I am an auntie (again)

So I now have a nephew -- he was born via C-section last night in Trenton, NJ. Very cute!

See ("I am an auntie", Saturday, March 19, 2005).

French hairstyling

A banner weekend for shoots, as today I got up, went all the way to the East Village to the Anthology Film Archives (above). There, I and several other extras were dressed up for the Cesar awards for a French film called "Red Carpet". We were in the dream sequence where the main character wins an award, and we give her a standing ovation.

Later that afternoon, I went midtown to a hair salon for another scene. I was originally not in this scene but they needed more extras, so what the hey.

I ended up being a featured extra because the main character works in a salon and needed to style someone's hair. The other guys were bald. So I played the client for the actress (Julia Faure) as she talked with all her friends and made plans to go to a jazz club.

C'est magnifique!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1029367/

Parading for Rob Thomas

usually when I go to a shoot, I am the bottom person on the totem pole -- I have no union or agent. So I am not allowed speaking parts and I get paid less. (Upon writing that, I wonder why I even go????)

Today I showed up at 5am to be an extra in a Rob Thomas video. I had to go to the Church of St Sava on 25th Street between Broadway and 5th.

Apparently, I was considered VIP because I was getting paid (all of $100 but that's not bad when it's in cash.) There were about 25 of us.

All the other scads of people were from Rob Thomas' fan club! When he arrived at 9a, some were crying and fanning themselves a la Beatle Invasion circa 1964!

I have to say that Rob Thomas is a nice, cool guy. He posed with the fans and said hello to everyone.

The video depicts a parade of people with various messages of peace and equality, etc. I was dressed simply, like a girl from the 1970s, holding a sign that said "Peace" on it.

Other people dressed up like trees (and could hardly walk, but were great sports about it). We had a bunch of little kids dressed as bumble bees and flowers (and were soooo cute!) Then there was a gospel choir and a Scooby-Doo-looking bus.

I think they turned it into a gay pride parade because there was an archway of rainbow-colored balloons over the whole thing. So -- while I am not gay, but I play one on TV!

Then we marched singing the refrain:

"Sometimes
we don't notice
How good it can get.

So maybe
We should start over,
Start all over again."

Not bad, even in the drizzling rain! Rob Thomas played someone watching the parade go by with all the onlookers.

http://www.robthomasmusic.com/

Happy 9/9/09!

It's a very special day --- consecutive nines have not been seen for 10 years (on 9/9/99) and won't be seen again for 90 more. Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those will also break down to nine. For example: 9 x 62 = 558; 5+5+8=18; 1+8=9. Sept. 9 also happens to be the 252nd day of the year (2 + 5 +2). Yeah, number geeks and 9-lovers! Today is a great day!

An elephant washes in Brooklyn

Photo by AP via Uniformed Firefighters Assoc

New York is chock-full of spas, but apparently there wasn't one big enough for this customer, so a Brooklyn firehouse was ordered by the City to shut down for 30 minutes and wash .... an elephant.

Lucky Suzie! (That's the elephant.)

Only in New York.

Famous places by the park

Marian Anderson, the contralto who was the first African-American contralto to perform at the White House, for President and First Lady Roosevelt after being turned down by the Daughters of the Revolution for her race in 1936, lived at 1200 Fifth Avenue (overlooking Central Park) from 1958 - 1975.

In 1939, she gave a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Over 75,000 people were in attendance, and approximately 6 million listened to the concert on the radio.

In 1955, Marian made her debut at The Met, becoming the first African-American singer in Met history.

In 1958, she then served as a delegate at the United Nations (and moved into this apartment building, which now has a plaque describing her achievements outside its front door).

She went on to win the United Nations Peace Prize in 1977, and the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1984.

I like when I read about amazing people in NYC ---- makes me think I could do a lot more with my life, given today's technology and anti-racism laws.

http://www.metoperafamily.org/_post/education/marian-anderson/html/index.htm