Review of the Permiere at Grauman's

[reinbeauchaser]

This is  my account of the premiere of the TMNT move event at the Grauman's Chinese Theater.  Some of it may read disjointed, might have a few spelling errors, but I was typing fast and trying to get this up ASAP after getting home.  So, bear with me and know from the get go that this is not art.  :0)
~*~*~

Well, I did it!  I went to the premiere, along with Cylnee, Buslady, Ivy of TMNT-L and her mom, and Brinatello.  The last three managed tickets, so they were able to see the film.  It pays to be persistent, I guess!  LOL  

However, I found out afterwards that we could have gotten in, had this nice man - who represented some heart fund - known we wanted to see the movie.  He had - extra tickets.  Oh well.

Dawnatello was there, too, with Roseangelo.  They had tickets, as well.  

Overall, the premiere experience was kind of restrictive in where we could stand to see the 'stars' as they arrived.  Seems an anti-war rally decided to park itself - with band ensemble - right in front of the theater in the middle of the street, where we fans would have normally stood.  Seems the city booked two 'parties' for today.  Fortunately, the band shut their sound off when the interviews went underway.  

Notables that attended...

Kevin Eastman was there with his lovely wife and newborn baby.  He smoozed with quite a few people in line; recognized Cynlee from the SD Comicon.  After the movie was over and done with, some guy with 8x10 glossies of Kevin's wife - she models some of the femme fatales for her husband's comic books - asked if she would sign them.  She did!  Not all, but a good number.  She was also very sweet and nice, very down to earth, but drop dead gorgeous, too.  So glad my husband didn't come!  LOL  Just kidding.

Kevin Monroe was there, too, with his family.  He was very, very nice, as well.  I have a vid of Kevin Monroe after the movie was over.

Oh, and Stan Sakai, who draws Usagi was there, too, and recognized Buslady from the SD Comicon.  He was especially warm and friendly.    

I believe the actress who voiced Karai was there, as well.  Cynlee got a decent pic of her, I think, and...tada...drumroll please....

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles showed up!  Yes, dear friends, they were there in all of their foamy-costume glory.  

At first, they were pretty well into the crowd, which we couldn't get to due to security and roped off areas.  It was hard to get a good pic of them.

However, wouldn't you know, where we stood just happened to be by the door to their changing room!  Yes!  Best of all, Leonardo posed for me!!!!!!!  You Leo fans can drool, now, if you must.  Don and Mike waved, and Raph sort of hung around and looked pretty. Then, he started wandering around as his 'brothers' went through the changing room door.  He did some strutting, some wandering, some more wandering...

Turned out, the guy inside the costume couldn't see where he was going and the PR guy sort of forgot about him, so here's 'blind' Raphael, trying to find his way to the correct door, trying to play macho, casual, no problemo, trying to find the door, wander wander.  It was funny.  By the time we realized that he was lost, the PR guy finally realized his faux pas and quickly steered Raphie to the door.  Quite a kodak moment.

As soon as I can, I'll try to get the vid up on Youtube.  It won't be great, okay?  I needed a far more steady hand than mine.  And, I lost some great shots because I thought the camera was on, but it wasn't.  Maybe if I can do a little editing first, it might not be so half bad.  Might need my husband for that job.  :0)

But, it was a great time, despite the less than perfect viewing spot.  

They had the west side of the walkway in front of the theater and down the street blocked off with a huge banner wall made from several of the TMNT's movie posters.  The carpet was indeed green, too.   Lessee, who else...um...Oh yeah, those who were lucky enough to get in, came out with white bags filled with the new TMNT game, both the Wii and the regular games, a couple of TMNT figurines, a souvenier cup and box, Airhead candy with the TMNT's on it (I thought that especially funny!).  Might be more stuff, but that's what Ivy showed us.  

Not sure if Graumen's will be showing the movie this Friday or not, as they don't know what's featured until the day before on Thursday.  So, it's up in the air as to where we'll see the flic.  

