The Unit: Johnny B. Good

The Unit: Johnny B. Good
CBS just aired a rerun of this episode. Being I am a fan of Max Martini, this episode is a personal favorite of mine. The plot basically revolves around the men being on a mission that goes horribly wrong and their explanations to a General and their Colonel as to whether they got out clean. US deniability is a big part of the missions of The Unit and this one in particular is even more so. Mack looks totally shell shocked, right from the start and you can tell that whatever went wrong, definitely had a major effect on him. It turns out that there was a local woman on the mission, serving as interpreter and cover. She ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and when an explosion happens, a very large pipe ends up on top of her. Well, suspending belief a bit that something so big that 5 brawny guys can't get it off of her, did not cause incredible internal damage, most of the mission scenes, from this point on, concern Mack and her. Jonas and the others come and go as they have other bigger issues to deal with, namely them getting themselves out of Dodge, before a large enemy unit overruns their position. Jonas in his free time, actually tries along with Mack, to get the woman released. Unfortunately, nothing works. Finally they have transport but no time to tie the chain that Mack has set up to pull this thing off of her and she pleads with him to kill her. "Don't leave me here alive." she says and later "You shot that boy" (an earlier fiasco, that Mack had to be a part of and that prays on his mind, most of the episode). Toward the end, there are so many things that are being communicated without words. Jonas knowing that Mack has gotten too close to the girl, tries to take this burden off his shoulders. Mack, being the man he is and KNOWING that this is going to be so hard, still makes an impossible situation better, by giving his doomed companion something to live for, even as he shoots and kills her. This time I noticed that he seems to say a prayer for her, even as he gets himself ready to pull the trigger.
So there he is, under the gun, heartsick with the things he had to do, forgiven, at least by his Colonel and told to go home. Well, he goes home, flowers in hand and finds out that his wife is out and the kids are on a sleepover. So he hits a bar, plays pool and starts drinking his sorrows away. Not a good thing at all. Who just happens to be in the bar? This young girlfriend of a serviceman who has just returned from overseas injured from a car bombing incident. She is freaking out and refuses to visit her injured boyfriend. This means she too is drowning her sorrows in the same bar. Finally tensions explode and Mack is in a fight, Crystal gets him out of the bar and into her car...the rest, as they say, is history. Two lost souls, forgetting their sorrows, at least for a few moments, in a way as old as time. He has stepped out and committed adultery, no question. He sees the error of his way, immediately, in the following episode but I can't help being sad that he didn't take the high ground and stop the thing before he went all the way with her. The faithful wife in me would have really liked to have seen that.
No matter what, it's great television.

Riding the Rails - Ode to Spencer

Several times a week, I see a small boy and his mom, waiting for the same subway I am. At first he was still in a stroller and would have his left hand buried in his long blond hair. I was entranced with him, but never said a word to him or his young mother. One day I broke the silence, while waiting for the elevator and for several weeks she would go to the other elevator, so that we did not ride together. I think we all have a tendency to be very careful about other subway riders. I did not take it personal and eventually, they returned to my elevator. Often, several other regulars would also be riding and they seemed to know the mother. One day one of them asked his name and I found out it was Spencer. My first thought was "She named him after Spencer for Hire?" Well, that connection meant that I now knew his name and I wasn't going to forget it. So more months would pass and the child grew older, with a real appreciation of both the Metrolink train he had just ridden on and the subway. His mom would read train books to him on the 15 minute ride on the subway, to keep his attention and some days he even wore Thomas the Tank Engine clothes. As he grew older, he began to remind me of my own son and our years of riding the rails, before he began school. I was allowed to take off on Thursday's and work instead on Saturday's. This meant that my son was in day care only four days a week and only three days in a row. Thursday was my "Stay at Home Mom" day and many days he and I would go shopping at the mall together, checking out the books at the Sesame Street store and buying Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railroad trains. They were his love during his preschool years. Other days we rode the rails to where ever we wanted to go. I had my monthly pass and children under 5 ride free, so it was a cheap way of spending time together. I consider the Conductors and Engineers family and one of the Engineers used to let my son push the trains whistle, upon occasion. It was one of the highlights of his childhood and is still remembered by him, all these years later. They were good times and I am so glad that Metrolink came to our corner of the world, just when my baby was turning 2, to give us this wonderful way to introduce him to the world around him. He walked around Downtown, rode Angel's Flight, went to Central Library, Pershing Square, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Grand Central Market. All sorts of sights and areas of LA that no one wants to drive to...and we visited them, enjoyed and learned.
Watching Spencer and his Mom brings that all back and these past months I have been nostalgic times for me, watching him grow and enjoy. Well about a week ago, I heard in the elevator that the family was moving away and today she told someone else that this was the last time Spencer would be on the Subway and they were actually moving in a few weeks. It saddened me but I wish them good luck in their life and I hope that Spencer remembers something from his days of riding the rails in LA.
Bye Spencer and thanks.

Fired Up, Feels Good - Summer Encampment 2007 Shakedown

School's out for summer but the cadets of the Air Force JROTC are definitely not lazing around the pool, at least not yet. They have been preconditioning and hiking for the past several weeks in preparation for their annual Summer Leadership Encampment. I personally get no kick out of 20 mile night hikes or PT at 4AM but for these kids, this is what's in store for them and they can't wait to experience it.

Today was the shakedown, faithfully reported in our local paper, The Signal . Shakedown is the process of making sure all cadets have exactly what they are supposed to have with them, before they leave for camp. Their carefully packed and labeled possessions (usually packed by Mom) get dumped out on the ground and inspected item by item. Got some item not on the list or some contraband and be prepared to be ridiculed. One cadet had a bright red pair of Marine swim trunks. His penalty was that he had to run around the track with them on. Another cadet had blue instead of black socks. He had to place one on each of his hands, for the remainder of the shakedown. For the most part it was kind of tame this year. Last year one of the cadets brought a hand fan, to use to keep cool. That still gets a laugh to this day.

It went like clockwork this year, which was great for the cadets, cause they got out of the hot sun quicker. As the 4 buses of cadets drove off, the kids were all excited to begin the process. To gain the skills needed to do well in the military, or any career path they intend to pursue. I wish them well but the realist in me knows that heartbreak is so easily around the corner, for them. May they all be safe...now and in the future.

Father's Day, Part 3

Happy Father's Day!

