Make it known

On the 3rd I worked as a production assistant on a commercial shoot. The ad itself was this bizarre, over-the-top montage (as far as I could figure out) of paradise-on-earth. Two models, male and female, were walking around Van Dusen botanical gardens in ridiculous amounts of gold jewelry, with fake leaves glued to their skimpy bathing suits. Like Adam and Eve. Sort of. There were heaps of fruit lying on the grass to make it look more paradisical, watermelons and green apples that had been spray-painted gold, and the people in Makeup were kept very busy misting the models with water. It's a commercial for Hong Kong television, and Hong Kong television must be even weirder and scarier than the North American variety, because it was actually a commercial about real estate.

Or was it? Get this: They hired a male model from Singapore, a female model from the Philippines, flew them to Hong Kong and then to Vancouver, are shooting for three days here, including a day of stills, and then flying the Hong Kong team back to Hong Kong to film more there. But they couldn't afford a better concept than a low-rent garden of Eden? My point being, did I just work on a porn shoot? Because I can easily imagine all the scenes I saw filmed quickly dissolving into hotel room pornography. And I don't go around doing that with everything I see. Honestly.

The main perk of the shoot was riding on the back of those battery-operated golf carts that you see staff driving around the botanical gardens. Whenever we needed to get from one location to another, we'd stand on the back of the cart and hold onto the roof, and David, the liaison, would pilot us silently through the gardens in the setting sun, warning us every so often to keep our heads down when we passed under low branches. It was amazing.

I got home and Happy punched me in the eye. Both eyes, actually. I was lying on the bed beside her when my mother threw Happy's toy trout across the room. The dog scrabbled to get her footing and my head got in the way. It was very painful. It left welts. I'll post a photo.

I worked for Shannon on Thursday night, today, and am going to watch Ivy tomorrow night as well. I'm making up for lost time. I need the money and I need the Ivy. Bad babies are very addictive.

Yesterday I swam at Spanish Banks. It was pretty cold. I recommend it.