It seems that Skyworks and Presidents of the United States of America do not mix. Once again we were grounded by a president, this time Jimmy Carter.
We accidentally filmed his house, and by the time we landed 50 miles away, we received orders from the Secret Service to wait until an agent arrived to talk to us. Less than 10 minutes later, we were being interviewed by said agent, who took down all our personal details and copies of our passports. Agent No-Name then sat next to me and made me delete the footage of Jimmy Carter's house. It was "an issue of national security".
Scary.
I'll write more later from a more secure location. They could have read this before I've even posted it.... ;) (In case anyone, and by that I mean you people at NSA, hadn't realised, that was a joke. I have nothing further to write about this, or the Secret Service.....)
Ben
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Charleston
Right now I'm in Charleston, South Carolina, and I have to say it's one of the prettiest towns I have ever seen. And I don't mean pretty by American standards - it's just plain pretty. I will definately come here again.
The last few days have been some of the most manic so far. We did a 7 hour shoot yesterday, which was a killer. It's really quite knackering.
Today I made the fatal mistake of forgetting the american "take a European size, and add 50%", and ordered a large Pizza for Richard and I to share for lunch. Now, let's see, in the UK a large pizza is generally considered to be about 14" - which is a fair amount, but fine for two people.
"Oh my god. No. This must be a joke", where the thoughts that ran through my head when I saw it.
But yes, "We make the biggest Pizza in Charleston".
Well, pictures say more than words ever can. So here goes:
Richard tucks in to our 24" Hawaiian
Oops.
I'd write more, but I am knackered and off to bed. The trip is brilliant. Over the last few days I've seen the Smokey Mountains, a NASCAR track, an F-15 fighter jet in flight, pelicans, Cape Fear, an ice waterfall and have driven an ex-police car.
Awesome times.
Ben
The last few days have been some of the most manic so far. We did a 7 hour shoot yesterday, which was a killer. It's really quite knackering.
Today I made the fatal mistake of forgetting the american "take a European size, and add 50%", and ordered a large Pizza for Richard and I to share for lunch. Now, let's see, in the UK a large pizza is generally considered to be about 14" - which is a fair amount, but fine for two people.
"Oh my god. No. This must be a joke", where the thoughts that ran through my head when I saw it.
But yes, "We make the biggest Pizza in Charleston".
Well, pictures say more than words ever can. So here goes:
Richard tucks in to our 24" HawaiianOops.
I'd write more, but I am knackered and off to bed. The trip is brilliant. Over the last few days I've seen the Smokey Mountains, a NASCAR track, an F-15 fighter jet in flight, pelicans, Cape Fear, an ice waterfall and have driven an ex-police car.
Awesome times.
Ben
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
George
Today started well. I had a fine breakfast, washed down with lots of weak american coffee, and after some pork patties, eggs, a bagel and some fruit I felt set for another day of a sore bum in the helicopter. (For those of you who have just joined - the sore bum is due to the very small seats. Nothing else).
So I briskly, yet calmly, set about my start-up procedure. Gave the lense a good old clean, made sure we had enough tapes in the chopper (Richard gets cross when I call it a chopper, as a chopper refers to a specific type of helicopter, not helicopters in general - however this is my blog - and thus, today at least, I'll call it a chopper), and carried on sorting bits and pieces out. Moments later, I glance up to see Richard marching towards the helicopter with a stern look about him. "There's a TFR starting at half-ten, we need to get going, there's no time to lose". "Oh, right", I replied, and sped up my duties. "TFR?", I wondered, as we lifted into the air. There hadn't been time to ask before we left, and now Simon (our pilot) was chattering away to air-traffic in some sort of wierd latin chant. Thunderstorms From Rear? No, sounds far too much like farting (which is strictly forbidden inside the helicopter, ahem, I mean chopper). Terradactyls Flying Recklessly? Perhaps, but only in my mind... After failing miserably to come up with anything remotely sensible, I finally asked. Temporary Flight Restriction.
And this is where George comes into play. It seems old Dubya ain't happy pissing off half the world - he decides to spend his last few weeks in office directly pissing us off too - by landing at our first location of the day. And so we rushed off to film Greensboro as quickly as possible - but despite our best efforts, we had barely started by the time Mr Bush approached, and we were forced to land.
Air Force One - Skyworks Nil
After spending 3 hours on the ground (I knew I should have bought myself that damn Nintento DS), and watching the middle part of Patriot Games, we left.