Thank you my husband, for allowing me to become a mother. Thank you for being a father to our son. Thank you for all you do.

I Love You more.

Father's Day, Part 2

My Dad

My Dad died just over 1 year ago. He was born of Italian immigrant parents, who came to America to pursue the American Dream. My grandmother never even spoke a word of English to any of us grandchildren. I loved her dearly, in spite of that fact. My father was her 6th child and the first one born after a large gap between the first 5 children and the final 3. Grandma would tell the story of how very proud she and my grandfather were, with their "2nd family". They would go out with Dad in the baby carriage, showing him off.
When Dad was 17, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II. He was a Machinist's Mate and worked on the Airplanes down in Pensacola, Florida.
He came home after the war and ended up getting a job fixing Buses. Met my Mom, several years later and had 4 children. He worked Long hours, 6 days a week, to help put food on the table for his growing family. It wasn't easy and we never had enough money but we had lots of love. We didn't see much of him during our childhood but amazingly, after my Mom died, he picked up the communication slack, becoming both Mother and Father to his 4 children. We kept in touch through our weekly conversations with him. He visited us at least once a year for over a decade and we would visit him, about the same. The quiet man who we grew up with had become a master at being a social being. Spreading information and love, wherever he went. My son adored him, as did I.

My last conversation with him was just 5 days before he died. We had a good talk and he was in good spirits. I treasure this fact, because it could have been so much worse. He was still living at home, the one he shared with his wife for over 50 years, on the day he died.

Dad, I miss you and think of you this Father's Day.

Love,
Your number 1 daughter.

Father's Day, Part 1

I moved out of my house, for good, at 24 years old. That was the last time I lived under the same roof as my Dad. I moved out west and met a man and got married, all in the first year. I also got my career job, a month after the wedding. Lots of changes in a real short period of time. Was I destined to live out here...well, the way everything just fell into place, I truly believe that to be true. After a year in a clerical position at the TV station I was working at, I moved into the Engineering area. Suddenly, there I was, daughter to 20 or so engineers, who were mostly much older then I was. These were hard working and hard playing men, who had mostly served in the military and then used their engineering training in a new career...the infant industry of Television. Back then men had to "Make" Television, it was not all computer programmed fluff, that anyone with half a brain and half talent, can do. These men were hired because they knew how to move a mission forward, to success. Most of them had already been working for almost 20 years at the station, not only broadcasting, but making television. The stories they told! They were never at a loss for storytelling. Productions in the 60's and 70's with lots of Music Performers and the antics that ensued, during the shoot...and after. 3 different Dramas shot all at the same time, on three different soundstages. Unheard of stuff today. We are lucky we do one drama at a time. They took it all in stride and welcomed me, the newbee, into their ranks. For that alone, I am forever grateful to them. I was trained to do Electronic Graphics, Electronic Still Store and other assistant positions, so I was on "crew" for almost a decade. Watching them, working with them and becoming a member of that Television Production "Fraternity". The men were my fathers in every sense of the word, watching over me, protecting me and loving me, as a father loves a favorite daughter. I salute them all right here and now...Jack (Papa J), Ron (Guido, Big Nose), Danny (Demon), Pete, Richard (Dick), Kenny, Luis (Lover Boy), Jack (Near Beer Man), Cal, Roy (Engineer Roy), Ray (Man of Steel), Tom and Jerry, Alan, Schoonie, Dennis, Jim (Big Jim), Dick and Charlie.
It has been years since I did crew, but it all came back to me last week when I worked as an unpaid extra at the Redbelt shoot. The other members of the crew saw my day gig jacket and thought I was one of them. It was so refreshing to go anywhere without being herded around by the handlers and to feel, if just for a day, that same sense of belonging.
Most are retired now and some are gone. I salute them all. My "work" Dads! Happy Father's Day to you guys...You are the BEST!

Trusty Angel Girls - Steely Dan Heavy Rollers Tour 2007 (Chumash)

This review is of the 2nd night of their Heavy Rollers Tour. Steely Dan played 2 nights in California, this past winter. I was lucky to attend one of their shows.

Dateline: Santa Ynez 1/19/07

As I promised on the Blue, I woke up to a beautiful Southern California day. After the past few days of ice and snow and freezing weather, this was a WELCOME change. I took a quick look at the damage to my plants and saw that I lost many of them to the freeze, including my Steely Dan rose. Knowing roses, I am sure it will be back with us, soon reminding us that "Perfect Moments" do happen more then once. Got myself packed and ready for the road, washed and gassed the car...is there gas in the car?...oh yes there is...and off I went. The drive up was through the citrus orchards of California and thankfully, it looked like most of them had survived the weather. Blue sky, mountains and then...the Pacific Ocean as I turned north at Ventura. Put in a CD of America's Ventura Hwy and then Hwy 101 by Herb Albert as the soundtrack to the drive...turquoise water, green trees, yellow grasses, beautiful sites. Folks, it just doesn't get better then this. Finally, I turned off the 101 at Buellton and made my first stop, a place calledOstrichland. Paid my money and made my acquaintance, up close and personal, with the resident ostriches and emus. Interesting creatures to photograph.