Anyway, it was a great morning.  Movie started at 12 and I arrived at 9:30.  Yep, I'm beat, but I did beat the crowds!  First up, not counting Ivy and her entourage, if only because they stayed in town.  

The area is great for hanging out, too.  At the very corner of Highland and Hollywood Blvd and right next to the theater, is the Kodak Theater and complex.  It boasts a 4-story tall mall, with tons of shopping venues and eateries.  After the VIP were ushered into the theater, we found a lot of choices for lunch, so we ate at Johnny Rockets.  Yum!

That's about it and the closest I've ever come to attending a premiere showing of a movie, too.  

But, one thing I want to present to you.  You know that Hollywood Blvd is famous for the Walk of Stars, where a celebrity has their name emblazoned into a star and that star embedded into the sidewalk.  What are the chances that we could candidate for the TMNT's to have their names - or at least the TMNT - done as well?  It would be cool if they had their individual name per star, but it costs something like $20,000 each, plus upkeep.   Not sure if we can start a fundraising for it, but - think about it, okay?

With that said, I'll step aside so that others who attended might add their two-cents worth.  I'm sure Cynlee and Buslady will have their POV and special moments, as will Ivey and Brin.  :0)

Only 6 more days and then it's 'Cowabunga time'.  WHOOT

Rene'

P.S. BTW, everyone who came out of the theater thought the movie was great!   :thumbsup   Even those who were not TMNT fans!  :0)

[Leonardo]

Thanks for the report! And I'm looking forward to the video! The Raph thing sounds hilarious, although having been in costume as a Ninja Turtle...I can understand how it could happen.
     
*sends you a hug, too, for being so close and not being able to see the movie*

[reinbeauchaser]

Thanks for the report! And I'm looking forward to the video! The Raph thing sounds hilarious, although having been in costume as a Ninja Turtle...I can understand how it could happen.
     
*sends you a hug, too, for being so close and not being able to see the movie*

I watched the vid after I returned home and it was even funnier, knowing - now - that he was lost and just wandering around.  I think his posing for me sort of offset his GPS.    He almost walked into a wall, in fact; didn't notice that when I was filming.  His handler was laughing when he finally caught up to him.  LOL

Anyway, I'm a dunce where it concerns editing DVD's, so it'll take a while before I can glean the best of the beast.  LOL

Hope your trip to Japan goes smoothly.

Rene'

[Shredder]

Thanks for the report! And I'm looking forward to the video! The Raph thing sounds hilarious, although having been in costume as a Ninja Turtle...I can understand how it could happen.
     
*sends you a hug, too, for being so close and not being able to see the movie*

I watched the vid after I returned home and it was even funnier, knowing - now - that he was lost and just wandering around.  I think his posing for me sort of offset his GPS.    He almost walked into a wall, in fact; didn't notice that when I was filming.  His handler was laughing when he finally caught up to him.  LOL

Anyway, I'm a dunce where it concerns editing DVD's, so it'll take a while before I can glean the best of the beast.  LOL

Hope your trip to Japan goes smoothly.

Rene'

If you have hi speed cable, or fiber, send it this way and I'll edit it for you.  It's super easy using a program called www.videoredoo.com .  

As far as the walk of fame goes, this is  Hollywood.  They don't do that just because you're a great talent.  Poncho, or whatever Erik Estrada was on Chips, could get one if you gave them enough money, heh.
ARe they doing the same thing in NY?  MUST go to that one .

[Michaelangelo]

Did this really happen?

Well I found out last week I got an invite to the movie, and who would turn this down. Though through a miss understanding on my part I thought I had three passes and invited my mom and Brinatello along with me.  (I'm not going to get into how the invite came about, respect of the party that invited me).