Later in the day we filmed various bits and pieces, before ending up in some mountains. I spied the most awesome twisty bendy and empty road in the whole of America - and for the first time since I started, wished I'd been on the ground, in a car rather than in a helicopter. One day I'm coming back here and driving the Blue Ridge Highway.
Supper was less than interesting. I think I've now filled myself to breaking point. Having eaten about 120% of my capacity for the last two weeks, I could barely manage half a meal this evening, and felt full after the first bite. There's a gym here in the hotel and I have plans to make use of it tomorrow morning.
Time for a cup of Almost English Breakfast, and then I think I'll watch my new DVD in bed. Inspired by my recent experience of grits, I've bought myself "My Cousin Vinny".
Ben
So I briskly, yet calmly, set about my start-up procedure. Gave the lense a good old clean, made sure we had enough tapes in the chopper (Richard gets cross when I call it a chopper, as a chopper refers to a specific type of helicopter, not helicopters in general - however this is my blog - and thus, today at least, I'll call it a chopper), and carried on sorting bits and pieces out. Moments later, I glance up to see Richard marching towards the helicopter with a stern look about him. "There's a TFR starting at half-ten, we need to get going, there's no time to lose". "Oh, right", I replied, and sped up my duties. "TFR?", I wondered, as we lifted into the air. There hadn't been time to ask before we left, and now Simon (our pilot) was chattering away to air-traffic in some sort of wierd latin chant. Thunderstorms From Rear? No, sounds far too much like farting (which is strictly forbidden inside the helicopter, ahem, I mean chopper). Terradactyls Flying Recklessly? Perhaps, but only in my mind... After failing miserably to come up with anything remotely sensible, I finally asked. Temporary Flight Restriction.
And this is where George comes into play. It seems old Dubya ain't happy pissing off half the world - he decides to spend his last few weeks in office directly pissing us off too - by landing at our first location of the day. And so we rushed off to film Greensboro as quickly as possible - but despite our best efforts, we had barely started by the time Mr Bush approached, and we were forced to land.
Air Force One - Skyworks NilAfter spending 3 hours on the ground (I knew I should have bought myself that damn Nintento DS), and watching the middle part of Patriot Games, we left.
Later in the day we filmed various bits and pieces, before ending up in some mountains. I spied the most awesome twisty bendy and empty road in the whole of America - and for the first time since I started, wished I'd been on the ground, in a car rather than in a helicopter. One day I'm coming back here and driving the Blue Ridge Highway.
Supper was less than interesting. I think I've now filled myself to breaking point. Having eaten about 120% of my capacity for the last two weeks, I could barely manage half a meal this evening, and felt full after the first bite. There's a gym here in the hotel and I have plans to make use of it tomorrow morning.
Time for a cup of Almost English Breakfast, and then I think I'll watch my new DVD in bed. Inspired by my recent experience of grits, I've bought myself "My Cousin Vinny".
Ben
Monday, 1 December 2008
More bad weather...
Well today we're expecting more bad weather, and are deciding to stay put. Whilst things seem to be brightening up around Raleigh, the Smokey Mountains are likely to stay covered in cloud. And we don't want to film the Smokey Mountains in too much, er, smoke....
It's actually turning into quite a nice day here though, perhaps I will go for a stroll later. In any case once the wind dies down I'm going to go and give the lense and gimbal cover a good clean, and I fear there's a little smudge on the lense that's blurring the image the tiniest amount when completely zoomed in to the far right of frame.
I have done a map! It is here. I'll try and keep it updated.
Watched Australia last night, the new Baz Luhrman film. I don't think it's out in the UK yet, but to be honest - you're not missing out on much. It was decidedly mediocre. Have bought myself Absolute Power on DVD to watch later. You can never own too many Clint Eastwood films.
I have now got the tea-making-in-coffee-percolator-malarky down to a fine art, and have reduced spillage to a negligable amount. So on that note, it's time for a cuppa.
Ben
It's actually turning into quite a nice day here though, perhaps I will go for a stroll later. In any case once the wind dies down I'm going to go and give the lense and gimbal cover a good clean, and I fear there's a little smudge on the lense that's blurring the image the tiniest amount when completely zoomed in to the far right of frame.
I have done a map! It is here. I'll try and keep it updated.
Watched Australia last night, the new Baz Luhrman film. I don't think it's out in the UK yet, but to be honest - you're not missing out on much. It was decidedly mediocre. Have bought myself Absolute Power on DVD to watch later. You can never own too many Clint Eastwood films.
I have now got the tea-making-in-coffee-percolator-malarky down to a fine art, and have reduced spillage to a negligable amount. So on that note, it's time for a cuppa.
Ben
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