An “Extra” Taping with “The Bachelorette’s” Emily Maynard!

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Late last week, Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, informed me that the current Bachelorette, the impossibly adorable Emily Maynard, would be filming a segment for Extra at The Grove in L.A. on Tuesday, May 22nd.   And while I am not usually a fan of getting celebrity pictures during Extra tapings – there are always massive amounts of people trying to do the exact same thing, security is difficult, at best, and the set-up is different everyday so one never knows the best place to stand – because this stalker absolutely LOVES LOVES LOVES herself some Emily Maynard, I had to at least try.  Which is how I found myself heading out to The Grove bright and early this past Tuesday morning, and, as it turned out, things could not have gone more perfectly!  And I would like to go on the record here and state that while I LOVE Emily as The Bachelorette, it is this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion that producers seriously dropped the ball on choosing her suitors.  There is not one guy in the bunch that I even mildly like.  (Although I did truly laugh out loud at the comment contestant John “Wolf” made about fellow contestant Kalon in Monday night’s episode in which he said, “I have a rule – if you have Louis Vuitton luggage and you’re a dude, you’re an a**hole!”)  Emily, you’ve definitely got your work cut out for you!

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I ended up arriving at The Grove at around 9 a.m., about two hours before Emily’s interview was scheduled to begin and, amazingly enough, the mall and area around the Extra stage were both completely empty.  After milling around for a bit, looking in the windows of my favorite stores, I lucked out by spotting host Maria Menounos walking towards the set, so I ran up to ask for a pic.  Maria was a complete and total sweetheart and even chatted with me a bit about her stint on Dancing with the Stars.  Love it!  Shortly thereafter, one of the Extra crew members came to the stage and announced that a prize would be given to those audience members who were willing to stick around for the entire taping, which would last about three hours.  I, of course, agreed to stay, not because I wanted the prize, but because, as you all know, I LOVE to watch filming of any kind!  The crew member then came up to me and the two women standing next to me to inquire if we would be willing to ask Emily Maynard a “fan question” during the show.  Um, yes, please!  I mean, could this day get any better? Smile (For those who read my blog regularly, you will remember that I also asked actor Colin Egglesfield a fan question during an Extra taping a couple of weeks ago, but it seems that I ended up on the cutting room floor as I never saw my question air.)

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Shortly after we were informed of the questions we were to ask during the taping (yes, the fan questions are written by producers and are not spontaneous), Emily showed up on the scene looking absolutely adorable, as you can see below!

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I was OBSESSED with her shoes, which, thanks to a quick internet search, I discovered are Pierre Hardy’s Canvas Multi-Colored Wedges.  For those of you who have an extra $695 burning a hole in your pockets, you can pick yourselves up a pair here.

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I happened to spot Emily as she was making her way to the Extra set, completely unnoticed by passersby.  Seizing the opportunity, I snuck away from the crowd and approached her to ask for a picture, knowing it would likely be my only chance.  And while security seemed extremely peeved with me and told me that photos could only be taken once filming was completed, Emily said it was OK and happily posed.  She seemed quite a bit shy and was surprised I wanted a picture with her, but was very sweet.  And yes, she is just as cute in person as she appears to be onscreen.  As it turns out, the stalking gods had definitely been smiling down upon me when I spotted her, because after her interview was over, she was mobbed by fans and my chances of getting a photograph would have been slim to none.

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Emily’s interview, which lasted about ten minutes, was very fun to watch and she was very sweet answering my fan question, which was, “Did you learn anything from your previous experience with Brad?  Is there anything you are going to avoid this time around?”  After the interview was completed, one of the Extra crew members took a photo of The Bachelorette posing with Mario Lopez, which I somehow made it into the background of (!!!) and which The Grove later posted on its Facebook page.  (Thanks to Lisa, from the Finding the Famous blog, for letting me know!)  SO INCREDIBLY COOL!  Can you tell I was excited?  Winking smile You can check out another pic from the taping that fellow stalker Sandy told me about here.

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After Emily left, Mario, Maria, and host Renee Bargh taped a few more brief segments.  The girl who was standing next to me – a super nice tourist from Texas named Danielle – really wanted a photograph with Mario, and even though it is typically extremely hard to get pictures with him during the filming of Extra, I decided to try to help her make it happen.  After getting turned down four separate times by him throughout the course of the morning, we were noticed by his security guard who, knowing that we had been standing there for over three hours and had participated in the show by asking fan questions, took pity on us, asked for our cameras and managed to snap pics of each of us posing with Mario during a break.  Yay!  As I said earlier, the stalking gods were definitely smiling down upon me on Tuesday!

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Oh, and I almost forgot to mention our prize!  All of the audience members who stayed for the duration of the filming were gifted a Philips Sonicare Airfloss Electric Flosser, which at first I thought was pretty lame – until I got home, that is, and tried it out.  The Flosser is seriously one of the coolest things I have ever owned!  The machine flosses one’s entire mouth electronically, using air and water, in about sixty seconds time.  For someone who has never been a fan of flossing, this is pretty much the best invention ever and I am now completely in love with it!  The Grim Cheaper has Siri and I have my Philips Sonicare Airfloss Electric Flosser. Winking smile All in all, it was a fabulous, FABULOUS day that I could not have enjoyed more!  Look for Emily’s interview to air on Extra next Monday, May 28th.

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Big THANK YOU to Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, for telling me about Emily’s appearance on ExtraSmile

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here.  And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Extra tapes daily at The Grove shopping center, which is located at 189 The Grove Drive in Los Angeles.  You can visit The Grove’s official website here and Extra’s official website here.

Fig & Olive Restaurant from the 2012 “Matthew’s Day Off” Honda CR-V Super Bowl Commercial

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Ever since I first saw the ingenious “Matthew’s Day Off” Honda CR-V commercial that premiered during the 2012 Super Bowl on February 6th, I have been absolutely itching to track down the restaurant that appeared in it.  Especially since, a few weeks beforehand, I had stalked and blogged about L’Orangerie, the eatery that stood in for Chez Quis in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the 1986 movie upon which the two-minute-and-twenty-five-second television spot was based.

