Actually some great stuff has happened to me in the past few months that I feel like was worth mentioning. There’s all the stuff that happened in Scotland where I stopped posting half way through. There’s the entire month I spent in Maryland that’s hopefully I will do  its own entire post because it deserves its own post, it was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am also currently working on a new project right now at the production company where I work, even though I have not worked on a show there for a long time which is a great relief to me. I’m actually working on something that’s not related to cats or animals, it’s actually related to  construction which is pretty cool and different. Those are all things I hope to post about in the upcoming future.

The main thing that actually made me want to try to give this another try was something I found out this week. A show that I worked on over the summer is finally airing on TV. It’s called Fabric of the Cosmos and it’s all about science and astrophysics. This was when I was working for a WGBH and I was only there for a few months, and the production…was interesting but the show looked really cool. So I heard from my family that apparently the first episode aired last night and surprisingly enough my name was in the credits. I couldn’t believe it, I had only been there for maybe three months and I only did archival work so I didn’t think that was worth a mention let alone credit at the end of the show. But sure enough I recorded it last night and there was my name in the credits

It was honestly nice surprise and I know doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but that now means there are now two shows with my names in the credits. Two shows that air nationwide and I know not a lot of people are going to notice or care that it’s there, but it feels like a really nice accomplishment for me. I got to say I’m really excited about this. It shows that while it is small steps, I am making some progress in you know what I want to do as a career and in my life.  I suppose it is a nice feeling.

So yea that’s really it, not to be like “oh look how awesome I am” to by my first post in a while, but this whole thing is devoted to the adventure of my life, and I do consider this one a good mention. Hopefully I can actually get back into this and make something work and maybe it will actually be something people will be interested and want to read maybe? Eh who knows.

We got up early and walked to the Royal Mile to Haggis Adventure Tour (yes that is it’s real name). We met up with our tour guide/bus driver this awesome woman named Jill/Gill, never did find out the proper spelling of her name. She introduced herself and where we would be going and soon we were off!…..well we would have been except we had to take a slight detour. Apparently this school group that was named Team Argentina was supposed to be on this tour but were either to stupid or to entitled to realize that they had to go to the tour office, they though they would be picked up. Well team Argentina must have dropped some serious money because we did in fact pick them up. I thought it was amazing and very nice of the tour company to do so, seriously could you see any Boston tour going out of there way to pick you up because you were too stupid to go to the pick up point? They would laugh there ass off then drive away. But we were not in Boston so we did in fact pick them up. So once the surly and bored Argentinian youths we were finally off!

Once we were on the road the view slowly changed, from lots of buildings to lots of sheep. Seriously there are sheep everywhere in the country! While on the road tour guide Jill was awesome she would either tell us about historical events or people that happened the areas we were driving through or she would play Scottish music from her iPod, music that would range from traditional to modern it was sort of amazing. Our first stop was at the William Wallace monument. William Wallace was a proud Scottish hero but most people know him as Mel Gibson in Braveheart. However tour guide Jill told us about how he and Robert the Bruce fought Edward the Second and the battles he was in, it was really fascinating. We sadly could not go up to the monument because it was to early but it sure looked nice we also got tea which was also nice.

By mid day we made our way to Loch Lomond. Because it is a big Loch we arrived in the middle of a quaint little town. The rest of the group paid money to go on a boat tour but we did not feel like paying 10 pounds for a hour boat tour, so instead we took a very nice walk. It was quite pleasant we had some snacks, took some pictures and saw so many happy doggies it was really great. 
After our nice walk we boarded up again and continued on our tour.

As we were on our way to our castle stop, we pulled over to take some more photos of the country side when we made some new friends. 

Highland Cows!! Or as there called Heilan’ Coo! They are like regular cows just shaggier. They came right up to our group and were awesome! I got to pet one and Becca got licked and almost friendly gored by one. They even had baby coos as well! After saying good bye to the lovely Coos we were off again.

