Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Memories from a TV Star

Last night we watched Wonderland's Poway episode. It was great fun to see the Poway-Midland Railroad get the attention it deserves. It was also funny to see how standing around for 5 hours can get you about 10 seconds on screen for a TV show. (see my previous post about this show to get the link to the YouTube video showing the taping process)

This is the second time I've been on screen for the railroad. Neither time did I speak. Both times it took FOREVER and yielded a few seconds of screen time. I guess that is the way these things work.

The previous time was for a children's show called The Jumpitz. They sell on Amazon in both English and Spanish (completely different casts for the two versions). That means that they taped everything twice too. However, that doesn't get across just how much time went into that taping. First there were rehearsal shots, then filmed ones. Then more filmed ones (because something was wrong or they needed a different angle, or something). Since I was loading luggage into the train at a very fast pace (to music), every time they reshot, we had to unload all the luggage and start again. Oh, and they blared the music (a catchy little tune which is a worse earworm than "It's a Small World"--and probably enjoyed by children just as much, but causes groans in anyone over 12) every time they practiced or taped.

This taping for Wonderland meant a lot of standing around and waiting as the host visited the museum and the Nelson house (because time ran over and he couldn't finish with us before he was supposed to meet with them) and then James and I watched the taping of the other volunteers in the barn. For every interview you saw on TV (if you missed it, don't worry, it will repeat; it is KPBS) there were four takes, at least, plus maybe two or more interviews that never made it to air. What you do see, however, is great fun. The host, Noah, certainly knows how to make his viewers want to see what he shows. I hope that means that lots of people will want to come out to ride the train. The Poway-Midland Railroad deserves more attention than it gets. No other place in San Diego has a regularly running steam train.

OK, I titled this post "Memories from a TV Star" but if you have seen the shows I am talking about, you will know that in each I just smile, wave, and stand on a piece of equipment in a conductor's uniform (or toss luggage to an invisible crew member hiding on the floor). Still, it was interesting to see how much behind the scenes work (and waiting around) goes into such short segments of filming. In both cases, lots of editing went into the final product so that it looks very different than the experience of actually being there and taping it. The experience gives me a different perspective on what I see on TV everyday.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Around the World: Finally Complete

Awhile back I wrote about how we were participating in a Jules Verne tribute. The book Around the World in 80 Days was being shipped around the world and trying to make it back to its owner in 80 days. The book made it to our hands on Dec 31, 2008 and we took pictures with it around San Diego before mailing it to its next stop.

Well, it took longer than 80 days, but the book is now back in Portugal where it began.

You can see the whole story at the owner's blog:
JV Blog
(Please note, the blog is in Portuguese but English and French translations follow each section, so scroll down in order to read it)

It was fun following the book on its journey and seeing photos of it with different landmarks. I wish it had made it within its 80 days, but I guess Phileas Fogg was faster.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Poway-Midland RR and KPBS

The Poway-Midland Railroad (http://www.powaymidlandrr.org) will be on televisions in San Diego very soon. The KPBS show Wonderland is doing a segment on Poway and came to our Railroad last Wed.

The host, Noah, interviewed our President, Earle Krepelin, and took a tour of the barn. This included talking to Pete M. about the San Francisco Cable car restoration currently underway. Then Noah took a ride on the 1894 LA trolley with James and me.

The show will premiere on Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 at 9pm on KPBS.

Here is a short preview (with permission of Noah).

Also, see our other videos of the Poway-Midland Railroad.

Here is the Wonderland preview, if you would rather see it here:

Friday, January 2, 2009

Around the World . . . in 80 days

The last day of this year (2008) proved a very exciting one for us. We are participants in a world-wide event--the mailing of a Jules Verne book, Around the World in Eighty Days, around the world in under 80 days. We were the west coast stop and the book came into our hands at 10:30am on December 31, 2008.

Our first stop was Balboa Park, the premier central park of San Diego. The book had just been in Yokohama, Japan (which is San Diego's sister city) so we first took a photo with the Japanese Friendship Garden sign commemorating that fact. We also took photos with the Spreckels Organ Pavilion (one of the world's largest outdoor pipe organs); built for the 1915 Panama-California Exhibition, it has a wonderful sound when we attend concerts there.

One of my favorite sights in the world is the California Tower in Balboa Park, so we naturally took photos there too. Here is James holding the book and my Little Will Shakespeare puppet (which posed for pictures all across Britain in September).

After that, we went to the Star of India (gorgeous ship) and then the Hotel Del Coronado. It was a beautiful day.










Before heading home, we stopped at a small local restaurant themed to the book, called Phileas Fogg's Restaurant. It has pretty good British food and we have eaten there several times since it opened. We love the mural representing the journey in Verne's book.

Nearby is the Poway-Midland Railroad where my husband and I volunteer. We run a 1907 Baldwin Steam Locomotive around the park there, at least two times a month. Although the train is currently down for its annual maintenance, we will be running either the 1894 Los Angeles Trolley or the 1950 Fairmont Speeder this Sunday, during our normal volunteer day.
James has been collecting Verne books for awhile now and here he is proudly posing with his books and the Portuguese copy which we mailed out at 4:45pm so that it can reach Illinois (its next stop on its way home to Portugal).

The blog detailing the whole trip is:
http://jvernept.blogspot.com/

The post relating to our stop (with more pictures) is:
http://jvernept.blogspot.com/2009/01/around-world-63.html

Note that it starts in Portuguese but if you scroll down, you will find each entry in English as well (and eventually he has been adding French translations to these entries with the help of another fan, I believe). Originally, when James agreed to be part of this event, I thought the copy being mailed was an older, vintage copy, but it turned out to be a very nice 2003 copy which happens to replicate the original french cover design and have copies of the original interior illustrations. We signed the book and dated it, like the other participants, and mailed it off with a San Diego postcard as a souvenir of its time here.

This was a fun way to end the year and let us visit a few of our favorite spots, too.