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Thankfully, this location was a fairly easy find.  While watching the ad, I had spotted the name “Chez Neuz” painted on the awning of the restaurant – “neuf” being French for “nine”, which is, of course, the number of times Ferris Bueller was absent from school in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (“Nine times?”  “Nine times!” “I don’t remember him being absent nine times!”  LOL)  And while the establishment’s tongue-in-cheek moniker was obviously a fake, I figured that the other words – “kitchen” and the partially hidden “–ing bar”, which I guessed to be “tasting bar” – that were also visible on the awning were most likely real.  And I was right!

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Inputting the words “restaurant”, “Los Angeles”, “kitchen”, and “tasting bar” into Google led me to a website for a fairly new eatery in West Hollywood named Fig & Olive.  One quick scan of the photographs pictured there proved that it was a match to what had appeared in “Matthew’s Day Off”.  Yay!  So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place this past weekend.  Fig & Olive, which was originally founded on the East Coast and has several outposts in Manhattan, first opened its West Hollywood location in March 2011 in an 8,000-square-foot, two-story venue on the corner of Melrose Place and La Cienega Boulevard.  The bright and airy establishment features a 50-foot tasting bar, two patios, a lounge area and a Mediterranean-inspired menu that is brought to life each night by Executive Chef Pascal Lorange, a man who was once the personal chef to both singer Julio Iglesias and former President Bill Clinton.

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Thanks to its trendy location, fab menu and chic interior, Fig & Olive became an overnight sensation and has served the likes of Amanda Seyfried, Robert Downey, Jr., Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Jason Bateman, Elizabeth Banks, Hilary Duff, Rebecca Gayheart, Julianne Hough, Ryan Seacrest, Jimmy Kimmel, John Stamos, Bob Saget, Ryan Gosling, Lea Michele, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Reese Witherspoon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Connolly, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Ryan Phillipe, Kellie Martin, Mila Kunis, Molly Sims, Zac Efron, Drew Barrymore and even President Obama.  Oh, and me and the GC Winking smile, who both absolutely fell in love with the place.  Before we arrived there, I had been convinced that Fig & Olive would be extremely snooty, but I am very happy to report that that was not at all the case.  The entire staff was BEYOND nice, especially our bartender who loved the fact that we were only dining there because of the “Matthew’s Day Off” commercial.  Smile

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Because the establishment is on the pricy side, the GC and I opted to only grab drinks and a cheese plate appetizer, all of which were uh-ma-zing!  I cannot wait to go back to there for a full meal sometime (ear muffs, GC!).

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Fig & Olive was featured three times in the “Matthew’s Day Off” commercial, which was directed by The Hangover’s Todd Phillips.  The tasting bar area first popped up in the scene in which Walter Linder, Matthew’s agent, is shown eating lunch in front of a TV that just so happens to be airing the parade in which Matthew is singing.

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Fig & Olive’s tasting bar is pictured above and, as you can see, the television set and the wall it was affixed to are not actually there in real life.

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The exterior of Fig & Olive then appeared as Chez Neuf, the restaurant where Matthew dropped off his Honda CR-V with a valet, who then, of course, made off with it.

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And the restaurant lastly popped at the very end of the commercial, in the scene in which Matthew reenacted his famous “You’re still here?” bit from Ferris Bueller.

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Our bartender informed us that an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was also shot at Fig & Olive, but I scanned through both Season 1 and Season 2 of the series earlier today and did not spot it anywhere, so I am guessing that the scene wound up on the cutting room floor.

“Matthew’s Day Off” Super Bowl Commercial Filmed at Fig & Olive in West Hollywood

You can watch the 2012 “Matthew’s Day Off” Honda CR-V Super Bowl commercial by clicking above.  Apparently, the team at RPA, the advertising agency that created the ad, hid over two dozen references to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in the spot – some obvious, some more subtle.

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Here are a few that I spotted (and I swear I could sit here all day doing this!) – 1. In the commercial, Matthew’s agent is named “Walter Linder”.

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That same name was listed in the Chez Quis reservation book directly above “Abe Froman” in the movie’s iconic restaurant scene.

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2. The woman that Matthew spoke with using his CR-V’s built-in Bluetooth in the commercial was named “Grace” – a nod to Ed Rooney’s dimwitted secretary Grace, who was played to perfection by Edie McClurg in the film.

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3. In the scene in which Walter Linder spots Matthew driving, a man is pictured behind Walter playing a clarinet.

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Ferris also played a clarinet in the 1986 film.

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The trench coat that the clarinet player is wearing in the commercial is also a reference to the outfit Ferris wore when he picked up his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara).

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4. In the commercial, the CR-V license plate reads “SOCHOIC”, which is a nod to Ferris’ line, “I must admit, I love driving it.  It is so choice.” about the pilfered Ferrari.  If you are not into searching for the ad’s many Ferris Bueller’s Day Off references, or “Easter eggs” as they are called, yourself, Entertainment Weekly scored a complete list of them from RPA, which you can check out here.

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On a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off side-note – while making screen captures for today’s post, I happened to notice the number 652-9770 (as well as several other variations of it) on the phone Ferris used to call the police while at Chez Quis.  On a hunch, I typed that number into Google, adding an area code of 310, and, sure enough, (310)652-9770 was the actual former number of the now-shuttered L’Orangerie restaurant where that scene was filmed.  Oh, if only I had spotted those digits sooner, I not only would have bypassed countless hours of searching, but I also might have been able to stalk the place while it was still in business.  Ah well!  Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Fig & Olive restaurant, from the 2012 “Matthew’s Day Off” Honda CR-V Super Bowl commercial, is located at 8490 Melrose Place in West Hollywood.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

The SAG Conversations with “Southland” Event

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I would like to start off today’s post by announcing that my good friend, fellow stalker Owen, who is a copy editor by trade, has just started his very own blog which chronicles the various spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that he comes across in printed material on a daily basis.  The blog is called When Write Is Wrong and, let me tell you, it is absolutely HILARIOUS!  I strongly urge you to check it out and get your LOL on.  Smile You can visit When Write Is Wrong here.  And now, on with the post!

