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May
6, 2007
Day Fifteen
The Location Scout
Got up and went straight to the computer. Of
the four athletes I was following I could only
find results for one. He’d had a pretty good
race but clearly had some difficulty on the
run. Wished I could have chatted with him and
got the low down.
The pro results weren’t up yet so that didn’t
help me with Heather. My friend Julie wasn’t in
the results as having finished, nor was she on
the DNF list – same for my guy Irvin. As I type
this I still don’t know how Irvin did but I got
a text from Julie. Sounds like it was rough out
there but she did finish I was stoked to hear
that.
I’m a Kate Major fan so I was happy to see her
hit the podium.
Got an email from a buddy with a Crackberrie on
the sight.
Heather, in her debut as a pro came 10th.
I’m proud as hell of her, even though I know
she’ll be angry to get out there and notch that
result up. I wonder how many girls in front of
her work 40 hour weeks?
I’m aching to chat with everyone about the race
but it seems like the Wildflower area is worse
than India for internet and wireless reception.
As I was swapping emails with people about the
race DJ was rushing around getting ready to go
on a location scout for a film these guys have
scheduled to begin shooting in the next few
weeks. At the last minute Kabir called and
asked if I wanted to come along for a few hours
and see some of the film’s locations. Sounded
like fun. It was 8:30 AM.
We drove for about thirty minutes to a little
shop and had cake and tea while waiting for one
of the production assistants to arrive. Saw
(and smelt) one of the open sewer ditches you
hear so much about. Yeah, it was pretty
disgusting but it’s another one of these things
you expect to see everywhere but don’t. Things
are seldom as bad as you fear and rarely as good
as they’re promised. After about thirty minutes
the fellow we were waiting for arrived and we
were off to the first location.
Before arriving at the first location Naushad
pulled over to point out a salt field for me.
Very interesting - little beds of water drying
out and piles of white salt as far as the eye
could see. Half an hour later we were at the
first location – a gorgeous little private beach
surrounded by palm trees. Naushad arranged for
a round of coconut waters for all of us (there
were about ten on the scout). A couple of local
boys showed up with a few baskets of coconuts
and a carved machete type knife. A few hacks of
the blade, a straw and you had a drink in your
hand. I quite liked it. Would have been great
chilled.
After that it was one location after another. I
took a lot of pictures. I’m working with Shawn
to try and get some kind of gallery so I can
post a few for everyone to see. You can
translate that to read: “Hey Shawn, will you
make another page for a bunch of photos?” Then
I sit back and wait for him to do all the work.
He’s a champ!
We saw two different studios and was fascinated
to see an Indian soap opera being filmed on
one. The sets in India aren’t much different
than American ones – a lot of people sitting
around waiting for things to happen. Although,
I confess I’ve never heard such a noisy one. In
India the 1st AD yells “Silence!”
while the American counter part yells “Quiet on
the set!” The American version seems to work
better. You could hear people chattering
throughout the take. I had to resist the urge
to duck. Things like wrenches and light meters
would have been flying if anyone talked after
Quiet called for on any set I’d been on.
We didn’t get home until after 6PM. It was a
long day and it felt like most of it was spent
driving but I’m sure glad I went. Every time I
step out that door I see something new.
Shortly after getting home I got Skyped by a
friend who reminded me the Lisbon ITU race was
being webcast right then. I’d missed most of it
but enjoyed logging even for the ending.
Huge “atta girls” to Kirsten and Jill!!!
Sure would be nice if Wildflower had something
like that going on!!
After that I swapped a few emails with Pete on
how some of the athletes did today, chatted with
my parents on Skype for a bit then watched
another bad movie – and yes, I loved every
minute of it!
Face is starting to get a bit scratchy. I’m
thinking I might engage the services of one of
the many street shavers that have little chairs
set up in the markets. I’ve never had a
straight razor to my throat. Might be an
experience.
My Achilles seems to be healing quickly –
feeling good tonight. Might be able to run
tomorrow but I’ll ride for sure. The shaky seat
is waiting for me!! |