Another 2 or so miles down the road and there was Solvang and my stop for the night, the Vagabond Inn. Pulled in and got settled. Changed out of my Donald Fagen tee shirt and put on my clothes for the evening. Then drove over to Santa Ynez, to check out the casino and the Maverick Bar, location for the pre gathering. Since it was already starting to get late, I pulled into the Maverick first at 4PM. I saw the room where we were obviously going to gather, but no one was there yet. Since I wanted to do reconnaissance on the Casino, I went back over to where it was. Found the parking garage and walked over. The showroom was all the way in the back, forcing me to have to walk through the Casino and slots. Lots of smokers and the room reeked of smoke. This Angelino has mentioned it before, but living in California lo these 28 years, I no longer like or tolerate well, the smell of smoke. Oh well. The Samala room area was guarded, but I heard no sounds that would indicate a sound check going on, so I then decided to go back the the Maverick. Well, in the 45 minutes I had been gone, people had showed up, Steely Dan music was playing, Robert and Laurie were hosting and there were tee shirts for us all. The black shirt did indeed come out excellent, kudos to both our hosts and to Denise in Hinktown for the design. I bought one and put it on immediately. As the room got colder, that extra layer of clothing was welcome. I had not eaten since 11:30, so I ordered a chicken breast sandwich and a beer, sat down with some fans from Torrance and we had a pleasant time chatting about last years tour and Soboba. The more I hear of that event, the more I am pleased that I chose the San Diego date, instead. I was ready to head over to the casino at about 6:45, but then in walked Rajah, Gretchen, Steve and Alan from Australia, who I had never had the pleasure to meet in person. So I ended up staying until about 7:15. By then we had about 30 or so people, including Ed Beatty, Hoops, Little Wild One and Geoff Lloyd. Pictures taken, lots of talk and drinks flowing and then I rounded up a bunch of concert goers and we drove back to the Casino. We stopped at the Rajah's room for a quick freshen up break and then I saw a little water bottle on the maids cart and snuck it into the showroom. The tradition continues... :-) Walked into the Samala Room and saw how very small it was. Great views from all seats and I was congratulating myself on saving almost 100 dollars by buying the cheap seats just behind the soundboard. Great view, slightly elevated. The show begins and the Casino announces that if you want to dance, please use the sides of the showroom. GREAT! I know I will want to dance to Bodhisattva, so as the band breaks into Turtle Talk, I work my way over to the side. Don and Walt walk on and off we go, with this angel dancing her butt off. They started at exactly 8PM and were done around 9:45P. No break but Donald was given time off during Dirty Work and Haitian Divorce, to rest his voice. Donald was in excellent voice and he had a short hair cut that looked just too hot! Kudos...59 looks great on him! :-)

Set List:

Turtle Talk (Band Only)
Bodhisattva
Time out of Mind
Aja
Godwacker
Hey 19
Josie
Babylon Sisters
Green Earrings
Dirty Work (The Girls take lead)
Haitian Divorce (Walter on Lead Vocals)
Peg
Kid Charlemagne
My Old School
Last Tango (Band Only)

The songs were basically as we have seen in the past. Godwacker, from their 2003 CD "Everything Must Go" was good to see after a 4 year absence. I had seen this one for the 2nd night of the 2003 tour at Paso Robles and the change from that poor attempt, to tonights excellent version was icing on the cake for me. So good to hear that "trusty angel girls" line from Fagen. It made me feel that they picked it out for me alone, to bail out my sorry butt in regard to saying that Walter would do 2 tunes from his forthcoming new one. I didn't get that, but I got something not from the Jurassic Steely Dan era (with my handle in it) and it was enough. Carlock on drums was just on FIRE! I can't say enough about him and this time, being I was slightly elevated on the risers, I could see him clearly between his cymbals. Jeff Young had his whirly and during Green Earrings he just let that thing fly! Great stuff all around from the guitars, to the bass, to the horns on that tune. Never a disappointment to me. Walter did the Cuervo Gold part of Hey 19 this time around and he did this hilarious talk about driving over from Santa Barbara this morning and then something about "the decay of the social order" He mentioned that we could settle on the shores of Lake Cachuma (which is just over to the east of the Santa Ynez area) and later mentioned in his talk about the drink that could not be named from this stage at this venue (the Casino is dry). The back up singers then broke into "The Cuervo Gold" part of the song and they finished it up. By the time Peg came on, I could feel that the show was winding down toward the end and I returned to the side of the room. Well, there was Ed Beatty, Little Wild One, Hoops and others dancing and enjoying Peg. So I started dancing again and then we went into Kid Charlemagne and the Band took it into overdrive. Then came the encore time. We made our way to the very front of the stage and I was right under Jon Herington and his guitar. As many of you are aware, Jon hailed a cab for me in 2003 and it was just so nice to be able to watch him rip through those guitar parts during My Old School and then the final tune, Last Tango in Paris. Walter was just behind him so this guitar loving girl got 2 guitars for the price of one and took several pictures of them in action. Donald was across the stage and I had an OK view of him, too. A very nice, unforgettable 5 minutes of my life.
So then the lights come on and we are told to go over to the hotel and the after party was in room 216. So I head up and others follow and we had a nice hour or so rehashing the concert, meeting more people who post over on the Blue and all in all a decent end to the evening. Got back to my hotel before Midnight and off to bed.

Thanks again Donald and Walter for the great music and for sharing it with us.

Steely Dan Heavy Rollers Tour 2007

At best, Steely Dan the band and the founders are a total enigma. After hanging around the Steely Dan Fan community these past almost 7 years, I have learned to appreciate when they open the window into their humor. Today, the final day before a 2 week break in a tour that goes on for months, they posted on their website a tongue in cheek recap of their last break from touring. Labeled State Fugue it is a humorous look at a night they spent in New Orleans a year ago. I believe this is the same time last year that they "composed" a letter to Luke Wilson regarding his brother Owen's movie, You Me and Dupree.

Their tour resumes on the 27th with 2 dates in Chicago and Milwaukee, then over to Europe for the first time since the summer of 2000.

Max Martini.com Forum RIP

Well, we knew it for about a week now, but the public Forum at Maxmartini.com is finally gone. I found it innocently enough through a forum for author Suzanne Brockmann. Some of the women who hang out there would comment on each weeks episode of some new mid season replacement show called "The Unit". I would read each comment and say to myself, this sounds like it might actually be interesting. Note that due to my day gig, I rarely watch network television. My guys though watch "NCIS" on Tuesday and when 9PM came and I saw that it was "The Unit", I told them that I keep reading about it on this board I hang out at and I thought it might be interesting. Well, that innocent comment began a relationship that has lasted to this day. As my interest increased, I started finding places that had Unit websites, including The Unit HQ (now deceased) and a website where one of the actors from the show actually would hang out with the fans. Well, this got my interest, because I have hung out at Steely Dan boards for 6 years and never have the fans been interacted with, at any level. So I went over and read the board...and read some more...and after getting a handle on it all, I finally signed up Thanksgiving weekend, November 17, 2006. Around that time, Max Martini, began a thread called Ask Max and we could ask the actor questions and when he had time, he would answer them.

Then along came a thread called "The Barn" and all sorts of really cool things were going on there. It was not uncommon to wake up in the morning to 30 pages of goings on in The Barn. Some nights Max would show up and those were the best! Baby Oil, Bungee Jumping, Spatula's, boomie thingies and Hugh Laurie cutouts all became things spoken of in The Barn. Hugs were freely given and lots of friendships were born. Then, as most things do, change was in the air. Complaints about actors fooling around online with fans. Children could see it, even though it said mature content. The third season not being a shoe-in, all contributed to tension and eventually, it's demise.