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Last week, I received an email from the Screen Actors Guild inviting me and a guest to a screening of the TNT television series Southland, followed by a Q&A with executive producer Christopher Chulack and cast members Lucy Liu, Regina King, C. Thomas Howell, Ben McKenzie, Michael Cudlitz, and Shawn Hatosy.  And even though I had never before actually seen an episode of the show, once I saw the name Ben McKenzie I just about died of excitement!  As I have mentioned several times before on this blog, this stalker absolutely LOVES herself some The O.C., especially its cutie former star, and I have been absolutely dying to get a picture with him for what seems like forever now!  So I immediately RSVP-ed to the event and invited fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to be my guest as Southland is one of his favorite shows.

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The evening started out with a screening of the Season 3 episode titled “Fixing a Hole” and while my mom, who watches Southland religiously, had warned me that the series might be a bit too gory and gritty for my taste, let me tell you, I absolutely LOVED it.  It was laugh-out-loud funny, extremely well-written and sharply poignant.  I cannot wait to rent Season 1 and start watching from the beginning.  Immediately after the episode ended, the stars of the show entered the room and my stomach literally did a flip-flop when Ben McKenzie came into view.  He is even cuter in person than he appears to be on TV.  Swoon!  Smile Because I am anal and always arrive at these types of events about 3 hours early, I secured some FABULOUS seats for me and Mike and we literally could have reached out and touched the actors.  Sadly though, this particular venue did not allow any photographs to be taken during the Q&A, so I was unable to get any pictures of the actors onstage.  But, let me tell you, the interview session was FABULOUS!  The Southland cast is easily one of the most down-to-earth casts I have ever seen in person and, for such a dark, heavy show, the atmosphere between them all was extremely light and fun.  They seemed to genuinely like each other and had an easy rapport.  And although the jokes were flying out of everyone’s mouth, Michael Cudlitz (who plays Officer John Cooper on the show) was by far the funniest of the bunch.  He is absolutely HILARIOUS in person – like stand-up-comedian funny.  My favorite part of the Q&A, though, had to be when the actors talked about the fact that executive producers Christopher Chulack and John Wells do not allow any sides on the Southland set.  For those unfamiliar with the term, “sides” are small portions of a script that contain only those scenes being filmed on that particular day and actors usually have them on hand at all times.  John and Christopher banned the mini-scripts from the set from the very beginning so that the actors would be forced to do their homework and come to work prepared each day. The Southland cast all said that it was a phenomenal way to work and that they were better performers because of it.  This policy especially resonated with me as it used to drive me absolutely batty in acting class when my fellow students would show up unprepared. Memorizing lines is the easiest part of acting, in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion, and if you cannot even come to class with that basic part of your homework completed, how can you expect to be present and focused onstage???  But I digress.

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Immediately following the Q&A, Mike and I, of course, approached all of the actors to ask for pictures and I am very happy to report that they could NOT have been nicer!!  We met Regina King first and she was a complete and total sweetheart – a total 180 from the tough, brazen character she plays on Southland.  Sadly, while we were talking to Regina, Lucy Liu walked by and because no one stopped her for a photo (most actors consider themselves to be above the whole fandom thing), she left before we could talk to her.  As Miss Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, would say, “FAIL!”

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After Regina, we hit up Shawn Hatosy whom I was familiar with from both Alpha Dog and Dexter.  It is funny, but even though I had never watched Southland, I knew and loved each of the actors in attendance from other productions.  Shawn was extremely nice and happily posed for photos with both Mike and me.

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After posing with Shawn, I spotted Ben McKenzie and just about had a heart attack.  Pinky Lovejoy had told me prior to the event that Ben was a total sweetheart and I am happy to report that she could not have been more right!  SUCH a nice guy and, as I mentioned above, ADORABLE in person!  SWOON!  SWOON!  SWOON!

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After Ben, Mike and I got a pic with Michael Cudlitz, which we were both EXTREMELY excited about as he had played jock Tony Miller on fave show Beverly Hills, 90210.  When I first walked up to Michael, I said, “You were Brenda Walsh’s prom date!”, to which he smiled and said, “That I was!”  LOVE IT!  Smile

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Last up was Ponyboy himself, C. Thomas Howell, who was a complete and total sweetheart!  I chatted with him a bit about Rob Lowe’s autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends (which is honestly one of the BEST books I have ever read – like in my entire life!!!!), and he told me that his wife had just read it and had also said it was one of the best books she had ever read.  Ironically enough, a few minutes later Mike and I ventured into a nearby Starbucks (I know, shocker!) and who should be in front of us in line, but C. Thomas!  He recognized us and I quickly said, “We are not following you, I swear!”  I mean, I’m a stalker, but I’m not that bad!  Winking smile C. Thomas chatted to us again for a few minutes and then I headed off to use the restroom, but Mike told me that when C. Thomas left, he called out to him, “Later, bro!” and waved good-bye.  How incredibly cool is that??  All in all, it was an AMAZING night and I am still pinching myself over the whole thing!  As Pinky Lovejoy would say, “Win!”

And don’t forget to check out fellow stalker Owen’s new blog, When Write Is Wrong!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Unfortunately, there is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch Southland every Tuesday night on TNT.  Season 4 is set to begin on January 17th.

Halloween 2011 with Matthew Lillard

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Well, the stalking gods have definitely been smiling down upon me as of late because this year I experienced what was quite simply the Best. Halloween. Ever.  It was an absolute whirlwind and I honestly do not know how any future Halloween can ever compare!  It all started a couple of weeks ago when the fabulous Katie, from the Matthew Lillard Online website, announced that she would be giving away two tickets to the October 28th performance of Harbor, the new play in which the Scooby-Doo-actor stars, along with a meet-and-greet/photo-op.  I, of course, immediately entered my name in the contest and, as fate would have it, I won!  Because this stalker absolutely LOVES herself some Matthew Lillard, I was literally screaming at the top of my lungs when I found out.  What better way could there have possibly been to begin my Halloween weekend than by meeting one of the stars of Scream, my very favorite scary movie of all time?!?!  And while the Grim Cheaper was not nearly as excited about my big win as I was – he is not at all a fan of the theatre, especially Los Angeles theatre which tends to be a bit pretentious – the two of us found ourselves heading out to The Victory Theatre Center in Burbank this past Friday night.  And, let me tell you, I was literally bouncing out of my seat during the entire drive there!