I paid for my mom and myself to fly out to LA, and than took a Shuttle to the Best Western we were staying at in Hollywood.  Brinatello met up with us there.  I spent that night trying to adjust to the time change, and hanging out with Brin and her sister (whom I've talked to many time and am excited to have gotten the chance to meet in person!  She's as awesome as her sister is!).   Brin's sis stayed with a friend in the area and we went back to the hotel.  The cot for Brin did not show up till after midnight, so we passed out shortly after that.

Waking up Saturday, I wanted to get ready.  I was worried about what to wear... this is a real premiere not just one of those premieres that I win tickets too in the Detroit area.  This is the real deal, important people will be there... what does one wear to an event like this?   I ended up buying a green shirt, wearing some black pants and my TMNT crew jacket (which I got for Christmas from Eclipse and Iruka).    

While walking down Highland Ave. we saw Roseangelo heading the other direction, we smile and said  hi as she passed.  I knew other people from online would be in the area and was really hoping to see more than we did see though it was cool seeing the faces we did.  At least 3 online friends I never got to meet in person before.   Brin mentioned that Rose and Dawn were going to be hanging out this weekend, so we figured Dawnatello would be in the area too.  I was excited about this, since I haven't seen her since Donatello (HorseTurtles) wedding.  So we went and got to the theater to figure out where things were.  We were surprised to see how big things were looking at first, as a stage was being built in the middle of the street.  I really was thinking this was all for the TMNT movie.  We talked to the guy at the gate and than went across the street to find a place my mom ate at before, and I wanted batteries for my camera.  Though I was able to get batteries, the place mom wanted to eat at was closed down.  We went into the mall next to the theater and my mom and Brin both got Blueberry muffins for breakfast.  I just got myself a Strawberry Smoothie I wasn't all that hungry.  Than I went and got back in line.   While standing in line, we met up with reinbeauchaser (heh to be honest hearing the nick and reading them is two different things to me, now seeing which nick this is I know it, though in line I was like we got a Rainbow chaser on TMNT-L?? hehe).

While with her Buslady and Cylnee showed up, so we stood around and talked.  I was highly sure that I had 3 tickets waiting, though the guy behind us saw we had extra friends and said he may have a spare ticket if we need one.  I would of felt bad only getting one of the three in... we thought I might have an extra ticket under a different area but wasn't sure.  So I was confused, once they let us in I went to will call and said my name, to only find one ticket under my name.  Man did that make me feel sick, but the guy behind us gave us his extra one which got my mom in.  My friend who was helping get me in, came and told Brin to wait till 11:30am to find out if she got in.

I was feeling sick about that.  And for a second when I walked around the corner thought Brin was with us.  What I saw as I walked around the corner was... the green carpet laid in front of the theater.  Two tent areas with the TMNT video game set up for people to play, a table with STACKS of Pizza, and another table with a green cloth on it.  I turned around saying "Brin check this out!" it really hit me than that Brin was not with us.   So I turned back and walked over to the table, it was the same lady from Ubisoft that I met at NYC comic Con, so we talked for a little bit.  Meanwhile my mom is on the phone with my dad.  They were watching us on Web Cam and wanted us to face the camera so they could snappy a picture.

We faced the camera which was right above the door to go in.  I figured I'd go in, get my seat and come back out to hang out on the green carpet a bit and hopefully be able to keep a little bit of company with Brin till we get the word on what's going on.  So we went into the theater.  They were offering FREE pop corn and pop, which was in the TMNT kiddie packs.  Little plastic cups and cardboard holders.  Than we went to sit, I was surprised to see there was numbers on the tickets for our seats.  I ended up down in roll 9, left center.  My mom though because she was given a ticket by someone else was seated up far back on the left.  

On every seat was a bag with TMNT goodies in it.  

Inside Goodie Bags
1 TMNT pencil
1 TMNT McDonalds Toy (I got Raph with Nightwatcher inside)
1 TMNT Air Head
1 TMNT Tattoo
1 TMNT Movie Toy (Street Grindin)  I got Leo.