Our final stop on the tour was Doune Castle. Doune Castle has been around since the Thirteenth Century,  however Doune castle is most famously remembered for being in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was used in the scene with the French soldiers and the Trojan Rabbit. That little fact aside it’s a great looking castle, very well maintained and had a lovely view from the top.

There was much rejoicing for being at the castle…..Yayyy.

With the castle done our tour was over and we made our way back to the city. We made sure to thank tour guide Jill and gave her an awesome review. We decided to end the night with a visit to yet another pub!

This pub is called Cloisters  and I think it was my favorite pub of the entire trip. The reason it’s called Cloisters is because it was in fact a real cloister of a church. The church is still there today they just decided to turn the cloister into a pub. It was small but not cramped and had a very home like atmosphere. Also Cloisters had a ton of different local brews on tap and it was sort of like a game on which one to pick. We had a lovely night catching up with Becca’s friend Sam. And with another pub down we were done with our third day of Scotland.

Edinburgh is comprised into two parts; old town and new town. Old town is the part of Edinburgh since the begging and where you will see a lot of the historical and more classical European designed buildings. New town started popping up at around the early 1800′s and looks a little different. Still has a lot of very nicely and historical buildings but was planned better in terms of placement of buildings and locations. To give it some perspective Old town is designed a little like Boston where buildings rose up as history occurred but was not really planned, where as New Town is a little like New York City, sort of in a grid pattern and much easier to get around. So our hostel is located in old town so we decided to explore new town.

As we made our way over Becca suggested we check out Calton Hill, a nice park/historical site that has a great view of Edinburgh. Calton Hill is a park, but also has an old observatory a memorial to Admril Nelson and even a Greek style temple that turns out is a national monument. Also yea the view is pretty awesome. One side you can see the city on the other side was our next destination this hugggge mountain called Arthurs Seat.

After some much needed food (Haggis!) we made our way to Arthurs Seat. Now the picture really does not do it justice you think it’s big when your far away, but as you get closer you see just how massive this mountain is. There are different levels of how high you can go. From sort of high to holy freaking god that’s high. While we were willing our shoes and feet were not. We hiked a good 45 mins and reached a decent bight and claimed ourselves victors!

It took a little bit but we made our way back down and Becca wanted to show us around her old stomping grounds. We made our way back to Old Town and relaxed with a few pints. Afterwards Becca showed us her old flat and one of her favorite Indian Take Aways. She showed us this great field that all the university kids hang out at called the Meadows. It reminded me of Boston Commons except with a lot more high university kids. Also a cool thing about Edinburgh is you can barbecue and drink in public so there were a ton of small barbecues going on and a lot of public drinking. With our food Becca insisted this drink which is the top soft drink in Edinburgh something called Irn Bru.

Now apparently Irn Bru has been around in Scotland for what feels like forever. It is the one soft drink that is more popular then coke over there and Becca insisted I tired it. Well I took a sip and this was my reaction

It took me a very long time to properly identify what it felt like I was tasting. After five minutes it came to me it tasted like liquid bubble gum. It was really interesting I didn’t hate it but I don’t know how much I would jones for it. Becca described its like Moxie some people love it and some people think it’s the most vial disgusting horrid death liquid you could ever drink. Guess which camp I’m in?

After Indian Takeaway was achieved we had one last thing to do for the night and that was to go on a haunted ghost tour. Becca had been on this one in the past mentioned how good it was, so that didn’t take much to convince us. We went down to the Royal Mile and purchased tickets with City of The Dead and there ghost tour of Greyfriars graveyard and The Mackenzie Poltergeist. Our tour was led by this awesome tour guide Gerry (with a G). He was funny, insane in the good way, and looked like David Tennant so basically a perfect tour guide. He brought us to the graveyard where he had to contractually tell us this story of the most famous dog in Scotland ever by the name of Bobby. I will not go into detail because Bobby the dog is told alllll the time, if your interested look it up but poor Gerry with a G had to tell the whole story man did he hate that dog. Once that was out of the way then we got into the good stuff. He told us about Edinburgh’s history and how the graveyard became what it did today. I learned about exactly just how many people are hurried there (a whole hell of a lot) and how the graveyard has inspired a full number of artists and writers such as Bran Stoker, Mary Shelling, and even J.K. Rowling. It was actually in Greyfriars where she found the grave that inspired the name for Tom Riddle

