05-06-2019, 09:45 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-06-2019, 09:51 AM by Drunk Monk.)
Yesterday was a good day. I got up to Chinatown/Little Italy early and grabbed lunch at Happy Veg after staking out Darkside. When I first went there, it was barren but by the time I got back, the line was 30+ deep, so I got in it and regaled fans with my tales of knowing Daniel. He has a lot of Chinese fan girls. Daniel texted me on the way in, saying he was looking for parking, and then he gave me a hearty handshake when he saw me in line but he had to scurry in before the fans got too excited. After all, he was there to sell shirts.
When I got in, he hooked me up and I'm now proudly wearing my Widow Butterfly shirt. He asked what my plans were for after and said "I'm going to take my daughter to pizza. Wanna come?" So he had me hang out in Darkside, introduced me to the crew and I became the photographer for fans posing with him. It was fun watching him interact with his fans. A stuntman from season one dropped in to connect and pitch some project. Daniel was cordial. And a local Sifu friend dropped in with his student - we all chatted about SF martial arts for a bit and they got an extra poster for one of my former freelance contributors (his Kung Fu brother). AMC only allowed a limited run of gear and it pretty much sold out that day. There was a steady stream of fans for about 2 hours.
We grabbed pizza at Tony's but given the wait and his daughter's eagerness, we grabbed some gelato beforehand. His daughter is about 6 and super shy and cute. Daniel introduced me to her as 'Uncle Gene', kind of a Chinese thang, but that was cool, right? Her was a guardian with her too, who was very quiet. At pizza, another stuntman Matt dropped by, same guy who treated me to dinner in Dublin. We've become friends - his school is in the East Bay. Also one of the builders of Daniel's car, the Tanto, was with him. They were driving around in some suped up sports car. Yesterday was a car show at the Craneway in Richmond and the Tanto won some award but no one was quite clear on what it was.
Daniel ordered salad, calamari and 3 pizzas for the four of us (Matt has some calamari but they were headed to some ramen joint in the sunset and just dropped by to say 'hi'). Daniel said he always orders a lot - he planned to bring it home to his wife.
Unfortunately, he cannot make our tournament because he has to be at Cannes. For L'Oreal. He said he's not that into it, because Cannes is all industry people hating on each other's films.
It was a great day - lots of long chats and so many insane BTS tales. He's so down to earth and I forget that he's this major star until we walk about and are assailed by fans who want photos (he's very obliging that way).
On the way home, down the 1 again, which is still enjoying superbloom wildflowers, there was this peacock on the side of the road. I guess that's as auspicious as a whale sighting.
And of course, tonight is the final episode. I will be sad to watch it again.
What a run the Badlands has been for me. It got me to befriend Daniel, to embrace the Widow, and to fulfill a bucket list item - getting Tara to the Hill of Tara. I'm so grateful.
When I got in, he hooked me up and I'm now proudly wearing my Widow Butterfly shirt. He asked what my plans were for after and said "I'm going to take my daughter to pizza. Wanna come?" So he had me hang out in Darkside, introduced me to the crew and I became the photographer for fans posing with him. It was fun watching him interact with his fans. A stuntman from season one dropped in to connect and pitch some project. Daniel was cordial. And a local Sifu friend dropped in with his student - we all chatted about SF martial arts for a bit and they got an extra poster for one of my former freelance contributors (his Kung Fu brother). AMC only allowed a limited run of gear and it pretty much sold out that day. There was a steady stream of fans for about 2 hours.
We grabbed pizza at Tony's but given the wait and his daughter's eagerness, we grabbed some gelato beforehand. His daughter is about 6 and super shy and cute. Daniel introduced me to her as 'Uncle Gene', kind of a Chinese thang, but that was cool, right? Her was a guardian with her too, who was very quiet. At pizza, another stuntman Matt dropped by, same guy who treated me to dinner in Dublin. We've become friends - his school is in the East Bay. Also one of the builders of Daniel's car, the Tanto, was with him. They were driving around in some suped up sports car. Yesterday was a car show at the Craneway in Richmond and the Tanto won some award but no one was quite clear on what it was.
Daniel ordered salad, calamari and 3 pizzas for the four of us (Matt has some calamari but they were headed to some ramen joint in the sunset and just dropped by to say 'hi'). Daniel said he always orders a lot - he planned to bring it home to his wife.
Unfortunately, he cannot make our tournament because he has to be at Cannes. For L'Oreal. He said he's not that into it, because Cannes is all industry people hating on each other's films.
It was a great day - lots of long chats and so many insane BTS tales. He's so down to earth and I forget that he's this major star until we walk about and are assailed by fans who want photos (he's very obliging that way).
On the way home, down the 1 again, which is still enjoying superbloom wildflowers, there was this peacock on the side of the road. I guess that's as auspicious as a whale sighting.
And of course, tonight is the final episode. I will be sad to watch it again.
What a run the Badlands has been for me. It got me to befriend Daniel, to embrace the Widow, and to fulfill a bucket list item - getting Tara to the Hill of Tara. I'm so grateful.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse