My day at Warner Bros., and a dream come true.

Last week I went on a journey with my friend Mikki that took me to places that rest deep inside of my dreams and heart: Friends locations on the Warner Bros. lot. She sent me a message telling me she was going on a Warner Bros. tour and asked if I wanted to join her. It sounded like a lot of fun, and some of my favorite things are from Warner Bros.! Harry Potter and of course Friends. I hopped online and bought my ticket, then headed out the next morning to meet her. I ended up getting turned around a few times trying to get to her house, and that set us back about twenty minutes (whoops!) but we made it to the lot just in time to get into our tour!

Group B! What a group to be in.

Going to the Warner Bros. lot was really interesting. Being in the Hollywood area affords all sorts of new and surreal sights and opportunities. When Andrew's movie Mr. Popper's Penguins came out, we went to the Fox lot to see it in one of their theatres. It was so interesting being among the buildings that serve as sets for so many movies and shows! The same experience was present at Warner Bros. Seeing the water tower was crazy awesome and I sent a picture to my sister right away. For those of you that don't know, Friends means a great deal to my mom, sister and me. It is our favorite show, and the three of us watched new episodes together until the end of the show. 

There's something so bizarre about seeing it in person.

My sister and I both have the series on DVD, and we watch all the time. We use them as background noise for all occasions, and whenever we're together we're constantly quoting the lines to one another. It's our "thing", and I very much wish that she could have been on the tour with Mikki and me! I'm currently conspiring to get my sister down here for a weekend, perhaps we'll go on the tour together...! :D

But I digress! 

Upon entering the gift shop/tour starting area (which was full of incredible merchandise) we were greeted by super tall statues of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. I felt so gleeful! The tour started with a ten minute video on the history of Warner Bros. studios, as well as clips from their most famous movies and television shows. After that we were loaded into our little trams and the tour began! Our guide asked us to cheer for our favorite Warner Bros. properties, and I made sure to yell my head off when she said, "Friends". 

I wanted to hug them.

We were carted around the lot and she talked about the history of the studio, including fun stories and tidbits of information. We stopped at multiple locations to unload from our tram so we could be shown in-depth aspects of the sets and buildings. One of the first stops was a "street" of New York that hosted scenes for films such as The Mask, and a bunch of other ones that I can't remember, hehe. We rounded the corner of this "street" to be presented with a location from Friends(!!!) and the fire escape from the infamous Spider-man upside-down kiss scene. 

 Left: from season one, when the Friends sing "In the Jungle" to Marcel 

on the set of "Outbreak 2: The Virus Takes Manhattan". Right: me standing

where Monica and Rachel stood while talking about Jean Claude Van Dam.

Our tour continued on to a room full of cars from Warner Bros. movies and TV shows. The Gran Torino was there, as well as the Mystery Machine and a sampling of Batman vehicles. Most exciting to me was the presence of the flying Ford Anglia from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets! Mikki and I learned that there were twelve different versions of the Anglia made for the film, each in a different state of destruction. The car present at Warner Bros. was the final stage after being beaten by the Whomping Willow. This was thrilling, of course, but I have to say I was disappointed by the lack of Phoebe's yellow taxi!

 Left: me thrilled beyond absolute belief. Right: Mikki representing Harry Potter pride.

The latter leg of our tour took us to the prop department, which was awe-inspiring; crammed floor to ceiling with every item imaginable. There were famous pieces on display, such as the couch from Carrie's apartment from Sex and the City. It was a lot of fun to wander the halls and take in all of the fun furnishings, especially all of the lighting. There were innumerable amounts of fixtures, it was like the lighting department from Home Depot multiplied by ten. Also a lot of old fashioned pieces such as wardrobes and desks. They were so ornate and fascinating. 

Now, the pièce de résistance of the tour (for me, at least) was the surprise unveiling of the Central Perk set from Friends. I believe that our tour guide kept it as a surprise for my sake, because I heard another tour guide explaining to his group what it was ahead of time after we were done in the set room. I certainly appreciated her not spoiling the surprise ahead of time! 

Central Perk in all of its shining, preserved glory. *cue angelic singing*

The set has been kept meticulously intact in the prop department behind an inconspicuous large black door. This came as a wonderful, fabulous, dream-come-true shock to me. I've watched the behind-the-scenes of the season ten DVD set, and I watched with tears in my eyes as the sets from stage 24 were torn down. My sister and I mourned the loss of the sets we loved, and the loss of opportunity to ever see them in tact and in person.

 The menu board and the espresso machine.

Behind the counter. I could practically see Gunther.

The sign is so iconic and comforting.

I simultaneously wanted to scream, cry and pee my pants when the door opened. I wanted to call Cassidy right then to bring her as close to the experience as possible. I took as many pictures as I could, and shook with delight when the tour guide told us we could sit on the orange couch and have our photos taken with Central Perk as the backdrop. I wanted so badly to wander the whole set and sit at the coffee bar, the tables, the bench seat near the window. SIGH. We were confined to the couch area though, so I simply looked on with longing and took it all in.

 Left: a close up of the window to the right of the doors. Right: the front doors.

The whole tour included a few more stops, including the sound stage for 2 Broke Girls and a museum of Warner Bros. props and costumes, with the entire second floor devoted to Harry Potter items. Mikki, another huge Harry Potter fan, and I made a beeline for the second floor. We had only a scarce twenty minutes to enjoy the two floors, and we spent the majority of it wandering the Harry Potter items. The costumes were so ornate, and there was a giant spider that was positively terrifying. We also had a chance to be sorted, which was thrilling. I can't wait for Pottermore to open next month!

Happy, shocked, disbelieving smile on my face. So glad Mikki invited me!

At the end of the tour we decided to spend a bunch of time exploring the gift shop. There were sections for a bunch of major Warner Bros. productions, as well as general Warner Bros. products. I fawned over the Friends section, hemming and hawing over which item I simply couldn't live without. Mikki spent as much time in the Harry Potter section and came away with a jealousy-inducing amount of items xD I eventually decided on a Central Perk t-shirt for myself, and a FRIENDS emblazoned coffee mug for my dear sister.

 Left: location of Joey's movie premiere. Right: the Central Park mock-up

where Phoebe runs weird and Rachel runs into a horse.

I have to thank Mikki again for inviting me along, and Warner Bros. for the preservation of Central Perk. It was a magical day.

Stage 24, the house of Friends for ten long years.

-MJ

Photos everywhere! So much excitement to share.

I am taking a break from my busy schedule of cleaning and organizing the house to bring you this blog entry.

This is Hermy. Andrew made him from a munny and gave

him to me for our six month anniversary :3

This week has seen one photo session, which is great! I finally made the time to wander and take photos with intention. I did another circuit around the house seeing as there are some new things to look at! Most of the new things are related to the fact that I live here now. My bookshelf is now loaded down with many of my favorite belongings, which makes me very happy! That may seem a little silly, but I can't help but smile when I look at my shelves covered in Nintendo and Harry Potter items.

Fun detailing such as his head ridges and eyebrows. I also really like

the curves at the edges of his excellently large smile.

 Dat ass.

In other news, I'm sad to report that of all the cucumber, onion and wild flower seeds that I planted, I have only one cucumber plant to show for it. I've never been much of a gardener, and I usually kill any plant that is left in my care (which reminds me I have to water the plant that my mom gave me!), but I still had high hopes for more than one plant to grow! I suppose the upside of this is that the one plant that grew appears to be extremely fertile, seeing as there are a lot of yellow flowers sprouting. At least three of them already have a chubby, tiny cucumber growing! So very exciting.

The majority of the shelf. You can't see the bottom

shelf, which contains all photo albums.

So many lovely Nintendo items to surround myself with!