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Amazingly enough, the excitement of the evening got started before the lights in the theatre even went down!  While the GC and I were standing in line waiting to pick up our tickets, I just happened to spot Mekia Cox – who not only played Sasha during Season 3 of fave show 90210, but was also one of Michael Jackson’s dancers on the ill-fated This Is It tour – standing in line behind us.  I, of course, just had to go up to her to ask for a photo and I am very happy to report that she could NOT have been sweeter.  Mekia said that she could not believe that I had recognized her as she usually does not get spotted when her hair is pulled back.  She obviously didn’t realize that she was talking to a stalker.  Winking smile I was like, “Are you kidding?  I noticed you the second you walked through the door!”  Smile

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Harbor, which was written by Jon Cellini, Matthew Lillard’s college roommate, is the story of a single mother who, upon the death of her father and the subsequent reading of his will, is forced to make contact with her ex-husband and his new wife.  And while it sounds as if that would be some rather depressing subject matter, the play is actually laugh-out-loud hilarious!  And Matthew Lillard absolutely SHINES in it.  His onstage persona is magnetic and he is nothing short of fascinating to watch.  The guy has got some major presence – one look at him onstage and it is entirely obvious how he became a movie star.  Truth be told, though, the entire cast was FABULOUS, the script superb, and the theatre warm and intimate.  I honestly could not have enjoyed the production more.   And I was not the only one!   Let me tell you, I almost fell out of my chair when the lights went up at the end of the show and the GC turned to me and said, “That was the best play I’ve ever seen in my life!”  I mean, I knew Harbor was good, but the fact that the GC said that speaks volumes!  If you live in the L.A. area or are planning to visit in the near future, you really need to go see this show!!  I honestly cannot recommend it more!

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After the play was over, we headed to the lobby to wait for Matthew to come out, whereupon the GC met the producer of the show and promptly told her that Harbor was the best play he had ever seen.  He was so giddy over finally enjoying a live performance, I honestly would not have been surprised if he had started shouting about it from the rooftops!  Anyway, when Matthew came out, I walked up to him to introduce myself as the Matthew Lillard Online contest winner and he immediately said, “Oh!  I’m supposed to take a picture with you!”  Um, LOVE IT!  After posing for the above picture, which turned out ADORABLE (can you tell how excited I was to meet him??), Matthew hung around and chatted with us for quite a long time.  The guy truly could NOT have been nicer and when I told him that the two of us used to frequent the same Starbucks and that I had always tried to (accidentally Smile) run into him there, he jokingly started calling me a stalker!  Oh, if he only knew.  Winking smile Matthew was truly honored that I was such a fan and gave me a huge hug before going off to meet the many other fans of his that were in attendance.  Sigh!  What a complete and total sweetheart!   As I said – the evening could not have been a more magical start to my Halloween weekend.

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The following night, the GC and I headed out to Palm Desert, where his boss was hosting a prom-themed Halloween party.  And while I had originally wanted to dress up as Ali (aka Christina Aguilera) and Jack (aka Cam Gigandet) from Burlesque this year, as soon I heard the words “prom-themed”, my plans immediately changed and we instead went as Brenda Walsh (aka my girl Shannen Doherty) and Dylan McKay (aka Luke Perry) in their outfits from the Season 1 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Spring Dance”.  As you can imagine, I could NOT have been more excited for this particular costume!

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And I, of course, just had to make the GC a vegetable boutonniere like the one Brandon Walsh (aka Jason Priestley) wore in the episode.  Smile

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I also just had to re-create the above photograph of Brenda and Dylan.  Oh, the crap I put the Grim Cheaper through!  It is honestly amazing that he ever proposed!  Winking smile And my Halloween excitement did not end there because I spent this past Monday night at a place that I am still pinching myself over, but more on that tomorrow.  Winking smile

A big, huge THANK YOU to Katie, from the Matthew Lillard Online website, for the tickets to Harbor!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Matthew Lillard will be starring in Harbor each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night now through December 3rd at The Victory Theatre Center, which is located at 3326 West Victory Boulevard in Burbank.  You can purchase tickets to the show here.

The 3rd Annual “Get Lucky for Lupus” Celebrity Poker Tournament

Kellie Martin from "Life Goes On"

Last Wednesday evening, my girl Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, invited me to do a little stalking of the 3rd Annual “Get Lucky for Lupus” Celebrity Poker Tournament, which benefited Lupus LA, the West Coast division of the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation.  Well, once I head the word “lupus”, I knew that I had to attend as I had a pretty strong feeling that one of my very favorite actresses, Kellie Martin, would be there.  Kellie’s younger sister, Heather, tragically passed away from lupus in 1998 at the tender age of 19 and the actress has been a very vocal advocate for research on the disease ever since.  (You can read an article that Kellie wrote about her sister’s battle with lupus for the September 1999 issue of Jane Magazine here.)  And, sure enough, about ten minutes after the Grim Cheaper and I arrived on the scene, who should walk up but Kellie!  And, let me tell you, I just about had a heart attack I was so excited to meet her! Life Goes On was one of my very favorite television shows growing up, so seeing Becca Thacher in person was almost most than I could bear.  Kellie was very sweet and happily posed for a picture with me, but seemed truly surprised that anyone had recognized her, which shocked me!

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Melissa Joan Hart

Next to arrive was Melissa Joan Hart, from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch fame, whom I had been dying to get a picture with for over a decade!

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When I moved to Los Angeles way back in early 2000, one of the first things I did was register for background work at Central Casting. The same day that I registered, I was fortunate enough to get hired as an extra in the Season 4 episode of Just Shoot Me titled “Fast Times at Finchmont High”.  As it turned out, the scenes I was in were with special guest star Melissa Joan Hart in which I played one of her cheerleader friends.  That’s me in the above screen captures – in the first capture, I am standing to the right of Melissa and in the second, I am standing in between Melissa and the other cheerleader.  Melissa could not have been sweeter to me or more professional to work with even after I accidentally gave her a flat tire (i.e. stepped on the back of her shoe, causing it to come off) while we were filming!  I am a huge klutz by nature and the director, who as it turns out was Steven Levitan (the creator of Modern Family whom I just met two weeks ago at a pre-Emmy party), had asked me to stay as close to Melissa as possible while walking down the hall.  Well, I stayed so close to her that I ended up stepping on the back of her shoe and pulling it off.  She did not miss a beat, though, and kept right on shooting.  I was highly embarrassed over the whole thing, but Melissa was a complete and total sweetheart and, when I apologized to her afterwards, she said, “Oh my gosh, don’t worry about it at all!”  All in all, I could not have asked for a better first Hollywood experience and it was largely due to the kindness of Melissa.

