Day 7: Wednesday the last full day.
I let everyone sleep in a little longer this morning since we had such a late night. I think I got them up at 8am. Hee hee
First we headed out to buy the Mr. Freeze undersuit. The seller decided he only wanted to sell one so I picked out the best one. The one that had the pants like no other, with the shoelace ties in the back and the suspenders. Also the vest say #1 A on it. Anyway we went to pay and that took forever. We were told the owner was on the phone. He finally came out and really didn’t want to sell it. Even offered my wife $50 if she would talk me out of it. Here’s the suit along with the clown suit from Returns.
Then it was off to the Farmer’s Market and the Grove for a little shopping. Really nice area but we only had a couple of hours because we had plans to meet up with Nate. We did find time to down a Hot Dog with the works.
We left there and headed to Paramount Studio where our pal Nate works. It was AWESOME. We got in and got to park right on the lot. The gate guard gave us directions to Nate’s building. It was so cool we just walked around like we belonged there. We finally found Nate’s building and he came out to meet us. He took us into the inner workings of a show. It was amazing. We watched the Crew (director, producer, and the rest of the team) put together a show. Man it was like watching a NASA team. There were count downs and everything. I was in all. Karen was more interested in what they were splicing together (The unseen Anna Nichol baby footage). I think she missed the point. Nate vanished for a second and came back with awesome gifts for both Dee and I. What a great guy. So anyway Nate finished up his shift and then took us for a tour of the lot. We got to visit the stage for Insider, Entertainment tonight, Dr. Phil and my favorite SOUL TRAIN. Hee hee
We also walked a good portion of the lot. He showed us the fake buildings and streets. Like any good tour guide would do he even took us to the studio store. Yes we spent some money but got some great deals. As we headed back to his office we wondered by a small building that said Prop Junk Department??? What the heck? They had a dumpster sitting out front and like any real fan would do we peeked inside. Nate scored some cool Star Trek stuff. Nate said he never knew that was there. (See what I mean about the Cali guys taking where they life for granted?) So anyway Nate has promised to take his lunch breaks now wondering the lot looking for cool stuff.
We had a great time with Nate at the studio but the night wasn’t over. We headed out to see the Jimmy Kimmel show.
When we got there the line was down the street and around the corner. Why? Well because they were having Ricky Martin as the guest and he was to sing a couple of songs too. Okay this was cool because Nate had gotten us VIP passes we were able to go right to the front of the line and were the first let in. Thanks a lot to Marc who scored the tickets. Okay I’m not a big RM fan but it was still cool. Oh and Justin and his girlfriend were able to meet us there. Also a closet CLTC member Brian was there. Brian is a professional magician, we talked him into doing a few close up tricks and he was pretty dang good and even more he was just a really nice person to hang out with.
The show was kind of odd. We actually filmed parts for two different shows. One for P Diddy and one for RM. We got to see the interview with Joey Lawrence for Dancing with the Starts. That aired that night and Nate said he saw our big heads. The RM one will this coming Friday. After the RM mini concert we were allowed to go back in. I thought we would meet RM but we actually got to go hang out with the production crew. I kept staring at this one guy in there and think man he looks familiar. I had and idea who he was but just wasn’t sure. About that time Nate turns to me and say hey do you know who that is? I said yeah I think it’s Bobcat Goldthwait from all of the laceName w:st="on">PolicelaceName> laceType w:st="on">AcademylaceType> movies. Nate say you are correct. Yep I asked and got his autograph. When I walked back to our group Dee and Justin’s girlfriend asked who’s that? I smiled and gave them a little ribbing for not knowing but as soon as I said his name and the movie Dee says “ZED!” And they also got his autograph. That was very cool.
So it was time to leave the Kimmel show and get some grub. I was starving! We started walking down Hollywood blvd and ran into a crow of folks just standing around. I figured it was fans trying to see RM when he came out. Then Nate pointed to a sign that said “Film Shooting” or something like that. Okay this I had to see. The sidewalk was blocked off and about 15 yards away was a group of what looked like some of the Pimps and Ho’s from an Austin Powers movie. Then I heard “PlayBack”. Music started and then Pops out Snoop Dog!! They were shooting his music video. Man that was cool to watch. Nate thanks so much for setting this up this special film shoot just for us. I think Justin got some pictures.
Now I’m really hungry so after much debate we finally decided on The Californian Pizza Kitchen. I really enjoyed my meal. We talked a lot and had a great time but soon it was getting very late especially for the folks who had to work the next morning. I hated to see us all part but we had to.
We did get this great shot of us. I just wish we would have included Brian since he is one of us… Sorry Brian. Maybe you can work some magic on the picture and magically appear.
It was late when we got back to the hotel.
Day 8: Thursday Time for Jack to fly home
It was sad getting up and knowing we had to leave LA and all of our friends, but we had to pack and get going. I called Dee and said hey how about breakfast one last time. Of course he said yes and we met at the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat. Then we said our farewells and wished each other a safe trip home. Dee still had a day left in LA. It just so happened that while Karen and I were at Universal we got a special deal that gave us free admittance to the park for a year. I gave Dee that pass so he had plans to visit the park when we last saw him. It was hard to say goodbye Dee had become like a brother. Dee it was wonderful hanging out with you all week. I hope I didn’t wear you out too much with the long days.
Well that’s pretty much it. I’m sure I’ve missed a few things and I hope Dee will give us his point of view. We had a great time, the trip of a life time. Met some wonderful people who all went out of their way to make us feel at home and help us to have such a wonderful trip. Total cost I’m not sure of but I do know I drove 779 miles all in the LA area. It was well worth the cost and the time.
I was exhausted the day we left and felt there was no way I could have done any more. Oh we did have one more Hollywood moment. Just before we boarded the plane Karen points and says to me Who is that? It was Kenny G and he was flying out with us. Man I love Hollywood.
So the trip was great. I think we only missed a couple of spots on my list. We missed seeing the original Batcave, Rodeo Dr, and going out to a Hollywood night club. The thing that I wanted to do the most and missed out on was meeting our Webmaster DH. DH I really wish would could have see you.
Special thanks to Nate for all he did for us. Also to Justin, I wish you hadn’t been so busted up and could have done more, but it was great having you meet us at the Kimmel show and for dinner. It was real nice meeting you and Nate’s friends and family. Dee, Nate, Justin, Mark it was great meeting all of you, it did feel like I had known you all forever and that we had met a dozen times before.
That’s all for now. Dee, Nate, Just, Mark your turn!!!!