I also learned a huge ton of Scotland’s bloody past and about George Mackenzie. Seriously wiki this guy and Greyfriars and you will understand why this place is haunted. We went into a sectioned off area of the grave called Covenanters Prison (were the concept of the concentration camp was originated), where supposedly the poltergeist can be, and while there was no attacks the place was so spooky I could believe something went down there. Tour guide Gerry with a G also told us this hilarious story about a homeless man Mackenzie’s tomb and a security guard and I can now totally believe why it’s haunted. The tour was amazing the only sucky part was at the end a guy jumps out and goes boo! Apparently people have complained to City of the Dead of not being scared that they had to put that in. Personally I don’t think it was necessary but ah well. Seriously to anyone reading this if you are in Edinburgh for any reason go on this tour historical, funny, spooky, and fantastic!

With that last act of the night done, we decided to have one final pint at this pub called The Last Drop. The last drop is very cool it stands on a part of Edinburgh called The Grass Market. Way back when The Grass Market used to be the site for public hangings so The Last Drop was there because supposedly that is where they would take the condemned for there last dram of whiskey before hanging. So pretty awesome that it’s still there today.

And with that last pint we concluded our 2nd day in Edinburgh. Not bad for a second day on Holiday.

So last Thursday I met up with my friends Kate and Becca and said goodbye to Boston and made our way out towards Scotland. One quick layover in Newark, New Jersey and we were airborne and out of the country. Sadly the overnight could have gone better. Thanks to Continental’s weird seats I could not really sleep at all but whatever I was too excited to really care. We arrived in Edinburgh at around 10:30 am which meant it felt like 5:30 back home. As we were taking our bus into the city, I forgot how wonderful the countryside looks. As we got closer and closer we saw more unique and very European buildings, until finally we saw it

Edinburgh Castle right there smack dab in the middle of the city. I’ve seen photos before but they really not convey how amazing and grand this castle looks. It’s also the most central place of the entire city and can be easily seen almost anywhere. Its like instead of having The Prudential Center in the middle of Boston it’s a big freaking castle……oh if only.

We proceeded to walk to our hostel. We stayed here

I’ve never stayed in a hostel before but I was really pleased with this place. It was very affordable for our entire stay, the rooms are big and private, clean linens and clean modern bathrooms. Also all the workers there are friendly Scottish kids with tattoos and piercings which I just liked personally. Another great thing about this hostel was it’s location it’s pretty much right near the center of town, very close to prince street and the royal mile, also legit a 5 min walk away from the castle. We checked in stored our luggage and we we’re immediately off towards the castle.

Like I said the castle is big, it’s also very grand and just so intimidating in a way. I’ve been to maybe one or two castles before but this one has been the most impressive by far, also the view of the city is amazing!

We spent about over two hours exploring the different areas, from it’s great hall to secret chambers and there impressive war memorial. We also got a chance to see The Scottish Crown Jewels. They were really amazing and I was really struck by how old they are and just how ornate they are. The crown is what you would expect a crow too look like but it’s the details yes those are all diamonds or jewels encrusted in that thing, yes that is real gold despite the fact that it looks like that yellow plastic you would find at a costume shop. The entire castle was just so full of history we got our learnings on hardcore.

After our time was done from the castle Becca showed us around the city for a bit. She used to live there for university and it was nice having someone around to show us different places also so Kate and I didn’t have to wander around lost like dumb tourists. We were able to meet up with Beccas friend Sam for a nice dinner and then to cap off the night at this great pub called Sandy Bells.

The pub was this wonderful local place that was packed full of happy laughing people. Also what’s cool is every night they have different people come in and play live folk music, it made everything just about perfect. It was the perfect end to our first day in Scotland, and that was just the first day. Once. I find some more wifi I will update again. Until the

ADVENTURE!!!