Me on “Just Shoot Me”! 🙂

You can watch the clip of me on Just Shoot Me by clicking above.

James Denton from "Desperate Housewives"

Other celebrities who attended the “Get Lucky for Lupus” Celebrity Poker Tournament (and who were ALL so nice and laid back) included James Denton, from Desperate Housewives;

Aaron Hill from "Greek"

Aaron Hill, from Greek;

Verne Troyer

Verne Troyer;

Roger Cross from "24"

Roger R. Cross, from 24;

Jason Alexander

George Costanza himself, Jason Alexander, who was so incredibly friendly and nice it was almost unbelievable;

Jamie Gold - poker player, producer, owner of Buzznation

Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champion;

Ryan Cabrera

singer Ryan Cabrera;

Camryn Manheim

Camryn Manheim – SUCH a sweetheart and absolutely GORGEOUS in person;

Michael Trucco from "Battlestar Galactica"

Michael Trucco, from Battlestar Galactica;

Ben Lyons from "E!"

Ben Lyons, from E!’s The Daily 10;

Poker Player Tiffany Michelle

poker player Tiffany Michelle;

Josh Altman from "Million Dollar Listing"

Josh Altman, from Million Dollar Listing;

Karina Smirnoff

Karina Smirnoff, from Dancing with the Stars;

Slash from Guns N Roses

Slash, from Guns N’ Roses, who really did not want to pose for a photo, but was somehow magically talked into it by Miss Pinky Lovejoy;

Derek Mears aka Jason Voorhees from "Friday the 13th"

and Derek Mears, who played Jason Voorhees in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th.

Derek Mears aka "Jason Voorhees" from "Friday the 13th"

Derek was so nice that he actually took two pictures with me as he was not sure he looked “scary enough” in the first.  Love it!

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I also ran into Jermaine Jackson this past Saturday afternoon and he was SUPER nice and happily agreed to pose for a photo with me.  So, factoring in the Emmys, I guess you could say that it was a pretty INCREDIBLE week for this particular stalker.  Smile And I have no idea how I am going to write my Emmy post at this point in time, by the way, as it is looking to be a pretty daunting undertaking.  I think I am going to have to break it up into several different columns, as it will just be FAR too long otherwise.  But I do promise to write it soon.  Smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, for inviting me to this event.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: There is no stalking location for this one, but you can find out more about lupus and lupus research by visiting the official Lupus LA website here.

Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank from “Heat”

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While doing some stalking in the Burbank area way back in November of last year, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant on Riverside Drive to grab a bite to eat.  And even though the eatery has quite a vast Hollywood history, is a filming location, serves fried food (my favorite!), and is currently the oldest remaining Bob’s in the entire restaurant chain, for whatever reason in my ten-plus years of living in Los Angeles I had yet to dine there.  But, let me tell you, the place was well worth the wait!  Both the GC and I absolutely LOVED it!

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Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank was originally built in 1949 by franchise owners Scott MacDonald and Ward Albert, and was designed by Wayne McAllister, the legendary Googie-style architect who also designed the Biltmore Hotel’s Biltmore Bowl ballroom, the Sands Hotel and Desert Inn in Las Vegas, and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Cinegrill nightclub.  In 1993, after several changes in  ownership and a few dining room remodels, the property was purchased by the MacDonald family, who immediately set about an extensive renovation in order to restore the Streamline-Moderne-style eatery to its original glory.  The MacDonald’s also added a front patio to the premises, re-fabbed the famous exterior signage, and, best of all, re-instated car-hop service from 5 to 10 p.m. each Friday and Saturday night.  So incredibly cool!  In 1993, the restaurant was also deemed a California Point of Historical Interest.

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Visiting Bob’s Big Boy, one is immediately transported back in time, thanks largely to its curved counter and open kitchen ;

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cantilevered roof and petal-like umbrellas,

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and commanding 50s-style signage –

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the most impressive of which is the 70-foot-tall free-standing display sign pictured above.

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And the food!  Oh, the food!  I ordered the chicken strips and they were absolutely out-of-this-world!  And don’t even get me started on the ranch dressing!  I was almost ready to start eating it by itself, soup-style, it was so good!  The GC opted for the famous “Big Boy” double-decker hamburger, which he loved.  The “Big Boy” was originally invented by Bob’s Big Boy founder Bob Wian in 1937 and was the precursor to the now-legendary McDonald’s Big Mac.  He created the sandwich as a joke one night when one of his regular customers asked for a “different” kind of burger.  And the rest, as they say, is hamburger history.  Amazingly, Bob was also one of the very first restaurant owners to offer his employees a profit-sharing plan and medical insurance.

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Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank has been a celebrity hangout since the very beginning.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there over the years include Bob Hope (who was a regular), James Dean, Mickey Rooney, Dana Andrews, Jonathan Winters, Alexis Smith, Debbie Reynolds, Craig Stevens, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Taylor Lautner, Tiffany Thornton, Tori Spelling, Melissa Joan Hart, David Henrie, Taylor Swift, Joey Lawrence, Cheech Marin, Selena Gomez, Jay Leno, David Lynch, Dennis Haskins, and Freddie Prinze Jr.  During the summer of 1965, all four members of The Beatles famously dined at one of the eatery’s back booths, which is pictured above.

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That occasion was marked with the gold plaque pictured above, which one employee told me has been stolen countless times over the years.  I cannot tell you how much I hate hearing things like that! Apparently, the owners were sick of constantly having to replace the sign, so for a time they left the wall in that area blank.  Thankfully though, the plaque was back in its proper place when I stalked the restaurant last year.

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And, as I mentioned above, Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank is also a filming location!  The diner was featured twice in the 1995 heist movie Heat.  It first popped us as the restaurant where a fresh-out-of-prison Donald Breedan (aka Dennis Haysbert) got hired as a janitor/cook.

