Dustin Lance Black, which was about Proposition 8 and streamed live on YouTube a couple of weeks ago.  She played Maggie Gallagher, a conservative who vehemently opposes same sex marriage, and I’m curious if she heard of a reaction from Gallagher.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t chosen by the ladies before we ran out of time.  Valuable time was taken up showing three other clips from Glee during the interview.  Most of us who attended watch Glee, so the clips really weren’t necessary.  I wanted to hear Lynch talk more.  I think the clips were prepared for Di Loreto, since none of them were of Sue Sylvester.

After the interview and Q&A, we all went into the atrium where some talented teenagers sang a medley of songs from Cabaret.  Then Lynch signed copies of her memoir and anything else people brought to have autographed.  She also posed for photographs across the table.  The fans were well-mannered, and she was relaxed and friendly.  I had a chance to tell her she was great in 8 and Criminal Minds when she autographed my Entertainment Weekly magazine.  Everybody left satisfied and happy.

Listen to the JCCSF podcast of the interview here.

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Taqueria “Art”

San Francisco has a lot of great taquerias, and I love a big vegetarian burrito with lots of sour cream and guacamole.  While the food is great, the art on the walls is sometimes…questionable.  This masterpiece is above the salsa bar at a place on Haight Street.  I often eat my burrito and study it, wondering what happened to this woman’s other breast.

I did wonder if this image was too “mature” to post, but honestly, it’s on the wall in a public place!

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today…

Well, maybe not exactly today, but this month anyway.  The lyrics from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band keep going through my head, as I think about the band I “joined” 20 year ago.  I had only been living in San Francisco for about a year when I went to an open mike night at a cafe on Haight Street.  One of the acts was a new band called New Grass Spirits.  I took some photographs, began following them, and before I knew it, I was living with some of them in a cramped apartment.  I became their “official photographer,” because I’m not musical and how else could I join a band?  The group broke up and re-formed more than once, changed their name to Straw Coyotes, and kept adding new members.   Everybody went their separate ways after a couple of intense years.   I have some amazing memories and a big box of fun photographs.  Here’s one of my favorites.

New Grass Spirits, San Francisco, 1992 (click to see sharper image)

Happy Anniversary, Kirk, Adam, Dhaivyd, Deana, and Kwame!

January in San Francisco

In keeping with my New Year’s Resolution to take more photographs, here’s a peek at my day.  I’m puppy sitting at a house overlooking Haight-Ashbury, near Buena Vista Park.  Yesterday we were enveloped in a fog bank.  Today was sunny and bright.  That’s San Francisco winter weather for you!

There’s no photo of the dog, because he just won’t hold still.

(Click twice on the images to see bigger, sharper versions.)

St Ignatius Church from Buena Vista Park

Golden Gate Bridge from Buena Vista Park

Goorin Bros. Hats on Haight Street: I'm lusting after a cloche.

Cole Valley Sunset

Meeting Shah Rukh

It all began when I saw the musical Bombay Dreams in London, which is a stage version of a typical Indian film.  It was May 2003, and up to that point, I’d never seen a Bollywood movie.  I enjoyed the music and dancing enough to rent a film as soon as I got home to San Francisco.  I was lucky to start with a good one—Aamir Khan’s Lagaan—and I really enjoyed it.  The next one I watched was awful, so I decided to stick with Aamir.  After a while, I tried a Shah Rukh Khan DVD, and while I liked him, I didn’t love him.  Then I saw Kal Ho Naa Ho at a cinema in Fremont.  It was a long BART ride to get there, but it transformed my opinion of Shah Rukh.  I went back to see Kal Ho Naa Ho several times, and it remains my favorite along with Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.  I watched every film Shah Rukh appeared in, at least all the ones I could find.  I put posters up all over my flat.  I was working in the children’s section at the largest Borders Books in San Francisco, and I hung a Kal Ho Naa Ho poster in the break room.  My co-workers thought I was weird, but they didn’t take the poster down.

My ticket. "Singh Bail Bonds" always makes me smile.