So off to one of my greatest adventures to date, can’t wait!

Monday: Ok nothing really that special. Spent the day driving down from Maine because of a few delays here and there we didn’t actually arrive in New York until 4:30pm a good seven hours after we had left. Luckily it was just a travel day so at least we also didn’t have to shoot something on top of the long drive. I met up with my cousin who was being very kind and letting me crash with him for the time I was in New York. Yeaaaaa for some reason the production company (not mine the Canadian one) didn’t have enough money for me to have a hotel room in NYC? Yea I didin’t get it but whatever, it was nice to see my cousin whom I havent seen in forever. Also it was my birthday on Monday so I had a birthday beer in congratulations and then got rested for the busy week ahead.

Tuesday:  Got up nice and early was able to figure out now to use the MTA with out getting totally lost and met up with the crew for our first interview. Went to The Poets House for our first interview. I have never been in this part of NYC before and it didn’t seem like the same place. It was quiet the ocean was right there and there were a lot of people walking happy puppy dogs. I helped set up for the interview then went with one of the producers to help scout for possible locations for future interviews for the week. We then had to go to another location for later in the week. However there were two downsides to this. One all these locations are basically right next to Ground Zero, so everything is under construction and it is a nightmare to drive through. Secondly because everything is under construction there really is not any where to park. I couldn’t leave the car where it was parked because it was too far away so I had to think of how I could keep the car close to the crew. Originally they said it would only take 20 mins to scout out all the locations. I pulled up to The Millenium Hilton Hotel and threw my hazard lights up hoping it would be not so long and no one would get pissed at me. While idling one of the doormen came up and asked me what we were doing. I explained to him about the shoot and what we were doing and he thought that was pretty cool. We started talking and when I explained I was from Boston he told me that he used to live in the South End. So were having a pleasant conversation when I find out that it might take over an hour for the crew to finish scouting. When I told this to doorman he was like “No prob you can keep you car here.” I asked him if he was sure and he responded “gotta look out for my fellow Bostonians”. It was amazing thanks to him I didn’t have to keep driving around or park the car which would have cost another 20 bucks. Despite myself and the doorman getting screamed at by multiple cabbies I was able to keep my car there with no Hassel. Doorman #1 even introduced me to his friend and we got to chat too and he was helping us fend off angry cabbies as well. They were really amazing guys and only wish I could have given them a bigger tip as thanks.

Wednesday: That day was particularly long. We did not start until 10 am but we didn’t really end till 10:30 pm that night so it was good over 12hr day for us. We had two interviews that day one was ironically in The Millenium again. Thanks to my doorman friends I was able to make friends with a 3rd one who helped me stash our equipment in a side room in-between our interviews. The 2nd interview was at the World Trade Center Museum. If you never been its a really nicely done place that not only provides information on what happened 9/11 but also serves as a fitting monument to all those who passed. Our 2nd interview took place in the museum itself. All I could really do during the interview was look at this giant wall that had photos of people who had passed away. It was very beautiful and also very very sad as well. It’s a nice way to never forget those we have lost but seeing all those photos really puts a visual enormity to it all. Instead of seeing a list of names you see a list of faces you get to see sort of briefly who they were and what they were like. It’s very very moving. Finally after a particularly long  interview we were all set for the day and called it a night.

Thursday: Yesterday was the big shoot day of the entire week. We were covering 4 different people with dogs, 3 different locations and two camera crew! We met up at this  dogpark and then got the day started off. As the crews went off to interview and get footage of our four people I had to lay back and keep an eye on all of our equipment. We now had double the equipment and a lot more personal belongings. Luckily we had a hand cart for the day and the second crew brought there own PA. We got to hang out and make sure nothing bad happened to the equipment. We also got to be on dog watching duty if one of there owners needed a rest or anything. The first location seemed to go well so we moved onto the 2nd one of the day, the Fireman’s Memorial Wall.