I took my stuff over and set it down next to mom, and went to go back outside though got stopped at the door.  "No Ins and Outs"  I was surprised by this.  Though oh well I was in, and that's what was important to me. I just wish I could of said hi to some of the people outside before the movie.  So I went back in and let mom know what was going on.  I also called Brin and told her.  While in there I noticed both Roseangelo and Dawnatello was inside.  It was good to see other fans inside from the online world, it would of been even more cool if more of us were there.  This is a place meant for the fans.  Though there was a long line of people who won tickets from a radio station I don't think anyone from here was in that line.  

It wasn't long after I warned Brin not to come straight inside if she gets in... that we saw Brin inside.  She felt better just getting inside and not worried after she was let in.  We were happy to see her, though her ticket was all the way in the far back on the right.  So the three of us made a triangle not together.  I went over to Brin's seat to see where she was.  Than looked and saw where Rose and Dawn were sitting, so Brin and I went down and said hello to them.  I wanted to catch up some more since it's been well almost ten years.  Though while talking to them, we noticed Kevin and Julie.  So Brin and I went up and said hi first.  Than sat down, Kevin was sitting one roll behind me, and over a little.  Though sitting next to me I learned, was Julie's sister.  We talked for a little bit as Rose and Dawn got up to see Kevin and Julie.  It was nice talking to her sister, she was in the same boat as my mom, Brin and I.  Will call tickets and wasn't seated with the ones she came with.  At least she wasn't far from them either.  

The lights flickered and everyone went to take their seats.   Julie's sister realized no one took the seats next to Kevin and Julie and she moved next to them any how.   I tried calling my mom to come down, though didn't get through.  So the movie began and we sat through it.  

* REVIEW ON MOVIE WILL BE IN THE PROPER AREA (No spoilers in this topic) *

After the movie I came down and the voice of Donatello was talking to some people at the end of my roll, but I didn't stop to talk to him I didn't wanna be rude since he was talking with other people.  So I walked up and met the voices of Leo, Raph and Mike who were standing up near where Brin was sitting.  But she was no longer sitting there.  I talked to them for a minute than went out to find Brin, I saw Kevin and said hi to Julie and him real fast and we talked a little about the movie.  Than I went and said hi to Kevin Munroe, who seemed surprised to see me there... I only talked for a second seeing as how he had others around him that wanted to say hi too.   After that I saw Brin and got my autograph t-shirt from her bag and got the voices of Raph and Leo to add to the shirt.  Than my mom came.  We were the last ones to leave the theater.

We hung out in the mall for a little bit with Cynlee, Buslady, and Reinbeauchaser.

Thanks everyone who did get to meet up!  I did have a great time, I know I wasn't feeling the best and it was showing.  I was in pain and sick... so this was a rough trip on me.  Though I loved meeting up and I hope I get to go west again to see even more faces that I know out there and hopefully get to see some more cool places!

On this trip I got to walk and check out the stars, I got to see the Mann's theater, see the Hollywood sign, go by Jim Henson's Company, and do Universal City Walk (ate at the Hard Rock Cafe).

[Shredder]

IF only I won the 5,000 a week for life lottery, and could afford to go to all these places in coach .  Sounds like a fun time was had by all.

Was there a lady designer from the Ubi-Soft Booth?  I thought it was only the three guys there, and the other two where workers for Comic Con.  The 5'2" tall or so lady with the English accent and the Asian lady that was about 5'6".  Since it was an international crew there, I should have asked her if she was from Japan or not, heh.

[Michaelangelo]

I don't think she was a designer for them, but she worked for Ubisoft.

[Michaelangelo]

Hiya,

Not sure who all got a chance to check out the Webcam of this event, though my sister and my dad did.  So we got some photos from the webcam to share.  Here they are.


My mom and I have our backs to the camera trying to figure out where the camera is that my dad is telling my mom about on the phone.