It was taken off line 2 weeks ago and put back online just long enough for people to take what they really wanted to keep and to make sure they could get in touch with people they had been conversing with for 6 months to a year. Today was the last act, the post that said go to other fan moderated sites, if you want you Max Fix. The actor is now totally inaccessable and that is a real shame. Max, we all will miss you and thank you for everything you did to make your site a cool place. Good luck with your life and your acting career. You are the BEST!

========

A post script, almost 6 months later. I was looking for information on the movie, Redbelt the other day and I tripped over a blog of a former member of Max's site. I found 2 posts that brought back so many memories of those days, I had to put them somewhere, so that somewhere...is here.

The post is referencing the episode, Johnny B. Good.

redheadmama wrote:
Oh Max . . .
Dear, Dear Max . . .
Mack Freakin Daddy . . .

It seems that your absence has cause great anguish here in the Max Martini Forum. We are lonely, listless, and downright bummed. Crying or Very sad

When will you, once again, grace us with your presence? Your awesomely hot, freckled, buffed, redheaded presence?

We are concentrating all our collective energies on bouncing, wiggling, flirting, batting of eyelashes, downright begging - everything in our feminine powers - to reach out to you.

Please, please, come back to us soon!

Signed:
Your adoring, drooling fans . . .

P.S. Next time - lose the socks and the towel

One of your adoring, drooling fans...

--
and then, after many comments from other fans, comes this reply, from our Max.

Can you imagine if this show was on HBO!~! HOLY MAMA - FULL FRONTAL!!

Green Mill Ave

As I have mentioned in some of the posts, I am addicted to a TV show, The Unit. They film the program around locations in my home town and many a day we see yellow signs pointing to that days production shoot. Today's Los Angeles Times has an article on those who's cul de sac has become home base for The Unit outdoor shoots.

Click here for "The Unit" Article

Redbelt Movie 6/5/07

Drizzle, lots of drizzle. Sitting under a tent with no sides waiting hour after hour. Cold, sometimes semi wet and very frizzy hair. Yeah, we were ready to "Be In A Movie" all right...
Started the day at 5:50AM. Drove through lots of Valley traffic the first hour and then finally, blessed traffic relief after passing the Westside. Reached the Harbor Freeway about 7:15AM and my first call from Gidget happened. You are on your way, right angel? Yes, Gidget, I am. lol
Drove a few miles more down the 405 Freeway and suddenly on my right is this HUGE blue pyramid towering over the residential neighborhood. I couldn't believe it! Must be the place, so I exited the freeway and drove around the area to get a good handle on where things were. Found some restaurants along Bellflower, which helped immensely later in the day. Drove back to the Red Belt shooting site at Cal State Long Beach. It's this huge blue pyramid. Followed the yellow signs that said RB Crew Parking and took care of my vehicle. Called Mama to see where she was (she had a way to go yet) so I told her I would check out the site and get back to her. Walked over to the trailer village, a normal occurrence at any film shoot. Dressing rooms, bathrooms, wardrobe trailers, make-up, etc. Didn't see a trailer that said Max Martini or Joe Ryan (his character in this movie), Not like I expected to see him, but one always can hope. Walked to the Pyramid and followed the signs to the restrooms (I prefer real ones, to porta potties). Walked into the building and took my first look at the set for the big fight. There were people there already, hundreds of people...YIKES! did I walk into a shot? No, they are all dummies! Wearing winter long sleeve clothes. A heck of a lot warmer clothes then I was currently wearing. Hmmmm...This movie supposed to be in wintertime?
So I walk out and ask a security guard where the bathrooms are. He points to the ones in the dressing room village and tells me the ones in the pyramid won't open til 9AM. So I walk to them (what the heck). When I come back I check out the food. Custom omelettes, custom made waffles, lots of healthy food and smoothies for the cast and crew. We at "Be In A Movie", got bagels, danish and cereal. lol
I call Gidget back and while talking to her, I see someone I know from my day job. Christopher! How's it going? What are you doing here? He tells me he is a paid extra today. Wow, that beats me, I am an unpaid extra. lol He goes off to sign in and I finish my call with Gidget. I tell her that if I can, I will email a photo to her, to put up on Yahoo. I go back to the Pyramid and find where to sign in. Sign my rights away on a release form and then my phone rings again. This time it's Mama! She and Dave are pulling in right now. So...back to the parking lot and we three get together. Dave is Mama's friend Anna's (from the CAN walk) Husband. What a sweet guy! I can see that he and Anna must be such a nice couple. He is a big fight fan and can't wait to meet Randy Couture the UFC Heavyweight Champion. So we walk back through the trailer village, looking at more dressing room names and then get them signed in. They tell us to sit down, so we grab a bite to eat and sit and catch up. That basically is what we did for the next 7 hours! Sit in the drizzle (under a tent top) and talk. Not that we minded talking, we loved talking. Mama can talk for forever, in this case, a good thing. :-)
Finally around 11AM the handler comes in. His name is Dante, a comedian. He does some games for prizes. Stuff to keep us from getting totally bored. One of his games is freaks of nature, regarding people who can do weird stuff with their bodies. It was hysterical! I think at this point that I should mention the fact that many of our fellow "Be In A Movie" types are really uh, "interesting" folks. I could write a book about what I saw. lol
At one point they introduce some fighter named Ray and this gets Dave all excited. So Mama takes a picture of the 2 of them and then we sit again...and wait.
So the hours pass and minus the 2 times we went into the Pyramid to go to the restroom, things are pretty not happening out in the tent. While doing our potty break, the cool thing was that we could see the shot they were working on, while we were in route to the bathroom. The lead character and the challenger go at it under the stands, while a bunch of reporters and security guards are looking on at them. My friend Christopher is a reporter with pad and pen in the shot. Look for a very dark haired Italian with glasses writing stuff down on a paper and that will probably be him in the shot. David Mamet is there directing the actors and extras and it was pretty exciting to see him work. Ooh! :-)
Lunch, finally at 2:15PM and boy were we ready for it. Chicken, rice, new potatoes, pasta corned beef and cabbage and lots of weird salads were on hand with several yummy desserts. Not bad at all. We were impressed. Went to the restroom again and see that the set is dark during the break. Since we were told that we would definitely be on right after lunch, I went to the car and dropped off my purse and jacket. Mama has Dave drop off her purse and jacket. Then we went to sit down in the almost sun, and continue to sit waiting for them to call us. We get told that they will now raffle the BIG prize for us "Be IN A Movie" types and (of course) I don't have my ticket anymore. It is in the car with my stuff! Ugh! So they call a number and give away a TV. We go stand in the sun again and wait some more. Mama sees Ricky Jay (the skeevy CIA operator in The Unit) and we almost go over to say Hi, but he looks real busy and I abort the mission. So back to standing, people watching and just all around being bored. Watching Christopher on his cell phone is my excitement...
Well then I don't know what the tip off was, but I see a guy getting off a motorcycle over in the trailer village. He takes off his helmet and I go Mama! I think that's Max! She doesn't see anything, but I am sure. So we start walking that way to mostly try to get a bit closer. Well, one of our handlers see our actions and he is on an intercept course with us. So we keep walking that way until he gets to us. Well, we can now see quite clearly that it is indeed Max so we both yell "MAX". He immediately comes over to us. At that point security leaves us alone and the three of us talk to Max. He was not supposed to be here today, but he had some pictures they needed to take, so he stopped by. He has this wicked cut on his chin and I asked him where he got that. He said in a fight scene and that is why he was going scruffy right now, to try to hide it. He said he is clean shaven in the movie.
Well after 7 hours of waiting, the handlers now decide that we need to go into the arena for our part in the movie. Fine, great, what timing... We leave Max to go do what he has to do and we are herded into the Pyramid and over to the bleachers. We picked a high row, but they immediately moved us down to row one. Then they take Dave away to walk in the stands during the shots and act like he is finding his seat. So it's just Mama and me together. They direct us to pantomime that we are talking, when the scene is being shot. This is absolutely no problem for Mama! lol
Works perfectly. We talk to each other, we talk to other extras, we have a good time. Max comes into the set and we keep track of him, a bit. Watching him talk to cast and crew. He then leaves again. We continue like that for at least another hour, doing our talk thing. Dave is finally allowed to stay in his seat, so we have him back with us. There are Kodo drummers around the outside of the ring, and the 2 fighters go at it again coming into the ring area. We do the shot over and over again. Sometimes the star and sometimes the stunt double. While we are in between takes, Max comes over to us with a cup filled with gourmet popcorn. He offers us some and we talk some more. The other extras are beyond excited that someone came over to talk to us. I ask about Kim (she is still not better yet) I ask more about the cut and he says that it bled all over the set, when it happened. We mention that we have some pictures and Smitten's tee shirt that need signing, so he does all that for us. Finally, they call for another take and Max has to go again. We sit some more and do more takes, while Mama text messages Gidget. She asks the infamous question from the CAN Walk, "Did u behave yourself?". I go and Mama Texts, "define behave?" LOL It is 8PM and most of the extras have left. So we finally decide to call it a day and we walk off the set. For me it has been 12 1/2 hours of stuff. We walk outside the Pyramid and there is Max getting ready to leave. We go up to him and ask if he wants to join us for dinner. He says no he has to go home. We leave him and walk off toward our cars. While deciding where to go eat, we hear the unmistakable rumble of a Harley. Mama goes "Potato, Potato, Potato" and then along comes Max. We intend to get a shot of him as he drives by on his bike, but once again he surprises us and drives over to us.
We give him directions to the freeway take a few shots and this time he really is gone. We go off to Bellflower and get some dinner. Smiling the whole time.
Great day for all three of us. Max has another convert and friend for life. Dave is totally impressed with him. I say goodbye to them both, hugging and making a promise to have a Redbelt premiere party together next year and then we get into our cars and head home.
What a day!