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Towards the end of the movie, it shows up once again in the scene in which Neil McCauley (aka Robert De Niro), Michael Cheritto (aka Tom Sizemore), and Chris Shiherlis (aka Val Kilmer) convince Donald to be the driver for their upcoming bank heist.  Apparently there was once a plaque displayed in the booth where that scene took place commemorating the occasion, but it was stolen countless times as well and had yet to be replaced in November.

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In the Season 8 episode of Dancing with the Stars, Derek Hough took Lil’ Kim to Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank to get her into character for their upcoming 50s jive performance.  You can watch a clip of that segment being filmed here.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking and Happy Voting – don’t forget to vote for me to be the face of About Me!  There are only five voting days left – you can vote once every 24 hours now through Tuesday, September 20th.  Smile

Stalk It: Bob’s Big Boy, from Heat, is located at 4211 West Riverside Drive in Burbank.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.  Priscilla’s Coffee Tea & Gifts, from Desperate Housewives, which I blogged about back in December of 2009, is located just across the street from Bob’s at 4150 Riverside Drive in Burbank.

An Evening with “The Closer” at The Paley Center for Media

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While perusing my Picasa photo account yesterday, I realized that I have been seriously lagging on my Celebrity Sightings posts, as there are numerous events that I have yet to blog about, most notably one that I attended well over a month ago – The Paley Center for Media’s An Evening with The Closer in Beverly Hills.  As I have mentioned several times before, this stalker absolutely loves herself The Closer, so when I got an email from The Paley Center in July announcing that they would be hosting a screening and question and answer session with the cast and crew of the series on August 10th, I promptly bought tickets for me and the Grim Cheaper.  For those who have never heard of the place, the Paley Center for Media is a library/museum/cultural center that houses a collection of over 120,000 television and radio recordings which can be viewed in various screening rooms on the premises.  The center also hosts numerous celebrity events throughout the year, one of which I attended back in September of 2008 for fave show 90210.

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And while the 90210 event was an absolute BLAST with the celebrities in attendance mingling amongst the fans in order to sign autographs and take pictures both before and after the screening, sadly that was not the case with An Evening with The Closer.  The first actor to arrive at the Center was Anthony John Denison, who plays Lieutenant Andy Flynn on the series, and when he walked into the lobby I, of course, went up to him and asked for a photo.  Anthony could NOT have been nicer, gave me a HUGE smile, said, “Absolutely!  You’re so pretty, by the way!” and then proceeded to put his arm around me to pose for the pic.  Well, security took one look at us together and immediately came over and told John that he was not allowed to pose for any photographs.  Um, a security guard telling a celebrity what he can and cannot do?!?!  That was definitely a first for me!  Anyway, John gave the guy a look, said, “I am going to take this picture!”, and smiled once again at the camera.  After the GC snapped away, John introduced himself to both of us and shook my hand.  SUCH an incredibly nice guy!

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I was especially excited to get a photo with him being that the picture we took together at Kyra Sedgwick’s Walk of Fame Star Ceremony back in June of 2009 had been a major, major fail, as you can see above!  Anyway, after John walked away, the Paley security guard told me that I was not allowed to ask any of the other stars for pictures, even though I was a ticketholder for the event.  I asked if I would be able to take photos after the Q & A session was over and he told me that it would be very unlikely, which was shocking being that pictures have been allowed at every single screening I have ever been to.  I mean, what other reason is there to attend?  Ha!  Winking smile

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At that point, the GC and I decided to head outside to the public sidewalk in front of the venue where security would not be able to tell us what we could and could not do – although, believe me, they tried!  Anyway, shortly after we walked out who should arrive but Miss Brenda Leigh Johnson herself, Kyra Sedgwick!  I could NOT have been more excited to see Kyra in person and I am very happy to report that she was a complete and total sweetheart!  As soon as she got out of her car, she headed right on over to the few fans who were waiting outside and signed a bunch of autographs.  I was the only person who asked for a photo and she happily obliged.  Besides being super friendly, Kyra is also BEAUTIFUL in person.  Much prettier even than she appears to be onscreen.

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Shortly after Kyra arrived, Robert Gossett, who plays Commander Russell Taylor on the show and is the real life cousin of Louis Gossett Jr., showed up.  Robert also happily posed for a picture with me.

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Due to the fact that security was being so incredibly anal, the GC and I decided to skip both the screening and Q & A as we figured we would have a better chance of catching the rest of the cast on their way out of the venue after the event was over than we would inside the theatre.  And we were right!   After grabbing a quick dinner at the Farm in Beverly Hills, which was FABULOUS by the way, we headed back over to the Paley Center and caught all of the other actors who were in attendance as they made their way outside, including Raymond Cruz, who plays Detective Julio Sanchez;

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Michael Paul Chan, who plays Lieutenant Mike Tao;

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Jon Tenney who plays Agent Fritz Howard;

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Phillip P. Keene who plays videographer Buzz Watson;

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Jonathan Del Arco, who plays Major Crimes Division coroner Dr. Morales;

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and Mary McDonnell, who plays Brenda Leigh Johnson’s nemesis Captain Sharon Raydor.  All of the cast members were extremely nice and I could not have been more floored to meet them!  But I was a bit disappointed that we were not able to attend the screening and Q & A session as I had really been looking forward to hearing what the actors had to say about the series and it’s forthcoming spin-off, Major Crimes, which is set to debut sometime next year.  The GC, of course, was extremely pleased to have avoided the Q & A, though, so I guess all was not lost.  Winking smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking and Happy Voting – don’t forget to vote for me to be the new face of About Me!  There are only seven voting days left – you can vote once every 24 hours now through September 20th.  Smile

Stalk It: The Paley Center is located at 465 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills.  You can visit the Center’s official website here.

The Surfrider Foundation’s 6th Annual Celebrity Expression Session

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This past Saturday, the fabulous Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, invited me and the Grim Cheaper out to Malibu to do a little stalking of one of her very favorite celebrity events – the Surfrider Foundation’s 6th Annual Celebrity Expression Session, an hour-long free surf contest which was taking place at First Point at Malibu Lagoon State Beach.  Much to the GC’s chagrin, I accepted the invitation which is how the two of us found ourselves heading out to the ‘Bu bright and early Saturday morning.  Although, as you can see in the above photograph, the word “bright” is somewhat misleading being that the skies were quite grey when we arrived on the scene.  The day turned out to be one of the best of my entire life, though, and, in what can only be described as an amazing act of divine intervention, we were not only invited to visit and tour the residence used as the Cohen House on fave show The O.C. (on which the sets from the series were very closely based), but we also spent about five hours at the property!  I promise to blog about that INCREDIBLE experience in the very near future, but, for now, on with the Surfrider event!