Still looking for the camera.


That Camera is hard to find.


We have decided to head into the building.


This is my mom and I going into the building and I did spot the camera by this time, it was right up above the entrance to the door.  

So there are some web cam pics, more to come from a different camera.

[Brinatello]

Wow, I've been quiet for a long time, haven't I?  Curses to my work for keeping me so busy!  Anyway, truth be known, yes, I was another one fortunate to see the TMNT premiere on the 17th as well, so I guess I can give a bit of a report of my point of view from it as well as the rest of the weekend:

First off, a HUGE thank you to Ivey, she is the one who got me a ticket into the show.    Seems like I need to do more than just a thank you, and I'll have to think of something!     She and her mom arrived in CA at 11:30 a.m. Friday morning, the 16th, and took a shuttle to their hotel room, the Best Western Hollywood Plaza Inn.  Christine and I drove up at 12:30 Friday afternoon to meet up with them.  We had lunch together at the hotel restaurant, Tequilla's, before all of us (except for Ivey's mom) went to go visit Wally at his house in Studio City.  It was at this point that I noticed Ivey's mom wasn't doing too well, and remained that way almost throughout the entire weekend.  Poor gal.  We hung out at Wally's where Ivey got a tour of his museum of a house and a great treat of his one guest room, the Puppet Room, where many hand-made Muppets fill up all four corners.  We ended up going with Wally (and some of his other L.A. friends) to Barone's in Studio City.  Ivey and I left the restaurant early to go back to the hotel, getting there at almost midnight.

Saturday morning, we dressed and made our way down to Grauman's Chinese Theater located two blocks south of the hotel.  On the way down the street, we saw Roseangelo walking up the street toward us.  Ivey smiled and said, "Well, hello stranger."  Rose smiled and said "hi" and kept on walking.  We had to go stand at the Will-Call line and wait until they started letting people in at 11 a.m.  While waiting, Buslady, cynlee, and reinbeauchaser walked up to stand next to us in line.  Somehow, there were minor complications with the tickets and only one came available at the Will-Call.  Luckily, a guy with his daughters behind us in line said he had an extra ticket and that got Ivey and her mom in, but that still left me out.  Ivey felt extremely sick and near tears that I couldn't get inside, but I said not to worry.  I was told by someone to wait till 11:30 to see what they could do for me.  Being like 20 minutes away, the anticipation grew strong!

As I waited, Kevin Eastman walked past me with Julie and their new baby, Shane.  I called out to him, getting a hug and kiss and meeting Shane for the first time.  I told him a little bit of the situation and Kevin said even he had some problems with getting tickets through Will-Call!  I couldn't believe it, he's one of the creators and was still treated this way!  I got a picture of him holding Shane and then he wished me luck getting inside the theater.

Ivey called as I stood there to say that she and her mom got seated, but were separated.  They had assigned seating, but because they were two different tickets, they weren't together.  She told me she wanted to come back out to take pictures on the green carpet, but someone told her there was no ins and outs.  Once you're inside the theater, you can't come back out!

Then, as we talked, she told me that she spotted Dawnatello and Roseangelo seated down in the second row!  I thought that was pretty awesome that two other listers were in the theater as well.  When 11:30 came, I finally got a ticket and headed for the green carpet.  Buslady, cynlee, and reinbeauchaser cheered me on and I walked over to the green carpet, skipping the costumed characters and all of the crowds walking around and went straight inside.  I so badly wanted to take pictures, but felt if I didn't get inside, I wouldn't have gotten the chance.  I decided I was going to take pictures of the green carpet area after the movie, not realizing I should have done it before!