There are a lot of tiny sprouts in random spots in the garden plot, and it's hard to tell if they're late bloomers or just errant weeds. I'm afraid to pull anything because I can't tell what's what! The most I can do is keep watering and loving. Another positive spot is that one of the two flower plants that already lived in the plot is blooming like crazy. I don't know what they are, but they resemble smaller pink lilies, which makes me happy since those are my favorites! Not necessarily the pink ones, but just lilies in general.

One of the many bunches of pink flowers that have been blossoming

large and proud. Also one of my sprouts that was savagely attacked 

by one of the cats that revels in pooping in my garden plot!

Look at all those potential cucumbers!!

Andrew and I have been making some exciting headway with the Weird Little Monsters (keep that site bookmarked!)! More sites, more designs and so much more in the works. Among all the hullabaloo of moving I've managed to finish my third monster and start on a fourth of Andrew's design. Things in the sewing department are going a bit slower than I'd prefer, but they're still moving forward which is a positive thing.

Monster number two, Rohmer.

I've been reading a really great book on sewing and there are so many useful tips for putting together really great monsters. As a result my sewing has slowed down because I'm trying new techniques. My stitch work is feeling a little shoddy, but I know that things will improve. It's thrilling to be trying and making new things. I've always wanted to be better at sewing! And it's incredibly satisfying to have a physical manifestation of my imagination.

Monster number one, who has yet to be named.

 Monster number three, who we've been calling Frenchie. That's 

probably not going to be his permanent name. 

There's finished Frenchie on the left with his hat and side pouch.

Pictured on the right is one of Andrew's designs that I started on.

And now for a completely unrelated segue!

The purging of all Nikon related items has begun. Andrew has a very handy network via his job, so he's handling getting the word out. It is greatly appreciated because I don't want to deal with ebay or craigslist. I have a lot of mixed feelings, of course. I'm glad that the items are being sold because the money will be very useful for a lot of things! I'm sad for the items to go though, seeing as I have loved them for so long and they carried me this far. But, I'm in a new stage! And I already have almost everything that I had previously, just for Canon instead.

And speaking of Canon, here are just a few more photos from Andrew's brother's wedding, which was an amazing and fun opportunity to further familiarize myself with the camera and gain speed and accuracy with the controls.

The bride and groom with their brothers :)

Some more photos of the property. The lanterns were a wonderful

and beautiful touch. The sky couldn't have been bluer that day.

Andrew's friend Alex there on the left, and then a snap of Andrew and me.

I'll go ahead and close with some information about the fashion/product shoot that I tagged along on last week! It was incredible, and a really fantastic time! I went as assistant to Brittany, makeup artist extraordinaire! She ended up not needing me much (but damn am I a pro at handing out bobbi pins!), but that's OK because that left me a little more time than expected to really take in everything else that was going on.

 This is a moon sculpture that Andrew's uncle Michael made (fb fan page).

It's really very beautiful and detailed, it is next to the bathroom. You can view

more of his work here!

The shoot was for Watto, an Arizona based company run by a very lovely husband and wife duo. They started off with only making belt buckles but have branched off into a variety of jewelry types. Their work is really amazing and interesting. It's all very chunky and loud and large. The shoot was in a garage space and the style was all very rockabilly. The models were so so so super nice, as were the designers and the photographer! The whole experience was incredibly positive and I'm really thankful that Brittany ended up needing someone to go with her.

 A teeny tiny fraction of the books that Andrew has. There are so

many amazing and interesting ones in his collection, and this 

section of Disney books really stands out to me. On the right is 

the sun streaming in through the front door.

I spent most of my time inside with Brittany watching her do hair and makeup for the models. I wish I had their contact pages so I could link you all to their work. They were very talented and professional. It was a real treat interacting with them in a relaxed and goofy manner and then watching them transform into serious, focused workers while the camera was on them.

Everyone that assisted/worked on the Watto shoot was given

$100 in credit to shop from their store. They had many items on

hand, and I am now the happy owner of this very cool belt buckle!

