USC vs. UCLA or what happens when rivals become one flesh...

Yesterday marked a historical event on many levels.
Malanya Martin married Rome Douglas.
A Bruin Basketballer became wife to Trojan Footballer. They had jungle fever. She was at least 6'3 (in flats), he was 6'7. There were 12 bridesmaids and 12 groomsmen.
It was the most lively, fun, and beautiful wedding filled with most good-looking people I've filmed all year!

I was tipped off to be ready with my camera at exactly 9pm for a top secret surprise, and wouldn't you know it, at exactly 8:50pm, the cake cutting began, and the mic on my camera crapped out. This isn't the MOST horrible thing to happen during the cake cutting because nothing important is being said, and you put music over it anyways, but there was something bigger about to happen. Something I'd HAVE to get audio on . . .

I taped the cake cutting knowing full well it would be in complete silence, brainstorming my way out of what was ahead. I always bring a backup camera for times like these, and after I caught the shot, I ran to my bag, pulled out my camcorder, popped the tape out of my GL2 and picked up filming where I'd left off on my miniDV just as the surprise unfolded. Boy was I pissed.

The photographer and I had been chatting off and on all night tipping eachother off to the next shot to "get" and he noticed I'd changed cameras at that inopportune time . . . but I kept my cool and simply smiled "My audio is gone...not convenient..." He just made a face like, good luck with that one and left to go point & shoot.

9pm hits and the DJ clears the dance floor for an oblivious groom when the double doors open to reveal a suited up brass band. In marches in the USC marching band with the Trojan Mascot running wildly amongst the crowd, arms flailing to pump up the crowd! I am capturing everything on my stinkin' little ity-bity camcorder just relieved I am actually getting SOMETHING on tape for them, and the groomsmen go absolutely CRAZY.

Picture this. 12 groomsmen, all related to or teammates of the groom. The biggest bad-ass uys you've ever seen jumping up and down while the bridal party (also the tallest girls you've ever seen) heckle, boo, hiss. Grandmas, babies, and guests with or without any alliances take sides and a fight-song" dance off ensues.

It was amazing.

In all the commotion, Mr. Trojan Man accidentally PUNCHES the bride right in the face! Mascara runs, tears stream, and a bloodshot eye. She tries to compose herself before too many people notice she's been hit, and I keep the camera off her and on the bouncing girl Bruin bear that has just entered in on all the commotion. The band transitions from the USC fight song to the 8-clap. Now the ladies are happy. Oh yes.

All the while, my miniDV is holding up quite nicely. As if I doubted her. She's documented trips to Scotland, the South Pacific, and the birth of Shoreline church. Flawlessly. People were too pumped to noticed I'd down-graded, and the bride was too busy nursing her black eye.

After the band and the mascots exited, the dance floor was in complete chaos. Everyone was in the best mood possible. Mothers were swing dancing with sons, husbands grabbed their wives to bump and grind, and the Bruins and Trojans became family. By this time (of course) I'd had time to switch out the mic on my other camera and gain audio again, and although it was a slight bummer, the only one that will really notice any change in picture quality during that historic event would be me.

I came away from that wedding thinking about the amount of fun that couple had during their reception, and how it had affected every guest surrounding. And how the photographers and I had the glory of getting all caught up in the action pushing our lenses in the faces of delighted people. I mean, I am fanatic for football MOVIES, and here I was almost in the middle of the same kind of excitement filming one!

I always tell people after all of these weddings, I don't think I'll need my own big one. I still feel that way. I mean, seriously, think of all the drama I would have missed out on had I been that distracted bride punched in the eye.

Still, now I am beginning to wish that Loyola Marymount had a football team and a specific rival. Because that part of the night would have been something I'd want to copy at mine for sure.

Oh, and I am sure that if you are a USC fan you would have recognized a grip of players... but I really had no clue who I was filming or talking too from one moment to the next. But I did Google Rome. There was a picture of him in his gear.... so at least now I know who he is!

Obscurity births Leaders and other musings...