I got to my seat (with free popcorn box and drink) and found a white bag on my seat.  In fact, they were on all the seats.  They were little treats of TMNT goodies: an action figure, a McDonald's toy, a pencil, a tattoo, and an Airheads candy.  I put my ticket in my bag and realized it had a Raphael figure.  I went to switch bags with another seat after finding a Leonardo, my second fave of course.  However, I left my ticket in there and almost lost it!  Luckily, I got it back safely.  I found Ivey's mom first seated on the left side of the theater and went to say hi.  And then Ivey found me at my seat and went to say hello, reminding me that I SHOULD have stayed outside to take pictures.     I explained why I came in early and she was still glad to see me.  Then, it was my idea to go down to the bottom to say 'hi' to Dawnatello and Roseangelo.

The show started on time, but because of where I sat, some last minute people came waltzing down the aisle, blocking my view of the screen at times!  Even an usher once or twice had me lift my arm from my arm rest so that he could see the row number with his flashlight!  I was very annoyed by that.  I sat next to a young boy wearing one of the TMNT eye masks given out around the green carpet area.  I loved watching his expressions.  He was quiet and behaved like a good kid and his smile from ear to ear was so enjoyable to catch.

After the movie, I didn't realize several of the turtle voice actors were crowding around my seat!  I got up and left to stand in the back of the room to watch the credits with Ivey trying to find me.  I had her autograph T-shirt in my purse when I headed out to go to the restroom.  When I returned to the lobby, the theater was clear, but luckily I bumped into her and two of the turtle voice actors, James Arnold Taylor (Leo) and Nolan North (Raph).  I got my picture with James and didn't think to get my Leo figure signed by him!  I was holding the white bag in plain sight, too!  James did sign Ivey's autograph shirt, though, and so did Nolan.  I wish I could have met Mikey Kelley (Mike) and Mitchell Whitfiled (Don), but I didn't know who they were or what they looked like!

We headed out the theater and my heart sank when I realized I wasn't going to get anything with the green carpet.  The carpet itself was gone, the TMNT costumed characters were gone, almost everything out there was all taken away and that stupid protesting about the wars in Iraq was going on loud and annoyingly.  We climbed up the stairs of the Hollywood Highland mall with Buslady, cynlee, and reinbeauchaser to talk a little about the movie and our experiences inside the theater.  The three soon departed, and us three found our time spent a little in the Build-A-Bear Workshop.  There were turtle plushies we turned into TMNT ones and adopted them.  Already having a Don plushie, I decided to make a Leonardo one.  So did Ivey along with a Mikey one.  Her mom only got one turtle (like me) and named him Mikey.

The next few minutes was spent sitting on the second level of the Highland next to the bear store.  I got my phone out to call Mom to see if I was able to get Monday the 19th off.  I had asked for it off, I practically begged for it off and my boss said she'd give it to me.  I needed it off because their flight was at 9:55 Sunday night and I told them I'd spend the last day with them before dropping them off at the airport.  If I worked the 1 a.m. on Monday, I'd have to be in bed by 4 p.m. on Sunday, and that meant leaving as early as 2 p.m. from Hollywood.  To my disappointment, Mom said the new schedule was written, and I WAS working on Monday at 1 a.m.!  I started cursing to no end.  Mom spoke directly to my boss, telling her where I was and that it was important that I needed Monday off.  My boss explained that a co-worker was going on vacation that week and she needed me there, not to mention I asked for the 23, 24 and 25 and that was too many days.  I told her I'd shorten it to just Friday and Saturday and that was also okay.  So, NOW, Ivey and her mom had to find a way to get to the airport on their own without me.  I was so ticked, I was still cursing throughout the rest of the day.

Later on, we returned to the hotel for Ivey's mom to rest.  She still wasn't doing well and we ended up going to a local market to buy some groceries.  Chicken soup, saltine crackers (she'd only been begging for them repeatedly!), and other stuff.  We also stopped at a nearby Japanese restaurant for me to get some California Rolls.  That's all I wanted for the time being.  We were going to go to Universal's City Walk later on to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe.  While waiting for Ivey's mom to get some strength back, I ate my leftovers from Barone's and took a power nap from 7 to 7:30.

