Sunday, November 7, 2010

A Star is Born

Yes, I locked the keys in the car today while the engine was running. Locked my purse, cell phone, and gloves in there too. Started the car, then went to unplug it from the building. Bad move. Should never start the car and walk away, lest the mischievous wind close the door on you! Good news...I was at home. You would think we'd all have remote start so this wouldn't happen. Oh wait, we do. It must be a great feature when it works! We have this great online system with the company that you just report what isn't working and they (in theory) get the message and respond. Notice, I wrote "in theory".  I believe the key to this system is for the department to actually respond to it.

Just this time last week, big events were brewing. The movies came to Barrow! I know what you're thinking, whyever would they come to Barrow in late October when the wind is gusting 35 MPH and the temp is 7 degrees F.
But, come they did. I was particularly excited because
we had an opportunity to get the dogs in the movie. In fact, one of the dogs got a solo shot! First we thought it would be Raven because of the two, we thought she'd do best at the task, which was to sit on the hood of a car. Who thinks up this stuff? Really, think about it...when was the last time you saw a dog sitting on the hood of a car? Especially in a climate where it's below zero 5 months out of the year. Nonetheless, that was the task. Basically, it went like this, "Central casting called, they need a Border Collie." Enter McKinley, because she is the quintessential Border Collie.

It was a particularly blustery day, so when you look at these pictures and you think it looks cold, you are right! What a natural she was. The director gave her the direction, "look forlorn." Okay, that wasn't so hard to accomplish. How do you think the dog's going to look when she's sitting on a pile of snow on the hood of a pickup truck?
We got her shot in 6 takes. The first two takes, the truck went by too fast. The third take, McKinley "improvised" and raised her paw as she sat there. Cute, but not what the director wanted. I did think it was kinda funny when the director asked me if she could do the shot without raising her paw. Heck, she could do it standing on three legs, probably, if that's what she wanted to do. In the end, she did the shot like a pro. I gotta tell you, I was unbelievably proud of her. She never, not once, even thought about jumping off of that truck or breaking "character." I seriously did not have a thing to do with it. So, she'll get her 10 seconds of fame if she doesn't wind up on the cutting room floor.

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