Good Game

I should be at the gym, but as promised, here's a quick wrap-up of my first social engagement with the producers of Get Low.

I met the brothers Zanuck at their Beverly Hills office at quarter of 7, and was introduced to their friend, Bill. He was a nice red-haired Pacific Palisader by way of Canada, and we got along just fine. Turns out Bill is the guy who put together the budget & shooting schedule for Get Low. And through talking to him, I picked up a few tid bits about the status of the film, most notably that Louisiana now leads the race for locations (which is on account of the extremely friendly tax laws regarding film production). Sorry North Carolina.

We all took Dean's car to the game, and for a good long while everyone chatted about baseball and hockey while I watched traffic out the window, only to chime in with an occasional laugh whenever they referenced an obscure shortstop or a goalie's memorable facial hair. Getting to our seats (section 20, behind the visitor dugout) with a beer and a Dodger Dog took no time, and we were witness to a really great game in which Milton Bradley took the Dodgers, down by two, to a 7-4 win off an 8th inning grand slam. Now, I'm not much of a sports guy, but I'm not made of stone: it was unbelievably exciting, and Dean later told me he had never seen two grand slams in one game (the Braves lead was on account of an earlier grand slam, which Dean blamed on my mere sports-inept presence).

Bill and I sat next to one another and talked movies, and since the guy's been in the business a while, he had some pretty good stories about Pacino, Streep, Lumet, Costner, Eastwood and Johnny Knoxville. Soon enough the big fun of the game wound down and victory was imminent, and we left riding a high from the great 8th inning rally.

I was home by 11, greeted by my two neighbors sitting in the courtyard. They offered me a drink, and I thought it was a fine idea, so I obliged. They are both in their own ways - as are most people in this city - in the business, so we talked and gossiped and swapped war stories well into the night, promising to have an apartment complex BBQ in the near future. It probably won't happen, but - as with most people in this city - we were just talking a good game.

Okay, off to the gym to sweat off two Dodger Dogs and an $8.00 Michelob. Until next time.