On September 5th, 2004, in the middle of a heat wave, the Temptation Tour came to the Oakland Arena.  Occasionally the big stars from Mumbai take an elaborate stage show on a world tour, giving faraway fans the opportunity to see them live.  It’s tricky, because the actors don’t do their own singing in the films.  Still, lip-synching at concerts isn’t that unusual anymore.  At least the stars do their own dancing.  The Temptation Tour featured Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Rampal, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra, and Rani Mukerji.  I bought a middling priced ticket for $15o and ended up on the raked left side of the stage, too close to see the big screen projection and pretty much looking down on the performer’s heads.  It was an awful seat for such a high price, but I was determined to have a good time.  I looked around trying to find other non-Indian fans like myself, but I didn’t spot many.  I honestly can’t remember a whole lot about the show.  Most of the time I just stared at Shah Rukh through my binoculars in awe.  There were lots of dances, funny skits, dialogs from famous films, and audience interaction.  People were chosen from the VIP section on the floor to come up onstage.  I remember that the woman who got to meet Shah Rukh was feisty and gave his face a little slap.  He slapped her right back.

Temptation Tour souvenir program

After the show, I went down to the arena “stage door” to see if any of the actors would come out to meet the fans.  There was a long line of barricades blocking the area to keep us back.  Big black hummers began to drive out, and Shah Rukh must have been in one of them.  Arjun Rampal and Saif Ali Khan ran the length of the barricades high-fiving as many hands as they could reach, and because I’ve got long arms, I got hand-slapped by both of them.  It was fun, and I went home happy, with a tee shirt, two programs, and a couple of Shah Rukh mouse pads.

I was still coming down from the high the next day and catching up on my sleep.  At ll pm that evening, I was in my pajamas watching TV in bed.  My roommate knocked on my door to say I had a phone call.  Who could be calling me so late?  It was one of my Borders co-workers, out of breath and very excited.  She said, “I had to call around to get your phone number!  You know that guy on your poster?  He’s here at the Hard Rock Cafe having dinner with a bunch of people.  I got his autograph for you.”  This co-worker had a second job in the Hard Rock Cafe gift shop, and she had Shah Rukh sign the back of one of their shopping bags.  Well, I couldn’t leave it at that.  I threw on some mismatched clothes—no time to primp—grabbed some of my Temptation souvenirs and my camera, and jumped into a cab.  I could barely breathe as we raced to Fisherman’s Wharf, because I didn’t know if we’d get there in time.  When the cab pulled up to the curb, I immediately spotted Shah Rukh standing outside smoking a cigarette, alone except for just one bodyguard.  I quickly paid the cab driver, and he was nice enough to give me his pen since I’d forgotten mine.

This photo is the closest I could find to what Shah Rukh looked like that night.

I could see as I started to walk toward Shah Rukh that he recognized me as a fan about to intrude on his quiet moment.  The bodyguard had his back to me.  My heart was pounding.  I knew this was going be a peak life experience.  No other celebrity encounter had been this momentous, and I’ve never been as awkward or tongue-tied.  Most of the sentences I started I couldn’t finish.  Shah Rukh was just lovely, though.  He may have been annoyed at my intrusion, but he never showed it.  He was just finishing his cigarette, and he politely refrained from lighting another one while I was there.  He was wearing black with an eye-catching pendant and his hair casually brushed forward.  In his films it’s usually off his forehead.  I’m 5’8″ and Shah Rukh is about 5’9″.  I was too bashful to gaze into his eyes for any length of time, but he didn’t seem smaller or larger than I’d expected, but he was definitely better looking.  He had a kind of quiet-but-aware stillness that’s so different from his energetic screen personality.

I walked up and pulled out a mouse pad and the Temptation program, saying something like “Hello, I’m Stacey.  My friend called me and told me you were here.”  Then I asked him to sign two autographs for friends.  I didn’t ask him for one for myself, because I knew my co-worker already got one for me.  Three autographs seemed greedy.  Then the bodyguard said, “Where did you come from?”  I pointed to the curb and said, “From a cab right there.”  The bodyguard told me I was going to get him in trouble so he told me to go away.  I said, “But this is my guy!”  We began to argue, and Shah Rukh didn’t say anything.  Smart man.  Instead, he signed his photo on the back of the program to me, and it’s really special because he wrote something different from his usual “lots of love.”  It’s too bad that I don’t really like this particular photograph of him, but still, it’s framed and hanging on my wall.  It’s a good thing Shah Rukh took the time to do this, because the one my co-worker got was written with a brown felt tip pen on a brown bag, and within months, the autograph faded completely.  I still have it,  but there’s nothing to see.  I know it’s there, though.

My Shah Rukh Khan autograph. (click to enlarge)

After the autographs, while I was still arguing with the bodyguard, Shah Rukh must have decided that it was okay for me to be there, or he could tell I wasn’t going away.  He held up his arms, waved me over with his fingers, and said, “Give me a hug.”  I was gobsmacked.  We hugged, and I was so overwhelmed, I have no memory of what it felt like.  I’ve been telling people ever since that I want to be hypnotized so I can remember it properly.