Sort of like on Tuesday it was a little crazy to get there but replace a car with a cart full of equipment. However we reached there with out incident and was soon there, that’s when my next big role came in. Because there were so many people there and large group of people + dogs = a large group of people suddenly on camera. I had to run around and get every person who appeared on camera or spoke to our subjects to sign an appearance release.  Now I have done this before but there was such a huge mass of people I was running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. However I did meet a ton of lovely people and families from all over the world. I met two great families from Ireland and we briefly bonded over how I have family originating from Sligo. I met a huge family from Sweden very nice but did not speak that much english so that was a little challenging. I met another couple from Australia that is just doing a world wide vacation tour. By the time I was done and we moved on I think I had close to 20 different releases.

Finally we  hit our final location a chapel right near the site. There all 4 of our people who had been either involved or effected by 9/11 with there dogs got to look around at the memorials placed up in the chapel. While there we were running low on batteries, however luckily we were right next to The Millennium Hotel! I ran in and met Doorman Friend #3 and explained my situation and how I needed to charge our batteries. He was able to let me hook up our battery charger in the luggage closet for me, I gotta tell ya these guys are beyond awesome.  It was a very touching thing to see. By the time we were done, we had got a great amount of footage but we were all tired including our wonderful helper dogs.

After the shoot despite being tired I did get a chance to meet up with a good friend of mine in the city and grab dinner and some drinks. I think it was needed for the entire week I have just been in work mode the entire time and then just sleeping. It was the first time I could relax and just be me. With our biggest shoot out of the way I was able to crash and then get ready for the next day where we would say good bye to New York.

Which brings us to today. Today was just getting B-Roll of the area and some iconic shots of New York. We have now made our way to our next location in New Jersey. Tonight will be the first night in 4 days that I might be able to get more then five hours of sleep, yea in other news when I come home I am going to sleep LIKE THE DEAD. Huge thanks to my cousin who let me crash on his couch for the week even if it was a leather couch and he had no AC I’m still very thankful. Also I have learned always be kind and courteous to your doormen at hotels. There harding working great guys and if you make friends with them they will get your back. Seriously to the men at the Hotel you are like my new best friends forever. THANKS!

So only two days left in this Sudden adventure before I make my way back home. Also sorry for saying this would be a quick post, clearly that was a grievous lie.

Then second part of our shoot was a main interview with our story subject. Sadly because it was a very small room I could not be there for the interview. I waited outside to make sure no one came into the area. However it was ok because I got to hang out with these guys.

I swear I wanted to just crawl in there and nap too. The idea of napping with over 15 lab puppies seems like heaven.

Once the interview part was over we were actually wrapped for the day. We said goodbyes and the rest of the crew and I got to enjoy the rest of the day. Because it was so nice out we actually decided to go to Old Orchard Beach. One of those giant beach’s where everyone goes to in the summer time, and I can understand why it was great. So I got to spend some time hanging out on the beach and reading my book.  As work days go, filming adorable dogs/puppies then hanging out on the beach, this was pretty stellar.

And with that, that is a wrap on Portland Maine. Tomorrow we gear up and get ready to head in NYC, and I get to deal with the fun insanity that is driving through downtown Manhattan again.

I packed up a new car with new equipment and left the apt this morning at around 9 am. I am currently in South Portland Maine, I will be here until Monday, where I then drive down to NYC for a full week of taping. What am I helping out on this time? Here this is what I dealt with most of the day.

PUPPIES!!

Well Search and Rescue dogs but the first part of the day was getting footage of adorable Black & Yellow Lab Puppies. We had to get footage of the 3 month olds and then the 6 week olds. And I had to be puppy wrangler to make sure none tackled our DP. So needless to say it was amazing!

The rest of the shoot was getting footage of the rescue dogs going through obstacle courses and simulated destroyed terrain. Trainers would be on this mountain of wooden pallets and the dogs would have to go over all of them when they were uneven it was really amazing to see these dogs go. I learned a great lot today. One I didn’t realize Labs were used as rescue dogs but after today I can see that they are perfect for it. Second I didn’t realize rescue dogs can be used not only for search and rescue but detection dogs for things like Cancer now, its really just amazing how awesome dogs really are.

