Hell's Half Acre

I'm planning to do a post about some thinky-thoughts about our culture based on some stuff discussed that time I had dinner with Kevin Parks, but I haven't had the time to compose the words enough yet...

So, in the meantime, have a funny video about Vancouverites:



(To be fair, the "talk about the weather" thing is actually a Canada-wide phenomenon.)

On an unrelated note: Rewatches of S8 will start going up starting in mid-October. Updates to the clothing catalogue will begin as soon as the rewatches are finished, with the goal of having everything updated by the new year.

For the last two days I've been keeping a secret - and I hope those friends who are in Vancouver forgive me, but...

Supernatural held an "overstocked" wardrobe liquidation sale today. Studios do these types of sales a lot after shows/movies wrap (for the season or completely)... usually, I never hear about them and so I miss them. This year, I happened to find out that Supernatural was doing a wardrobe sale.

I think anyone who reads this journal would realize that there was no way I would be missing a SPN wardrobe sale!

Before you get too excited - there weren't many Sam and Dean clothes for sale. I'm guessing it's because the boys aren't going to be naked in S9 (disappointing, I know). That being said, I did manage to get some very cool things...

( Pictures :) )

Now, only a couple of hours left until Supernatural airs on the east coast... yay!

In a previous coincidental "it's a small world" happening, I discovered that I actually did an episode of Falling Skies with Ty Olsson.

Tonight's, coincidental "it's a small world" happening is a little different, and it didn't happen to me...

Today, I was browsing Tumblr, and I found this post with  pictures from when Ty Olsson appeared nude in a play. (And by "appeared" I mean, he was nude on stage for nearly 3 hours.) Naturally, my first thought was "Mustache? Really?" but my second thought was "Hold on a second! That sounds suspiciously like a play that my friend was just telling me about the other night..." So, I did a little bit of googling, and sure enough....

In 2001, my friend saw Ty Olsson naked at a local theatre.

Then we had this conversation:
"You've seen more of Benny than any of us (save perhaps Dean, if people on the internet were to get their way :P )"
"And I can confirm that Dean would not be disappointed (he's a show-er, as the saying goes) - Have at'er, internets!"

On a more serious note, she add: "That show was kinda like when a friend and I went to see "Puppetry of the Penis" - the guy (or in the latter case, guys) is just so comfortable on stage that you relax & get comfortable with it, too."

ETA: My friend further states: "The other thing I forgot to mention re: the play is that Ty's character, the dead husband (thus "her two husbands") was really intense, but pretty much the opposite of Benny. He was a womanizer and a drinker and a gambler; basically an all-around party animal. And also, he's an amazing theatre actor (everyone in that play was fairly outstanding, but Dona Flor and her dead husband were exceptional)."


( COMPLETELY UNRELATED: Chad Lindberg )

So, I was bored and looking at Ty Olsson's (Benny) IMDB page...

I've worked with him! 

Haha, he was on the episode of Fallen Skies that I did, and I was in one of his scenes...way across the room, but I was there!


That's me circled and that's Ty in uniform on the right playing Sgt. Clemmons.

I did such a fine job as "girl in background wearing ugly sweater" don't you think? Really, I think I should retire on a high note while I still can. ;)

For those interested, the film I just "background performed" for now has an IMDB page, and also a fundraising page at IndieGoGo.

Because it's all BC based actors, it's fun to look through the cast and see just how many of them have been killed on Supernatural. ;) 

Sometimes I feel like I should make a fact sheet about Vancouver for non-AU J2 writers - which is pretty silly of me, considering I don't even read non-AU J2...but I guess it just comes from the same part of me who likes very accurate things...and, in order to confirm that I don't like reading non-AU J2, I HAVE read some, and they can be very factually inaccurate about Vancouver.

I've also noticed, in my time on the internet, that non-Canadians kind of lump Canada together like it's the same everywhere, when it's not really. So, here are some facts about Vancouver:

1. Did you know that there's a cannon that goes off every night at 9pm?

It is called the 9 o'clock gun. It's in Stanley Park, oddly pointed TOWARDS the city, not away from it. No one can remember WHY it's fired every night at 9pm, but it's tradition now, so it goes off every night at 9pm even though no one knows why. I think a lot of traditions are like that. 

There are some theories...I think the most believed theory is that it used to signal curfew for fishing boats. 

You can't hear it from all parts of the city. You can hear it really well from my apartment (and I'm a fair distance away), but I'm on a hill, and it's pointed in the direction of my house too. According to my twitter, there are actually vancouverites who don't know about the cannon - which I find amazing. I'm sure you can hear it if you were on the waterfront downtown, or if you were on a hill in East Van (like me), or if you knew to listen for it...

2. It very rarely snows here, and it most certainly doesn't blizzard.

If you want real blizzards, you have to go to the other coast. In Newfoundland, it'll blizzard for 3 days straight and leave 8 feet for snow. It's ridiculous (and I miss it.)

In Vancouver, it only snows occasionally - huge wet snowflakes usually. (See SPN 4x20 and 6x13) It'll maybe leave an inch or so, and then melt the next day. VERY occasionally, you'll get a foot or so - and then no one knows what the hell to do...but that's literally only happened once in the past 7 years. 

So, all those J2 fics where they get snowed in....well, unless you specify that they are living on a mountain, it's just not going to happen.

Also, people will use their umbrellas in the snow. That really made me laugh when I first saw it, because it's SNOW. But then I started using my umbrella too, because the snow is so WET - it's basically like it's raining in white...so, that'll teach me to laugh at people.

3. Sometimes there are animals.

There are always raccoons...they climb on my roof at night. The other day, they tranquilized a bear that had wandered into downtown and was rummaging around in a dumpster in an underground parking garage. There are coyote warning signs in various parts of the city too. It's rare, but, hey - it happens.