CAN Walk, Los Angeles 4/28/07

Dateline: Pasadena

The Mack Daddy team mission: CAN Walk Los Angeles.
The Operators: Mama, Angel, Roo, Boo, CindyLV, UF71 (Gidget) and special for this mission only, Anna (Mama's Partner In Crime)
Operators converged on the unsuspecting City of Angels on Friday at 20:00.
Pasadena Inn was the meet location.
This operator found the remainder of the team up in room 3. Much wine was obviously already consumed, and much conversation going on. I was offered a glass of wine, upon entry to the room. Due to my drive status, I just sipped mine.
Uniforms were distributed. Boo did a great job designing the shirts and hats. Other items given, including bracelets made by Midnight Shadow and blue bracelets from Boo. Ready as we could be to execute the mission on Saturday, we exited the hotel, to enjoy some dinner. Due to the late hour, a close location was decided on. El Torito was selected and the team drove to the restaurant in 2 cars. Margaritas ordered by many and food came. A good dinner was had as we did more planning and talking. Much excitment regarding the VIP we would have to guard the following day. Finished up dinner and about a third of my drink and walked out of the restaurant. Two emergency vehicles immediately pull in at our location and we begin to wonder if we had done something to set fire to the place. We find out that there a patron needing assistance, inside. Convinced that there is nothing more we can do, we take a few pictures near the fire truck and disband for needed sleep (or in some cases, needed dancing). I quickly drive the long distance home.
Saturday morning comes way too quick for me, but I get myself ready, put on the shirt and hat, to check out how I look. Did I mention that the shirt and hat look great? :-)
I load the car and drive over to Pasadena. It ends up that some of the other members of the team have already made contact with the VIP we will be dealing with this day. He has spent an hour signing everything that people wanted him to sign and they are ready to be seated for breakfast. They call and tell us to get over to our meet location, ASAP. Two cars load up and we quickly drive to the Pie and Burger Restaurant for the meet. Park the vehicles and are immediately met by agent CindyLV, with "THE VIP" in tow. Immediate hugs all around, what a VIP welcome!
Picture taking ensues and we are led to the back of the restaurant. Get ourselves in gear and then more signing and many phone calls.
I think about a third of the time, Max was talking with someone. He was really quite gracious about it. More pictures, breakfast comes. Max had French Toast, me Eggs and hash browns. No coffee for me, I figured I needed to hydrate, so I had water. Even though an amazing cloudcover was currently over the immediate Pasadena area, I knew the sun was going to be an issue on this op and it was. We loaded 4 vehicles and with me in the lead car, Gidget riding shotgun, we proceed to drive to The Rose Bowl, the location of the Op. We exit the freeway and all traffic stops dead and we promply crawl toward the Rose Bowl. Get there in time and park the cars. Mama rode shotgun for the VIP, ready to come to his aid, in case of any trouble. We stayed in constant contact with her via text messaging. It went off without a hitch. We walk to the front of the Bowl, register and get our commerative tee shirts. While walking to the starting line, a member of the general public gets a bead on the VIP and Max's partner, watching his friends 6, immediately goes into action and gets the drop on the man. It ends up that when our VIP turns around, he identifies the man as a work cohort. Good work, kudos all around. Time now for the start of the event. A band leads the way and we are off! 3 laps around the Rose Bowl are required and it has already gotten HOT out. We do the first lap and 2 agents decide to wait in the shade for a lap and we go off to execute lap number 2. The basic terrain was level, with just 1 small rise shortly after leaving the Bowl parking lot. An easy walk in the park for us agents and the other public. We return to where we left the other 2 agents and the entire group goes for lap number 3.
As we are coming around the front another member of the public comes walking fast on our left, we start to worry, but then the woman says something about recognizing the VIP and he shakes her hand. We continue to the end of the walk and take pictures out front of the Rose Bowl.
A third member of the public comes over and says she had been looking for us the entire time and could she get our VIP's autograph. He graciously does so and she then leaves. We are now finished with the main mission, but the VIP is not done with us yet. He says something like, agent angel, find us a bar. So me in the lead once again, agent Roo gets in the car with our Veep and we are off to Colorado Blvd. VIP finds a nice English Pub called Lucky Baldwin's with food and beer. We sit down and take a load off and the VIP spends about another hour with us, talking and enjoying the moment. Finally, he needs to go, so he and his friend, say their goodbyes and with much hugging going on, they head out. With our main work done, we head back to the hotel, to collect our stuff and say goodbye to agents Mama and Anna. More hugging goes on, with promises of seeing each other again. The remainder, get into 2 cars, with me in the lead again. Agent Cindy is in charge of car number 2. We head north to Santa Clarita and they are brought to the sites. The houses, the Saugus Cafe, Santa Clarita Train Station and Santa Clarita Studios. By now it is over 100 degrees at 17:00 and they take their leave from me. I gas up, call my husband and head home. A good op and what amazed me, it went off without a hitch.
Thank you Max Martini. A true gentleman, a wonderful human being and an unforgettable experience.

