This was the day when jet lag caught up with most of us, big time - me especially! More and more fans started arriving today which was good to see,
although it also meant that trying to organise people took forever and a day. As ever, the tirelesss Susan (Moocholas) and Jen (Lady O'Bloom) rallied
to the cause, spending what seemed to be most of their day ferrying people backwards and forwards, with a new member I hadn't met before (Hi Linette!)
also helping out, despite her having only just finished the 7 hour drive from Phoenix. Such fans are the lifeblood of events like this.
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The day started with an excellent buffet breakfast - I'm not sure about everyone else but I certainly ate more than enough to justify the $13.95
"all you can eat" breakfast charge. At 8.15am we gathered outside the front of the hotel to wait for two taxi's to escort seven of us
- the Brit contingent plus our friend Amy Buckles (Primula) - to the Warner Brothers studio lot. We were blessed with excellent weather, where apparently it had
rained for most of last week! Pictured below are (from left to right): Amy (Primula), Shirley (my mum!), Maria, Gemma (The River Maiden), Jen (Aldara Greeenleaf)
and Diana (Cadsy).
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The Warner Brothers tour was popular with everyone - "less cheesy than the Universal Studsios tour" was how one of our party put it.
We did spot a celebrity this time - John Spencer (Leo from The West Wing) was out in the sunshine taking a break from shooting and gave us a wave
and asked us how we all were. Alas, our cameras were all locked away so nobody got a picture - this is the one problem I have with the WB studio tour:
on the one hand they say they encourage you to take picture; on the other the second there's a sign of something really interesting it's a case of
"You have to put your cameras in the stored locker now as no photo's are allowed here". However, this is a minor quibble as the tour is
good fun. This time round our studio set was of "The Drew Carey Show" (bet I've spelt that wrong!) which I've never seen, but apparently
airs on ITV in the UK. Most popular studio set with our party was the ER set. Picture below on set are (from left to right): Mum, Diana, Jen, Gemma,
Maria, Amy with me kneeling (with large camera bag!).
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The Western set, used for Bonanza and countless other Western movies, still hasn't been knocked down, although this is scheduled to happen in a few months
time. Pictured below is Mum exiting the main saloon bar.
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On the mid-Western set, featuring sets used for many TV shows and films (eg The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie), Mum found a nice patio with
rocking chair and Diana joined her to just enjoy the good weather and incredible sense of calm (the WB lot really is an oasis of silence in the
otherwise bustling Los Angeles). Just around the corner Arnold Schwarzenegger was apparently filming. Although our guide pointed him out as wearing
a black t-shirt, I don't think any of us actually got to see him.
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On return to the hotel we gathered in the lobby for an informal excursion to Farmers Market - the location for a very picturesque shopping mall, with
lost of little, fun eating places. New guests kept arriving. Old friends from the days when I used to hang out on the fan club boards included Peggy (Sierra),
Jen (Lady O'Bloom), Bernadette (Holbytla), Lynne (Ithilien Quicksilver), Stef (StefBaggins) - and several others I've probably forgotten. Most of us congregated for a late lunch
(pictured below).
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Over lunch jet lag/lack of sleep was starting to hit some of us pretty hard. Luckily Jen (Lady O'Bloom) was on hand to give tired travellers like Bri
(AngryPixie) a head massage.
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On returning from Farmer's Market people split into smaller groups for various activities. The Brits stayed in their own little group and took advantage
of the proximity of our hotel to City Walk to go and have a meal at The Hard Rock Cafe, while others went off for more formal dinners, or for a group
viewing of The Two Towers at one of the cinemas here still showing it. Tomorrow is the biggest "pub" moot the fan club have ever had (with over
100 attendees) and with a smaller pub moot again in the evening. Also hopefully a trip in the morning to the Fashion Institute's Oscar costume exhibition.
There is some concern over the constant yes-they're-cancelling-it, no-they're-not stories coming out about the oscar party, although thankfully The One
Party will go ahead regardless. However, with Peter Jackson now deciding to stay in New Zealand the "special guest" count for the party is
looking likely to diminish. Fortunately, most fans seem pretty happy with just having a great party in the middle of Hollywood to go to.
Click here for Day 3 report
Go back to Day 1 report
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Don't forget you can check out reports of lots of other Lord of the Rings -themed events in the Web Logs section |
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