The shoot lasted about six hours and was fun the entire time. The last session circulated around a series of story photos with an old fashioned car. It all had a classic, traveling, definite rockabilly feel to it. Everyone did such a great job. I wish I had any photos at all to share with you all, but I have none! Not even a cellphone photo! I didn't feel comfortable intruding with my phone. Of course, if you keep checking back to the Watto website you'll see the photos before too long! Here is a sneak peek that Brittany linked on her facebook fan page (go be a fan, she's very skilled and has beautiful photos up from the shoots that she participates in!). I can't wait to see the rest of them.

-MJ

Ireland Day 56 - Too Much Food

Technically this is day 52 in Ireland, seeing as I spent four in Paris, but this is 56 days total that I've been abroad, so I'm just going to go with it.

I didn't take any photos today. I'm probably going to snap one with my webcam. I am in bed with my pajamas on (not even 9:30) and I am not getting up again. I am sleepy and full. So, so very full. Smaller meals would be a good idea. Perhaps I felt so hungry because food was such an epic adventure while in Paris. I just stuffed my face today. Bleaaaaaaaagh.

Not a lot happened. I attempted to make plans with a few people this evening, but they were all busy! So then I decided to watch Amelie, but then I got wrapped up in making/eating dinner and now I'm tired so I'll just go to sleep soon. Sounds kinda lame but I feel fairly fulfilled so I'm calling this a good day!

That's my leg going under the covers.

Work swept me up into it right away! There was a lot to do this morning. Rushrushrush and lots of orders to make! It's nice to be busy :) I keep seeing all of these "staff needed" signs around Galway. Makes me feel itchy and anxious about coming back next year. I'll be able to get a job anywhere that'll hire me, so long as places are hiring. Staying with photography would be ideal, of course, but I will take anything (and I kind of have to if I want to stay for a year, which I do!).

The weather welcomed me today like it did yesterday. Lunch was made all the more enjoyable for me as I sat next to a window and soaked up the rays. I spent time at the Spanish Arch after work, again sitting and soaking up rays. Everything smelled so wonderful outside. I could have sat there for much longer had the clouds not rolled in. Weather has to change sometimes :) I considered walking The Prom but I'm glad I didn't. I'll do it tomorrow instead.

After buying this messenger back a few weeks ago I really thought it'd help facilitate taking more pictures because I could bring my camera around with me without lugging my backpack as well. Laziness has prevailed in me because I take my camera everyday and yet... no photos. At this point I am happy to simply be in and around Galway, admiring buildings and familiar places. They are becoming fabulously commonplace (and I mean that in a very good way) and as a result I am not as compelled to bust out my camera for every single situation. I have some days off coming up soon, I'm hoping to make plans to go somewhere for a photography adventure. We will see!

On my walk to the bus stop this morning I thought again about the fact that today is September 1st. I smiled while thinking about Harry Potter and company getting ready to get on the Hogwarts Express. "The train leaves at exactly eleven o'clock, we've missed it!" is what I heard in my head as I strolled and I smiled to myself.

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11:18 am: photo one: back to the studio, happy September!

2:05 pm: walking: I think I'll have a burger for lunch.

5:54 pm: Spanish Arch: this crow has a white face.

6:30 pm: bus stop: that old dude just peed next to a tree. What the heck.

9:14 pm: in bed: I ate such huge meals for lunch and dinner. I am rolling in bed like a beached whale. I should walk home tomorrow.

-MJ

Ireland Day 18 - Nature and an 85mm

Today was a day of relaxation and loafing. I slept until around 9, which is odd because I went to bed at 3:30 in the morning. Glad I didn't wake up at noon though! That would have prevented me from chatting with Andrew from about 10-1, which was totally awesome. I finally got in the shower because I was ripe and it was awful. The wedding all day and then party/club made me smell super special. Too much information? I apologize.

My Aero dessert cup. It looks nasty, but I assure you it was delicious.