As an aside, I never understand people who write about menacing wolves, but not coyotes...coyotes are far more likely to be menacing, in my experience...wolves tend to stay the hell away from people.

ETA: And skunks - there are a LOT of skunks. It's something you have to watch out for when you are walking around at night...especially with dogs.

4. Sometimes people yell "Thank You!" at the bus driver when they get off the bus.

This is happening less and less, but the first time I came here in 2009, it was more common. I arrived from a month spent in Asia, and it was such a *Canadian* thing that I could only laugh and shake my head at it - "yes, I'm home." I don't do it myself, because I have issues with unnecessarily breaking silences...but other people do it. 

5. The Skytrain takes you places. 

Vancouver's "subway" system is called the Skytrain, because it's only below ground when it's downtown - the rest of the time it's elevated.

Anyway, those are the things that I can think of off the top of my head.

Russ Hamilton (the Location Manager for Supernatural) has that music that plays during gunfights in westerns as his ringtone. You know: doalualu do do do do dualualu do do do do.

And that's all you need to know for this scene from today:

I'm on the Official Location Tour, and Russ pauses next to my seat on the bus to answer his phone, which has just rung. I smile at the ringtone.

Russ: Yes? ...It's on fire now? 

And he says it in a voice where I'm not sure if he was perhaps expecting something to be on fire...but I'm not sure, so...

Me: That can't be good.

And Russ looks me dead in the eye, and mouths: THE BACKLOT IS ON FIRE.

I believe I gave him an expression similar to the one Dean is wearing in my icon.

Sure enough, when we were in sight of Burnaby, you could see a large plume of smoke...and when we got to the closest intersection, you could see the extent of the fire. Russ thinks they lost their favourite bar to film in, and the pizzaria that Dean met Death in, and a lot of the brownstones that looked like New York as well. 

Supernatual WASN'T filming there at the time. It was a small production Bollywood film.


( Pictures )

I should add that although Supernatural has invested a half a million into the backlot (according to Russ), it does not belong to them.  They are just one of many productions that use it. Though according to Russ, not all productions look after it like Supernatural does. The person who is really screwed is Michael Buble, because apparently he was supposed to be filming a music video there tomorrow or the next day. Supernatural is supposed to film there next week, and may still be able to, but Russ already has his scouts looking for alternative locations just in case.

UPDATE: 

No one was hurt when a warehouse being used by film crews caught fire Monday afternoon in Burnaby.

Flames were spotted shortly before 2pm on the northeast corner of Byrne Road at Marine Drive.

Burnaby RCMP Inspector Tim Shields says it appears a couple of welders working on some scrap metal sparked an explosion when they tore into a gas line.

Traffic had to be re-routed, but the fire is now under control. (source)

 Not to harp on about the riot or anything, but this is a very good peace about how the riot did not represent Canucks fans or the people of Vancouver: 

Excerpt:

From being there and talking to people all night long, I am convinced that last night was a well planned terrorist attack, pulled out by a few idiots who took advantage of a ripe situation. They wore Canucks jerseys to blend in, as any good terrorist would, but they also brought canisters of pepper spray (used to deter bears) and they brought black scarves to wear around their faces..as no good FAN would.

They brought a truck, with the lone intention to set on fire...win or lose. They had tools to aid in looting. Their intention was clear...to destroy property and make Vancouver Canucks fans look terrible.

And much of the media has bought it. hook, line, and sinker.

...

I was in a building last night that was full of the most real/die-hard Canucks fans alive....as the clock ticked down inside the building I was blown away by the Canucks fans ability to maintain perspective and stay positive. It had taken them 40 years to see a game 7 Stanley Cup game in their building, but there was no sense at all they would be violent despite watching a very mundane performance by their team at the most critical time. They were chanting "LU" on Luongo saves right to the end. The common refrain was "can't blame it all on Luongo, he can't score."

Where I come from it would have been ALL Luongo's fault. Canadians know their hockey, that's for sure.

Vancouver Canucks fans aren't about violence. They are incredible fans.

Sigh...well, my disappointment at not winning the cup was quickly shadowed by my disappointment in my fellow man. Just like I feared, the downtown core broke out in riots after the game. It's always just a small group of crazy people who are able to ruin something for everyone. 

Don't worry about me though - my neighbourhood is thankfully made up of peace-lovin' hippes, Italians, Portuguese, and lesbians (It's a really great neighbourhood, you guys!). So, we went up on a local roof and watched the sunset through the smoke plumes from downtown, while in our immediate area it was all "bicycles, puppies, and children at play" as one of our group said. The most "rioting" we heard was a man who walked by cheering "Go Canucks 2012!" (which is a sentiment that I can get behind).

Also, there's good news because two members of the Boston Bruins are local BC boys! So, congrats to them! And my goodness, but Tim Thomas really deserved the Conn Smythe trophy. He did an amazing job...I think he may have replaced Antti Neimi as my favourite NHL goalie.

Did you know that, in the BC film industry, Craft Services and First Aid are the same thing? Anyone working Craft Services (not catering, just crafty) has to have a high level First Aid certificate as well as the ability to serve light snacks and refreshments.

If I knew people who wrote non-au J2 fic, I would tell them this so that their fics could be all realistic...but I don't like reading non-au J2 fic, so I don't know anyone who writes it. Still, interesting to know!

As far as the instructor of my course is aware, BC is the only place where this is the case. I think that's both cool - because it's like everyone working crafty is a secret first-aid superhero, and not so cool - because you have to go through all this first aid training if you want to serve light snacks and refreshments on a film set.