Fresh out of college I started my career in the workforce on a "temporary" basis. I'd gone though film school to discover that the last thing I wanted to ultimately do is "direct". Spending time on sets (either back stage or on location for a film) had sucked up any and all of my college social life and although I would NEVER give the experience back, I came out knowing one thing about where I was headed: where I DIDN'T want to go.

So I gave the "office space" world a go, and after 4 miserable months working as an assistant to an Agent for some "high profile clients" (yeah, right... they were B list at most) my boss at the time sat me down one afternoon after mis-spelling someone's name on the "to call list" (that by the way was for her eyes only) and told me that she never wanted to me have any contact with any of her clients again- either on the phone or in person, and that her "other assistant" would handle it. I looked her in the eye through my gushing tears, deflated at the fact that I couldn't even be trusted to take a message from Rutger Hauger and said "then what am I here for?" And she told me "I don't want the hassle of hiring someone new."

I quit the next day, and although I didn't totally believe that I was inept, something inside me wondered if she had been right. And then I met Tom Cairns.

While unemployed I worked a temp job at NBC there was a specific SVP that wandered through the office. He was my Dad's age, and always looked me in the eye and used my name. Me. A Temp. That girl that wasn't allowed to talk on the phone to celebs. weeks before. Something was different about Tom, and it was the lack of his ego. As I finished up the project there he called me into his office and told me that he wanted to hire me as his assistant because he'd seen how hard I worked.

He was my boss for the next 5 years.

He was the kind of boss that never lost his temper, never spoke down to me, or punished me for a tiny mistake. Over the years, he always checked in with me to make sure I was pursuing my dreams and sent me to meetings with other execs in the creative fields I expressed interest in. Working for him, I really didn't mind that I wasn't busting my butt on a show, or pulling all-nighters on the set, because I was happy! I always wondered if having that job delayed any kind of industry successes I could have fallen into had I been more transient. But it's not the wondering filled with regret, it's relief.

I didn't find out until after I was hired that he was a Christian and actually taught a few classes at a Seminary. He told me "my Dad and my brother are both pastors, I was the black sheep for pursuing entertainment."

I can't tell you what an impression Tom made on me before I knew anything about who he was, I just knew he was different than the rest.

I left that job 3 years ago and we recently caught up. After 30 years of working for NBC, they let him go. "Restructuring". I told him about my crazy career move to reduce the hours at my day job in order to travel first and then try to go freelance with this wedding video gig. He raised his just raised his eyebrows as he listened the way he always did. The next day though, he sent me an email telling me how proud he was of me, that I seemed so "mature" and that he too, was launching his own consulting business.

With that, he sent me his website & blog and I've enjoyed his occasional musings. Get to know him too! There's wisdom and character all in one place.

Cairns Blaner LLC

A touchy subject worth . . . touching?

In an effort to stay a bit more current on events and to actually read more about what is going on in the world, I've taken up pursuing Newsweek. The following article caught my attention for several reasons, but the main ones are :

1) My brother is a former Marine

2) During my travels to & from New Zealand EVERY single new person I met and talked to upon learning I was an American asked "what do you think of your idiot President sending more soldiers to Iraq?" I hated the arrogance in which that question was presented to me. I got defensive for my country and for the boys out there who were in the line of fire - probably thinking at that very moment how nice it would be to be traveling in New Zealand instead of where they are. I always tried to set my defense aside and gently say "War is a horrible thing, it means people are going to die, but I appreciate the fact that our boys are putting their lives on the line in my place amidst the horrible circumstances. I support our troops." I refused to talk about the political side of it to a person who wasn't an American.

That said, this article was an interesting read. I don't have a son so I can't relate it directly to my own flesh and I would just sob if my brother was still active and called to duty in Iraq. But there is something in this article to consider. As "horrible and tragic" a thing as war is.

Why We Need a Draft: A Marine's Lament
He was in the firefights of Fallujah. He saw gaps in America's arsenal that he believes can only be filled when America's elite puts its sons on the battlefield. A plea for selective service.