Welcome to the Jungle

Well, here I am, my first Blog. I have written articles over the years but have never really had a place to keep them.
I do occasionally make web pages over in angelfire and I will hopefully bring some of my concert reviews and other events, over to this one. I also sometimes guest on another cool website, Gina's place in this internet world, called Mizar5. If possible, those ramblings may find their way over here, too.
I hope you enjoy reading them all.

Steely Dan - Bayside At The Embarcadero, San Diego, CA

Steely Dan Bayside at the Embarcadero 7/21/06

Drove down to San Diego after spending a blistering day in LA. My house hit 90 degrees in full air conditioning and we couldn't wait to drive down on Sunday Morning. Made it down by 2:30PM and went for a swim in our pool in the La Quinta Old Town San Diego. Nice warm water that felt great, after the heat of the past 2 days. Got dressed and headed to Casa Guadalajara to have dinner. It was an excellent Mexican restaurant with lots of atmosphere, especially on the patio. Checked out the trolly station right down the street, but decided we did not have enough time for a trip down to Mexico this time around. For a minor fee, the trip brings you to San Ysidro and the border. Maybe next time. We decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel and to bed. Monday morning we headed out to the Downtown San Diego Waterfront area to check out the Aircraft Carrier Midway . We took the tour and it was quite interesting, but pricy. Kidlet has a love of all things moving and we figured he would enjoy it. We all did and we ended up spending over 3 hours touring the ship and eating lunch at the nice cafe on board. We decided to do a bit or reconasense, before heading back to our hotel. We had great difficulty finding anything having to do with the venue, parking or even how to get there. We finally tried pulling into the back end of the Convention Center and there were so many trucks unloading that we turned around. This ended up being a mistake because 2 hours later, this was exactly where the signs pointed for parking. So not knowing what we were going to do later in the day, we returned to the hotel, showered and got the kidlet settled in the hotel room, with food and TV. Made a quick call to Aja to find out if she was going and if she knew anything. Unfortunately, she was not going and she knew nothing about the venue. I was sad to hear that, because it would have been nice to see her again. Headed back to Downtown and swung by the Convention Center again, to see if we could figure out more. Now there were signs showing where to park and we were in business. We went over to Seaport Village to have some dinner. Before we decided on a dinner choice, I called my favorite DHS G-Man and found out that he was within 4 minutes of the venue and had underage daughter in tow. We made plans to hook up later and looked around. We decided that we wanted to try for the sound check, so we ate at a take out seafood place, rather then a sit down restaurant.

It ended up being the right thing to do because as we parked in the area we were directed to, we could hear the band playing Glamour Profession. Instant excitement! All in all we heard 6 tunes: Any World, Monkey, Black Cow (all business, no Uptown Baby" this time around), Showbiz Kids, and Cousin Dupree. The definite more obscure tunes that this fan was looking to hear, so that wasn't bad at all. Took a few digital pictures and then stowed the camera back in the car.

When I returned Sociology Man from Phoenix asked if we knew what they had played before he got there and I read him my set list. After the Sound Check, Ed Beatty did indeed turn up with his now much older daughter in tow. Last time I had seen her was in 2003 for the EMG tour. She has grown up quite a bit. Pete Fogel also turned up with his wife Shari and her Mother. It was good to see them all again. Went through the check point, got everything in again and checked out the seat selection. We ended up being in row 17 on the left side of the stage. Just behind us and over a bit was the soundboard, so we looked forward to having good audio for this show. After checking out our seats, we decided to check out the concessions behind the seats. Drinks and food, but no real dessert, except kettle corn. Sigh... Bought my Steely Dan keychain (becoming a tradition, I now have 3 of them). I really liked the shirts and actually helped the seller with his sale just before me. Maybe I will break down and get one of them when I go to Detroit. The hoodie sweatshirt is great, but very expensive. Back to our seats and Ducky walks by and we talk. She is loving the life in San Diego and I was glad to see her. Then spotted Steveedan and his son Jonah up toward the front. He was indeed gimping around with a bright blue leg cast (call me Deacon Blues?). It was good to see both of them. Then the lights went down and the band came up on the stage. Turtle song began and off we went.