Are shoot went real well and we were all wrapped up by 6 or so.  Myself and the crew then went to celebrate a job well done by having beers. Tomorrow will be more adorable Lab dog and puppies. Then come Monday I make my way down to NYC. It was a good start to a shoot week but right now I feel this tired.

So let this week of crazy shoot of adorable dogs begin!

Last year I did a few weddings here and there, and I must have done something good because I was asked two months ago to cover some different weddings that are only just happening now. The first one took place this past Saturday with my good friend Lauren at the helm. We met up in the afternoon at the Colonnade Hotel. I met up with Lauren and our third shooter a lovely girl who recently graduated from Emerson. It was a typical schedule for a wedding shoot. We go in and tape; Bridal Prep, Ceremony, Reception, Toast, After Party. That’s pretty standard for most Weddings and we were lucky to only have a eight hour work shoot for us. Some weddings can go from 10 in the morning to 2 in the morning, and being on your feet filming for that long is not that fun.

We were only at the Hotel for about less then twenty  minutes before  we went on our way to the church St. Cecilia’s. One of the reasons why I love doing different shoots is because every shoot I do always get to see and learn something new no matter how big or small. On this shoot I got to see/do two brand new things. I was able to sit in a stretch suv limo and I got to see the inside of St. Cecilia’s, I don’t go to many church’s but damn this was a nice looking Catholic church. Seriously you should check it out. Also what was nice is because the church was so big and roomy we could set up pretty much wherever we wanted to get our desired shots for the ceremony. I was on Bride and Groom duty and was asked to get close ups of the happy couple during the ceremony. We also put the Lav mic on the groom so we would be able to hear there vows and it was really cool/cute to hear some of the small words you heard between the bride and groom during the whole thing. I don’t go to many Catholic weddings but the entire thing was only about a hour and change and that included doing communion and everything, so that seemed pretty short to me, but again I”m used to Jewish Bar Mitzvahs that can go on for hours and hours.

Back at the hotel we were able to get some down time while the set up the reception for the guests, I was able to meet the photographers & DJ. I always thought that a TV series based around wedding videographers would be really interesting. Because every wedding you shoot you always meet not only different types of brides, families and guests, but also different types of DJ’s and other workers. I mean I have only done a few of these but already I have seen a wide spectrum of personalities from good and bad. I really think it would be a good idea.

For the rest of the evening we got some footage of the cocktail hour, the entrance of the family and the toasts and cake cutting. The rest of the night was just getting different shots of people partying on the dance floor. I”m sorry no matter what I will always chuckle when I see the older couples dancing happily to “Shout” and then be a little confused but still reluctantly dance when the song changes from that to some crazy dance version of Lady Ga Ga’s “Bad Romance”. It really does make me smile I”m sorry.

Once ten thirty struck we were all wrapped and done. We had shot over 3 to 4 hours from each of us, our bellies were full of really good food, and our feet were killing us but all and all it was a pretty good wedding. Personally I hope I get the chance to do more of these during the summer months. It gives me a chance to see and learn something new, I get to see people totally in love start there new lives together, and I get to see intoxicated family members dance to ridiculous songs. Not bad, not bad at all.

So I got in touch and now fastforward a month and here I am working for them on this show. I’ve got a cool ID card with one of those retractable lines (no its not really that cool, but I”m simple and when I got it I was way to easily amused by it). Mostly I am helping them with archival research and stock footage management. However one its nice to have full time work again, and two it just feels good to be working on a TV show again. While I’m its not as production oriented as I got used to with Must Love Cats, its pretty cool. More recently I have been actually going on a few shoots with them. Most of the show has been shot for a while now, its been in production for a few years  but they still have a few interviews or pick up shots that need taken care of. The past few weeks I have been splitting my time in the office with going to MIT to assist them with there shoots.

So this seems to be another chapter for me in this great adventure of TV and Travel. In the coming months there will be quite a few adventures coming up. Including more news on Twelfth Night!