Before my shower I inspected the bath tub (who doesn't?) and made a horrifying discovery: a centipede on my wash cloth. I beat it to hell with my shoe, but it was very resilient. Maybe the treading on my shoes was too wide, it was a pretty small centipede (but it was still a freaking centipede!), so even though it was half stuck to my shoe its upper half was still moving. BLAH. I scraped it into the trash and squished it through the paper. I proceeded to make another, very thorough, check of the bathroom. I don't need unexpected visitors. I have felt as though I have had bugs on me the whole rest of the day.

I hope no one is offended by feet.

My lunch today was two small frozen pizzas. I realized too late that they were cheese and bacon, not cheese and pepperoni. Bacon. I laughed as I put them in the oven. James, Ireland snuck bacon into my food for you, your job is done. They were surprisingly good! I may buy some more. I couldn't figure out the oven though. It was very foreign. First, you must turn on the power for the oven. Then, you must set the temperature (damn you celsius!), then you must decide exactly how you want the oven to cook your food. It's not just "bake" or "broil". It's options that I don't remember that are represented by symbols that have nothing to do with their meaning! And there were 8 or 10 of them. Is that necessary?

Reusable rose petals from the wedding. I guess they're mine now?

Thank goodness Steve was home. Although, he's only at his house on the weekends (he works up North) and he doesn't use the oven very often, so we had to get out the manual and figure out how to use it together. It was funny.

After lunch I put on Harry Potter again. Half-Blood Prince is a fantastic movie, I really can watch it over and over again. I laid down and pretty much cried through the whole thing, even parts that didn't warrant tears. Then I fell asleep. I woke up in time to see Dumbledore die and proceeded to soak my pillow with tears.

Bedroom door and the keys that I love.

I think it was around 6pm at this point and I had yet to leave the house. So, I grabbed my camera, 85mm lens in tow, and hit the cul de sac! While I was out there I didn't feel like I managed to get very much, but after viewing them on the computer I was pretty pleased. The sun decided to grace me with its presence and I had to take off my coat. I forgot what it was like to be warm outside! Once I was finished with my photographic extravaganza I went to Miriam's house to hangout with Catherine and Maisa. We had a nice time chatting and eating chips! Tortilla chips are so good.

1.4 gives me amazing control over focal points. It's magical.

I took a few more photos after returning home. I made pasta for dinner and it turns out the cheese I bought is not good at all. Disappointing. I muscled through it though. The pepper I used was ground too finely, and the salt had a weird texture. THINGS ARE WEIRD HERE! I don't think the cheese was even parmesan. I may have messed up somewhere.

A strange formation is here.

Either way. I ate it. Cassidy and mom are going to send me a care package. So far it will contain real parmesan cheese, ranch dressing, a phone card and starburst sour gummies. I did laundry today too. Everything is wet downstairs. I need to do laundry sooner so all of my jeans aren't wet simultaneously. I could have hung them outside, but I saw a huge spider and remembered when mom would hang our stuff I always found a damn bug in my pants, so no thank you.

Happy tree is happy! I can see where all of the myths and legends come from, all of the trees here look alive in ways that they shouldn't.

Today had a lot to do with music, it seems. I purchased a few songs on iTunes that Dave sent me youtube links of. I harassed him into showing me some new music and I quite liked most of it. I also bought Florence + The Machine. She's awesome. I made a playlist that I am also very proud of. I took a screenshot of it and sent it to Andrew to brag.

I'm sure you're curious, so there it is.

I am tired! I was skimpy on the updates today too, I'm sorry.

Really neat coasters that belong to Miriam. They come apart in two separate swirls.

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3:33 pm: home: Loafing and resting today. Watching Half-Blood Prince again. The score is good. The song that plays for the opening scene that has Harry and Dumbledore makes me tear up, but what's new?

6:28 pm: in front of the house: I smell BBQ. I want a hot dog!

There are some very pretty fake flowers in Steve's TV room.

8:31 pm: house kitchen: I'm making pasta. You have to turn everything on before you can turn it on. There are switches that control the power to the oven and stovetop. If I want hot water for my laundry I have to turn on the immersion just like for a shower.

-MJ