Set 1

Turtle Song (Band only)

Bodhisattva

Time Out of Mind

Aja

I've Got the News

Hey 19

Cousin Dupree

Josie

Any World (Jeff Young vocals)

Glamour Profession

Black Friday

--

Set 2

Steely Dan Show

Green Earrings

Monkey in Your Soul (Walter Becker vocals)

Band Intros by Walter and into Showbiz Kids

Black Cow

Do It Again

Dirty Work

Peg

Don't Take Me Alive

Kid Charlemagne

--

Encore

My Old School

FM

The band was hot so. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, even to giving them a standing ovation after every song in the beginning and then during Hey 19, the folks who could, got up and danced. My feeling is that these folks have a very active tribute band "The Steely Damned" and that they are used to going up to the front dance floor during the dance songs and so the did so. Donald commented at the end of the song that he liked seeing that, it was OK with him, so they stayed. I did not see people getting upset, but I am sure there were some who did.

Bodhisattva: I have heard Bodhisattva live on the bootlegs from '74, but nothing could compare to the way this song kick started the concert. Great song and great solos.

Time out of Mind: I heard this in 2003 and it was basically unchanged. Donald does the melodica thing on this song.

Aja: Again a tune from 2003 and it too was basically unchanged. Carlock Rules!

I've Got the News: Now we're talking. I love this tune and was really looking forward to watching them perform this song. Great rendition and I loved the Broadway Dutchess part. Thanks guys for finally putting it in the set list.

Hey 19: Well, in spite of Owen Wilson saying that this was the title of his next film, it was good to hear this again in concert. Aretha was back, I do believe and so was the worm.

Cousin Dupree: Owen Wilson's current movie is called "You, Me and Dupree" and the boys must have gotten bored on the tour and wrote a fake nasty letter to Luke Wilson, telling him that his brother stole their Grammy Winning Song. In honor of all the flap going on right now, the boys brought it back into the set list for this tour and began performing it. I have never seen it live, so it was a treat for me.

Josie: No drum solo, but exactly as seen before. Nice riffs by both guitarists.

Any World: This was highly anticipated, but the reggae beat and Jeff Young on vocals, though interesting, lost a lot of the sorrow from the original. Still, it made me happy to hear it at all and so that was a good thing. Glad to hear it twice, both at the sound check and live.

Glamour Profession: I have heard this song before, but only on boots of the 2000 tour. Donald was all over the place on the lyrics and I seem to think this is deliberate. Anyway, glad to hear it, no matter what lyric was sung.

Black Friday: Guitar tune end to the first set. Nice to hear live.

Went out back to the concessions for some lemonade and kettle corn. Met Ed Beatty and he was on the phone with Little Wild One. So I got to talk to her about the lyrics to Glamour Profession, for one. :-)

Back to the front and talked some more to Steveedan. He is playing a gig out in my neck of the woods and I am trying to set something up for him and his band.

Back to my seat and off we go again.

--

Set 2

The Steely Dan Show: Hubby singing this? I don't know for sure, but he did comment that it wasn't hard since they projected the lyrics on the stage.

Green Earrings: My SONG! Great trading 4's going on and wonderful stuff all around. Sorry angel...

Monkey In Your Soul: Walter steps up to the mic and gives us his rendition of this Pretzel Logic era song. I have heard him do it before and generally like it a lot, but I was not impressed with his vocals on this night.

Band Intros/Show Biz Kids: After finishing up Monkey, Walter keeps the mike for intros, as the band breaks into a real funky tune that eventually evolves into Show Business Kids. The girls take the "F" line. High point for me. Good song live!

Black Cow: Same as we have heard before. Jeff Young takes the solo, but it was better during the Donald Fagen band tour, in my opinion.

Do It Again: Donald introduced this song with words something like "Walter and I moved to LA in 1971 and formed a band and this was our first hit". I have heard this tune, but never saw it performed live. Very well done. Good guitar work.

Dirty Work: Donald dedicated this to David Di something and Danielle. Girls did a real wonderful job on the song.

Peg: Kicking it into guitar God overdrive, we start with Peg. Not my favorite tune, but well done. Great Herrington solo.

Don't Take Me Alive: As usual, I have now officially died and gone to heaven, love this song. Great guitar work.

Kid Charlemange: Number 2 in great Larry Carlton solos, Herrington on his 335 goes at it. Fagen says goodnight and see you next time. He has learned his lesson regarding saying see you next year.

--

Encore

My Old School: One jumping number. Got us up and dancing and clapping and all around having a good time.

FM: Thought I had had enough of this tune. I was wrong,. Well done and a wonderful end to the evening.

--

Walked out of the venue, watching the crowd and up ahead we see Steveedan and Jonah making their way to the car. I take the large bag that Jonah is carrying (because Steve is on crutches) and grab his hand to keep the drivers from running the little one over. We get to his car, say goodnight and stroll over to our own. Nice mellow evening, friends to add the the excitement, what more could you want?

Thanks Donald and Walter for pulling out the dog and pony show, one more time. I truly enjoyed it.

Donald Fagen Band At The Wiltern Theater

This was written on a train, with very little sleep, so apologies in advance for any disjointedness to the narrative. Some form of this will probably get posted onto my website, with pictures and such, but for now, here are first impressions of Monday evening. Enjoy.