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Joining me, Pinky, and the GC in our morning beach-capade were our good friends, fellow stalkers Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, and Scotty, or as Pinky likes to call us, the Motley Crew.  Winking smile Despite the fact that it started raining heavily while we were waiting for the celebrity surfers to arrive, we had an absolute blast hanging out together.  As I have said on numerous occasions, when it comes to these types of events, which involve hours upon hours upon hours of waiting around, it is all about the journey.  And I can think of no one else I would rather share that journey with than Pinky’s Motley Crew.  Smile

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The first celebrity to arrive on the scene was Eric Avery from the band Jane’s Addiction.

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Also in attendance was Jesse Spencer from House (SO cute!  Sigh!);

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Chad Lowe;

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Eric Balfour from The O.C.;

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Tate Donovan, also from The O.C. and also my girl Jen Aniston’s former main squeeze;

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John Slattery, from Mad Men, Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City;

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Brian Geraghty from The Hurt Locker;

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Ross Thomas from Soul Surfer;

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and Krysten Ritter – ALL of whom were so incredibly nice and friendly it was almost unbelievable!  I felt like we all truly had a special little moment with each of them. Pinky and I got to chat with Chad Lowe about how much we both enjoyed his brother Rob’s autobiography; we joked with John Slattery about his – ahem – shower requests on Sex and the City; Ross Thomas took off his hat and sunglasses in order to provide us with a better photograph; Tate Donovan almost fell over when Scotty quoted several lines to him from Space Camp . . .

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. . . and, as you can see above, Krysten and Pinky even spent some time hanging out together in the surf.  Amazing, amazing day!

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And Mikey managed to snap this super cute pic of me getting his prop “Victor Lang for Mayor” t-shirt from Desperate Housewives signed.  Smile

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Our main reason for being there, though, was, of course, to see Pinky’s sweetheart, Sam Trammell, who plays Sam Merlotte on the hit series True Blood.

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Sam spotted Pinky immediately and, of course, came right over to her to say hi.  I cannot even imagine if one of my favorite celebrities knew me by name and regularly came up to me at events to say hi!  I would absolutely DIE!  Heck, if ANY celebrity knew me by name and came up to me to say hi, I would die!!!  The kicker was when Pinky told Sam that she had finally found a job, he congratulated her and asked where she was working.  The fact that he knew – and remembered – that she had been unemployed the last time they spoke was enough to make me gasp.  SO INCREDIBLY COOL!  That is Sam autographing some photos for Pinky in the above picture – all of which he signed with “much love” or “xoxoxo”.  SIGH!

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The entire event was extremely low-key and relaxed and all of the celebrities conducted their media interviews right there in the sand.

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The surf contest got started at noon and I cannot tell you how much fun it was to watch them all suit up and head out.  (As you can see in the photograph on the top left above, Baywatch star David Chokachi was also in attendance, but since I had already gotten a picture with him at the Pedal on the Pier 100 Mile-a-Thon in June, I did not want to bother him for another.)

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Before hitting the water, the group posed for a few publicity shots and, thankfully, the GC got right in there among the press photographers and started snapping away.  I’ve taught him well, folks.  Winking smile

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Because the GC has gotten seriously into photography as of late, this was one celebrity event that he actually did not mind being dragged to and he managed to snap some pretty fabulous action shots while there.

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My favorite being the one pictured above, which reminds me of the movie poster for The Endless Summer.  So cool!

Until next time, Happy Stalking and Happy Voting – don’t forget to vote for me to be the new face of About MeSmile

Stalk It: Malibu Lagoon State Beach, aka Surfrider Beach, is located at 23200 Pacific Coast Highway, just north of the Malibu Pier, in Malibu.  You can visit the Surfrider Foundation’s official website here.

“The Perfect Age of Rock & Roll” Premiere

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As I mentioned yesterday, I was unable to stick around to watch much of the Parks and Recreation filming at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena last Wednesday afternoon as I had promised Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, that I would meet her at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 theatre in West Hollywood that evening to do some stalking of the premiere of The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll.  As fate would have it, this particular event turned out to be a pretty fortuitous one for us because Sunset 5 is located right next door to Crunch Fitness, which is apparently a big time celebrity hot spot.  So not only were we keeping our eyes peeled for stars dressed to the nines heading towards the theatre, but we were also keeping our eyes peeled for those dressed in work-out clothes entering and exiting the gym.  Pinky, who pretty much has superhero powers when it comes to spotting celebrities, caught sight of comedian/actor Dane Cook walking into Crunch while we were eating dinner a good 300 yards away.  The girl has got MAD skills, I tell ya!  And while she ended up catching Dane on his way out of the gym about an hour later, the guy was NOT nice AT ALL and not only refused to take a picture with her, but would not even make eye contact, which resulted in her bestowing him with the “Douchebag of the Day” award on her blog later that week.  Pinky also had this sage piece of advice for the surly actor, “If you don’t want to be recognized, don’t walk right through a movie premiere!”  LOL LOL LOL  I did not even attempt to approach Dane as he did not in any way, shape, or form seem friendly.  Truth be told, he kind of scared me.  I am very happy to report, though, that it was all uphill from there as shortly after Dane shot Pinky down, she spotted Rufus Sewell, who played Jasper Bloom in fave movie The Holiday, heading into Crunch.  Rufus could NOT have been nicer and posed for at least a dozen photographs with various fans – and even agreed to pose for a second one with me after the first one we took failed to turn out.  Rufus was so sweet, in fact, that he asked me to make sure our second picture was to my liking and even waited around while I did so, before heading off to the gym.  Swoon!