I had a brief, halting conversation with Shah Rukh.  It went something like this:

Me: Do you get to spend any more time in San Francisco?

SRK: No, we’re leaving early tomorrow.

Me: That’s too bad, because I have a whole stack of books picked out for your kids at the Borders where I work.

SRK: So, you’ve seen some Hindi films?

Me: I’ve seen every single one of yours, even Fauji!  [his first TV series that was not on DVD in 2004]   Right now we’re all watching “The Inner World of Shah Rukh Khan.”  [a new documentary]

SRK: Oh, the filmmaker, she’s inside eating…”

The rest of the party came outside, and I knew my time was up.  I hadn’t forgotten my camera, but I just couldn’t ask for more, and I hate flash photos.  I thanked Shah Rukh and said goodbye.  He saluted me by touching his hand to his forehead (an adab), and I walked away in a daze.  I went inside the Hard Rock Cafe to see if my co-worker was still there, but the gift shop was all locked up.  I came outside and saw Rani Mukerji.  I tapped her on the shoulder and simply told her I enjoyed the show the night before.  She just looked confused.  I went to the bus stop across the street and eventually made it home.

I thanked my co-worker dozens of times and gave her a thank you gift, but it never seemed adequate.  I’ve inflicted my story of meeting Shah Rukh Khan on many people over the years, but this is the first time I’ve written it all down.  I thought the experience would be burned into my brain, except for that hug, but I know there are details I’ve forgotten.  A couple of years ago, Shah Rukh Khan was back in San Francisco filming My Name is Khan, and I even found out where he was staying.  I decided not to try to meet him again.  There have been several times where I’ve met a celebrity more than once, and a second encounter that’s not as good as the first can ruin a good memory.  I didn’t want that to happen with my memories of that night.  I really couldn’t ask for more than what he already gave me.  Shukriya, Shah Rukh!

Rainbow Sprinkles

I met Yigit Pura back in June when I was volunteering at the San Francisco GLAAD Media Awards.   He’s the pastry chef who won the first season of Top Chef: Just Desserts on Bravo, and he’s going to open a dessert place in Union Square called Tout Sweet.  I’ve been following him on facebook and twitter because he’s just so damn charming.  Last night,  I went down to Macy’s for a Meals on Wheels Chefs of the Bay Area Calendar Kick-Off Party, to get a calendar signed by seven of the chefs who participated.  Yigit Pura’s photo is on the front cover, and he’s Chef December.  It’s a great shot, because he’s shirtless and covered in rainbow sprinkles.

I almost didn’t make it to the party.  Here’s the twitter version:

How cool is that?

It was a really nice event.  One small area of The Cellar was roped off for the party.  That’s the basement level with all the kitchen ware.  It was a fairly small gathering, maybe forty people, so we all had a chance to mingle a bit with the chefs before they started signing calendars.  I’m not a foodie, so I wasn’t familiar with the other chefs, but everyone was really warm and friendly.  The executive director of Meals on Wheels SF, Ashley McCumber, gave a speech and introduced everyone there who participated in the calendar project, including the photographer and the graphic designer.  We were offered wine, mini-cupcakes, little meringue cookies, and cups of salted caramel ice cream.

The chefs who were there signing: Kara Lind, David Bazirgan, Jen Biesty, Mark Dommen, Pam Mazzola, Kory Stewart, and Yigit Pura.  The calendar is gorgeous, and 100% of the proceeds go directly to MOWSF.  My friend got me the calendar for a birthday present, and I encourage everybody to get their own.  They can be ordered online from mowsf.org.

Kara Lind , David Bazirgan, Jen Biesty and Mark Dommen

I was taking lots of photos trying to get some good ones for the blog.  Being a devoted blogger can also make you an annoying party guest!  I almost got defeated by the tight space and the department store lighting.  Anyway, the photos aren’t the greatest, but at least they give a sense of the event.  (Clicking on them takes you to larger versions.)

Thank you, Mr Pura!  (Sorry there were no cookies in the bag.)

The Meals on Wheels party and the treats

Pam Mazzola, Kory Stewart and Yigit Pura

Yigit Pura

Macy's window promoting the calendar

A San Francisco Smoking Break

If you decide to take a bong break under a photographer’s window, you may end up on the internet.  Just saying.