Donald Fagen Band 2006

Set List

Here at the Western World
Green Flower Street
The Nightfly
New Frontier
Maxine
Home At last
Black Cow
The Goodbye Look
Third World Man
Mary Shut the Garden Door
Misery &the Blues
Brite Nightgown
Black Friday

Encore
Pretzel Logic
Viva Viva Rock N’ Roll

We started our evening by meeting at my work place, which is about 3 miles from the venue. Ate a quick dinner, before heading to the Wiltern Theatre. Our plan included checking out the scene at the Opus Bar and then hooking up with my Steely Dan friend from work, for the show. Rain was just beginning to fall, which I considered a blessing because my guys made good time getting to my work place. We parked in the structure behind the Wiltern, which set us back $10 and then walked to the front. The marque had Donald Fagen Band 2006 (sold out) on it. My informal tally found that I was asked more times if I had tickets to sell, rather then having someone asking me if I wanted to buy a ticket. We went across the street and took a quick shot of the marque and then over to the Opus. There was the Rajah right out front with Pete Fogel’s wife Shari. I was told that Pete was inside and that in addition, she had her mom accompanying her this evening. Rajah told me that Gretchen was in the bar and so we headed into the Opus and there indeed was Gretchen, sitting with Still Sparkin’. He had come all the way from Hong Kong to see the show and it was a real thrill to meet him. Then Hubby mentioned that Ed Beatty was over on the other side of the bar and so I walked over to Ed and we did a quick hug between “Roseland” Wife and Husband. It was good to see him again. Pete Fogel showed up and I got in a quick hi and asked him if there had been any taping of this tour for a DVD. He told me no. I was sorry to hear that and hope that it turns out to be incorrect. In bad news for that wild hope, I did not see any cameras taping, so I do not think we were taped. Too bad, because it ended up being a great show.

We decided to try to find our friend and so we split from the bar. Walked over to the door of the Wiltern and got searched for camera and drinks. Got both in, no problem. I am getting good at this, after my horrendous Roseland experience back in ‘03. We found our seats and sat down to wait. Felice Hernandez came over to me and we talked a bit. She is one of the singers for the Pretzel Logic Band and it was nice that she remembered me. My friend Peter finally showed about 10 minutes to 8:00 and we talked a bit. Right around 8:10 the lights went out and the band entered from camera left. They immediately broke into the uptempo “Here at the Western World”. I had heard it several times (thanks, friend) and was quite used to the different feel of the song. I think that made it more enjoyable to me. Good upbeat start to the show (I can’t believe I am saying that about a depressing song like Western World, but it was).

Impressions of the show.

Carlock was just fabulous, as usual. He is mostly the timekeeper for the band, which limits him. Once in a while he breaks from his time chains and is allowed to fly. What a thrill when that happens. He is one powerful drummer and a pleasure to watch. Guitarists Wayne Krantz and Jon Herington, were a study in contrasts. Both cool, but in different ways. Jon always slightly removed from the action, mostly self imposed. Krantz on the other hand was closer in, but with a cool wild edge to him. I enjoyed watching them both. We had an upper balcony view of the evening and that actually gave us a slightly different view of Donald. We could actually see him playing the Rhodes piano. At Roseland I couldn’t see anything except him singing. I thought the bass was a bit low in the mix, or maybe it was my ears, since I remember commenting on the same thing at Roseland.

Things I remember about the songs.

Green Flower Street - One of my favorite songs from Nightfly. I always enjoy hearing it when The Steely Damned play. So it was quite a thrill to have Fagen doing his own song. One thing kind of confused me a bit. Carlock didn’t seem to do all the beats on some of the parts of the song. He did get the end right though. His choice in how to drum it, I guess.

Nightfly - Yes, Donald channels Lester and some of the lines were very funny in a concert setting. I can’t believe I am saying this but it dragged on a bit.

New Frontier - I laughed when Donald sang about “Yes we’re gonna have a Wing Ding”.

Maxine - I loved the vocal harmony on this song. I truly enjoyed it. I believe Carolyn took the “Mexico City” solo.

Home at Last - Basically as we saw it in ‘03. Carlock doing the Purdie Shuffle. I like this song and enjoyed this foray into the Steely Dan file, especially after that huge chunk of Nightfly songs.

Black Cow - Another one from the file and again, mostly as we saw it in ‘03, but the change I noticed was Jeff Young on the organ taking the Victor Feldman solo. It was great.

The Goodbye Look - What can I say. I had real high expectations for this song and every one of them came true. It was one cooking end!

Third World Man - Back to its original form, I think A great song and the guitar solo’s by both Krantz and Herington were so exquisite to watch that I had shivers running up and down my spine. An unforgettable moment.

Mary Shut the Garden Door - Finally, Finally, Finally I got to hear something off the new one and it did not disappoint. The band really looked like they just fit right into the sync locked groove and showcased their work on the album they helped Fagen create. Great song and it could have gone on forever, if I had my way.

Misery and the Blues - I had also heard this one several times, so I knew what to expect. My feeling on this song is that Fagen is paying tribute to the music of New Orleans, in his own, low key, way. I really loved Michael Leonhart’s solo and then Walt Weiskopf’s, during this almost 10 minute piece. I enjoyed the song better then I expected to and as others have said, anywhere Fagen wants to send me, I will gladly go.

Brite Nitegown - 2nd song from Morph and it went well, considering I did not think they were going to be able to carry the weird vocals. I enjoyed it, but would have preferred either Security Joan, or Mona. Just my choice.

Black Friday - Not my favorite song, as a general rule, but it was great. Herington and Krantz traded gnarly guitar work on this one and I loved it. What a wonderful end to the show.

Encore:

Pretzel Logic - A better choice couldn’t be found, in this girl’s book. One heck of a song and Jeff Young picking up the “Stepped up on the Platform” vocal, was just icing on the cake for me. Herington guitar solo, similar to the one he did on the Plush.

Viva, Viva Rock and Roll - Very short, but a rockin’ way to finish off the concert. A nod to his very 50’s Rock and Roll roots, I think. I enjoyed the energy. Donald going out in style and on his terms.

Walked out to the lobby and checked out the Donald Fagen tee shirts and finally decided to pick up 2 Morph the Cat keychains. I have a $10 Steely Dan keychain from ’03 and I saw that inflation had hit the keychain market. I paid $15 each for them, which made it tough to impulse buy a few extras for Steely Dan friends. I did get one for my sister, who is a huge cat fan and who loves the title track from the album. There was Ed Beatty and Still Sparkin’ again, standing in the lobby and we talked some more and then we got kicked out of the Wiltern, so they could close down the place. We said our goodbyes and walked out back toward the parking structure and I bought a cheapie Donald Fagen tee shirt from the “entrepreneurs” out back for $5. We will see how many washes it goes through before it totally disintegrates, but hey, I only bought it for me and I will be the only on suffering the “you get what you pay for” result of this impulse buy. Then we bumped into Felice Hernandez again, on the top level of the parking structure. She also had a cheapie tee shirt in tow and you could tell she loved the concert. She mentioned that she would love to work the back up singer position, if Donald ever needs someone. :-)

Great evening, great time, great people. Thanks all.