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While I was posing with Rufus, Jason Ritter showed up and was absolutely mobbed by fans and the numerous “graphers” who were in attendance.  Luckily enough, Pinky has known Jason for quite a long time and is actually sort of friends with the actor, so he immediately walked through the crowd and right up to her to say hi.  I am sad to say that I had a major blonde moment while meeting him, though, as I had been planning on asking him if he happened to know where the apartment building from the opening credits of Three’s Company was located.  Fellow stalkers Chas, from the ItsFilmedThere website, and Owen and I have been looking for that blasted building for quite a while now and I figured that if anyone would know its location, it would be Jason.  But I got a bit flustered while speaking with him and the whole thing COMPLETELY slipped my mind!  MAJOR FAIL!  And big apologies to Chas and Owen!  Jason could NOT have been nicer, though, and even though there were at least fifty people mobbing him, he stayed around to take pictures with and sign autographs for absolutely everyone who wanted one.

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Taryn Manning arrived next and I was absolutely FLOORED to get a photograph with her as I have extremely fond memories of the actress from my time as an extra on the movie Crossroads.  Taryn was easily the nicest of all of the Crossroads stars and, for whatever reason, remembered me each day that I was on set and would go out of her way to say hi.  She also remembered me when I attended the movie’s wrap party, a week after filming had been completed, and walked up to me to say, “I’m so glad you were able to come to this.”  So incredibly sweet!  When I told her how nice she had been to me during the Crossroads shoot, she started laughing and said, “Aww.  Well, I haven’t changed, I’m still very nice, I promise.”  Smile

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We also spotted DJ Qualls, who played Kyle Edwards in 2000’s Road Trip, at the premiere . . .

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. . . and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past/Grey’s Anatomy/The Devil Wears Prada star Daniel Sunjata, who was leaving Crunch Fitness – both of whom were extremely nice.

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Also in attendance was Easy Rider himself, Peter Fonda, along with his much younger-looking wife, Margaret DeVogelaere.  Sadly, Peter would not take any pictures or sign any autographs due to the fact that he was running late.  And while we could have hung out and waited until the premiere was over to get a pic with Peter, I just really did not feel like doing so.  If it was Matt Lanter, Michael Buble, or Joel McHale, I would wait around all day for a photo, but Peter Fonda?  Not so much.  😉  All in all it was another FABULOUS celebrity-filled stalking adventure, though – save for the minor setback with Dane douchebag Cook.  Winking smile

Big THANK YOU to Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, for inviting me to this event!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Laemmle’s Sunset 5 is located at 8000 Sunset Boulevard, inside of the 8000 Sunset Strip shopping center, in West Hollywood.  You can catch The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll in theatres now.

“Parks and Recreation” Filming at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena

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Last Wednesday, while on my morning walk to Starbucks, I happened to pass by fave bookstore Vroman’s and just about fell over when I noticed an entire slew of production trucks parked out front.  I, of course, immediately sought out one of the crew members to ask what was being filmed and he told me that it was an episode of Parks and Recreation.  And even though I had never actually seen the NBC series before, I decided to stick around to watch the filming – only after getting my Starbucks first, of course.  Winking smile The shoot was taking place inside of Vroman’s, in the store’s Reading Group section, which had been set up to look like a book signing event was about to occur.  The crew had brought in all new furniture for the scene, as well as several posters for Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, a book supposedly written by Pawnee, Indiana Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Leslie Knope (aka Amy Poehler).  And while I had assumed that the tome was a fake that had been created solely for the filming, it is apparently a real life publication about the show that is set to be released on October 4th.

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A display featuring several copies of Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America was set up in the background of the scene and, throughout the day, before filming began, countless Vroman’s customers would walk up and look through it, thinking it was a real item that was for sale.  LOL  I am dying to know if anyone actually brought a copy up to the cash registers and tried to purchase it!

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At first I was not sure if I would be allowed to photograph the set that the crew had created, so like an idiot I was trying to be sly and take pictures on the down-low, which never seems to work out for me.  For some reason, whenever I try to fly under the radar and be covert, I end up drawing attention to myself, which is exactly what happened in this case.  One of the crew members noticed me ever-so-stealthily snapping photographs and informed me that I was welcome to take all of the pictures that I wanted . . .

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. . . at which point I immediately jumped up onto the podium that Amy Poehler would be standing on during the scene to pose for a pic.  Smile YAY!

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I was most fascinated, though, with a palm tree located just outside of Vroman’s front doors (which would only be seen in the background of the scene) that set dressers decorated to look like a tree indigenous to the Midwest, where Parks and Recreation supposedly takes place.

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As you can see above, the front side of the tree’s trunk had been covered over with fake bark for the filming.

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And real life branches from some sort of Midwestern tree (can you tell that I am in no way, shape, or form a green thumb?!?) were mixed in with the actual palm’s branches.  The tree looked so incredibly realistic, even up close, that it was almost unbelievable!  I don’t think anyone who walked by even noticed that it had been altered, even though the trunk looked a bit odd from the side.

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I was absolutely dying to get a photograph with Rob Lowe (whose autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, was recently loaned to me by my good friend/fellow stalker Kerry and is can’t-put-down-AMAZING!) and figured I could catch the actor on his way into the bookstore before filming got started. Sadly though, Vroman’s has three different entrances and I waited outside of the wrong one and missed him entirely.  Major, major FAIL!  Especially since he was reportedly incredibly friendly and nice!  Apparently, one of the Vroman’s employees, who goes by the twitter handle @howsannie, had sent out the following tweet the previous evening: “Parks & Recreation is filming at the store tomorrow.  Dibs on @RobLowe!”, to which the actor responded, “I expect prominent book display!”  When Rob walked into the store the following afternoon, his books were indeed on prominent display and he not only signed a bunch of copies for Vroman’s to sell, one of which is pictured above, but he also signed a copy for @howsannie.  How incredibly cool is that?  He even tweeted a photograph of himself from the set that day, which you can take a look at here.  I was lucky enough to get to watch Rob, along with Amy Poehler and Chris Pratt, during the filming and all I can say is WOW!  The guy is VERY good looking!  Much more so than he appears to be onscreen.  And while I would have waited around until the shoot wrapped to try to get a picture with the cast, I had promised Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, that I would stalk a movie premiere with her later that afternoon, so I couldn’t.  Ah well!  Here’s hoping they will be filming in Pasadena again sometime soon!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Vroman’s Bookstore is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.  You can visit the store’s official website here.  Look for the Parks and Recreation episode that was filmed at Vroman’s to air sometime in the next two months or so.