We left the hotel to drive over to City Walk and eat at the Hard Rock Cafe.  We then walked around the City Walk and looked in stores here and there.  In a Children's Bookstore, Ivey found some black market TMNT figures.  Oh, they were horribly put together, very bad imitations of the real thing.  Then, we stopped in Hot Topic to find the TMNT poster image on T-shirts.  Ivey bought two, one for herself and one for her mom while I bought one for myself.  We also entered a TMNT contest to do a tour of the WB studio.  At that time, it was getting very late and very cold outside.  We walked to the end of the City Walk while Ivey's mom stayed behind on a bench.  Ivey wanted to take some pictures of the Universal Studios entrance area.  We got back to the hotel well after midnight and slept very good that night.

The next morning, we spent it trying to find a nearby car rental place, finding one very close by.  It was a short drive south from the hotel on La Brea Ave.  I got a little lost, but we eventually found it.  Before checking out of the room, Ivey and I snacked on some Double-Stuffed Oreos and 2% milk.  The breakfast of champions!!!  

We got to the rental place and picked up a nice Ford Taurus.  Ivey and her mom put their luggage in the trunk and I got back in my car, taking a drive to Sunset Blvd. to eat at an IHOP for some REAL breakfast.    While driving to Sunset still on La Brea, Ivey was video-taping and started to scream, "Kermit!  Kermit!  It's Kermit!"  On the right-hand side of the road, we drove past a building with a Kermit the Frog statue on top of it.  We just HAD to go back once we finished our breakfast!  The one cool thing that occurred at IHOP was we were seated at a table with an old photo of the Grauman's Chinese Theater!  It was as if that table was meant for us!!!

Returning to the building with Kermit, we learned it was the Jim Henson Company!  Upon closer inspection, I immediately recognized it after catching a glimpse of it on some TV special.  The outer structure is awesome, like something right out of the Renaissance era.  In the back past the security gate are smaller buildings and offices, very cute and quaint-looking.  Unfortuantely, we could only get as far as the gate.  The guard told us he would if he could, but for a Sunday, no one was around to get permission.  We stood and talked to him, saying how we've all grown up with the Muppets, and how much of an influence they had on Ivey's family.  Ivey and her mom showed him pictures of their costumed creations and he was extremely impressed.  He was also very kind to let us hang out and take photos.

At around 2:30, we drove off to head to Studio City for me to get Christine.  Wally got to meet Ivey's mom this time and she totally loved the way he decorated his home.  It really is eye-catching with all of his memorabillia in every single room.  We talked for awhile and then it was time for us to depart.  I had to get Christine and I home early due to my Monday morning shift.  Bleh!  We said our goodbyes at the cars and then they followed me over to a restaurant on Ventura Blvd. called Du-par's, a wonderful place Wally eats at A LOT!

And that was my weekend!

[Brinatello]

Well, I was waiting to see if anyone would reply so that I wouldn't double post, but I wanted to share the photos taken that day!  Warning: there's only 7, a sad amount, and I wish I had taken more there!  Here's the link to them.  However, I'll show my favorite one here.  This is me with James Arnold Taylor, the VA of Leonardo.  I actually came out decent and he was a total sweetheart.  

[reinbeauchaser]

I'm so sorry that the latter half of your Hollywood experience was so stressful, Brin.  We shared phone numbers, you could have called.  I would have been more than happy to drive Ivey and her mom to the airport, thereby saving them the rental fee.  I feel badly they had to spend more $$ like that.  Well, at least the three of you were able to toodle around town together.  Universal Citywalk is quite the experience.  Lots of things to look at.  

It was good to meet you,  Ivey and her mom, although I didn't have a clue that Ivey's mom was feeling so poorly.  She trooped pretty well that Saturday, I think!  

Anyway, we'll have to do this again when the sequel comes out.  *crosses fingers that TMNT makes LOTS of profits!*

Be blessed,
Rene'