Sometimes, I forget how cool Austin is.

Sunday was the monthly coffee meeting of the Austin Journalers, and we were to meet at a the downtown location of Little City, which is mere blocks from the Capitol building.  As I drove down Congress toward the coffeehouse, I noticed that Congress was closed.  Not cool.  I scanned my brain back to my last reading of the Austin Chronicle.  No parades or protests that I recalled reading about.  Indeed, there were no throngs of people, yearning to park their cars.  This could only mean one thing:  movie shoot!

Yep.  Spy Kids 3 was shooting exteriors yesterday all day.  Several times during our three hour visit, we were asked to please clear the sidewalk, because they were going to be shooting, and they certainly didn't want the city to look populated or alive, apparently.  Either that, or they are going to CGI people into the scene later.  Who knows?

Now, I know that people in LA are used to streets being closed and film crews are not an uncommon thing, but yesterday was my first time to see a film crew in action.  It was pretty darn cool, actually, because it was a lot more high-tech than I thought it would be.  They had all sorts of computer screens and the like in front of the director, and he kept talking about "overlay" and people were bustling about.  It was cool to watch.  I felt all "Hollywood" and somehow, my clothes felt more fashionable.  People thought I was sexier because I was on the set of a movie.  That lasted about five minutes until some lady with a walkie talkie came over to me and said, "I'm sorry, you're going to have to move along."

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to move along."  I have TRULY reached the peak of my film career, haven't I?  I wanted to give my card to the lady and insist on being in the end credits.  "Guy Who Was Asked To Move Along: Tim Bratcher".

Alas, it'll never happen, because I, um, moved along.  And silently wondered to myself how much it costs to close Congress Avenue for an entire Sunday, and thinking that'd be a cool thing to do if I won the lottery.  You know, just close the street "because I said so" and of COURSE, I'd drive up and down the street all day, doing U-turns, parking illegally...

Is it TOTALLY obvious that I'd be an Evil Villain if I had a jabillion bucks?  You know, live in an evil mountain island, and have a big TV screen in my lair where my fellow evildoers would teleconference with me?  And then, I'd have to worry about weird and/or dorky cartoon characters like Inspector Gadget or Kim Possible or Austin Powers foiling my plans with the help of their dog or weasel or dumb luck?

Instead, I'm The Guy Who Was Asked To Move Along.  Life is not always fair, is it?

I was in Chicago (the city, not the movie, silly) walking downtown heading towards the touristy Miracle Mile (snooty shopping galore) and I suddenly started to notice that all the cars and people around me were from the 1950's... Fedoras and the like... Very disconcerting... Then I saw a woman with a walkie talkie (probably the same lady... she gave me a move along sneer) and asked her what was going on... She said, "We're filming." "Oh! How neat! Which movie is it?" Then she looked at me like I was covered in human excrament, "The film is Road to Perdition." I, an ingorant, lesser human being made the mistake of calling it a "movie." This girl, who just graduated with a worthless film degree from Po-dunk University, was working for free, and who spent most of her time fetching coffee and getting spit on by arrogant actors was giving me attitude? Why? Just because she's going to have a tiny 8-pt-font-on-the-big-screen credit as Best Boy? Make that Best Bitch. I decided I should give her a piece of my mind... but, instead, of course, I just moved along...

oh wow!

that's awesome! did you see anyone all famous and whatever?
that would be cool.
david....i wish i had the will-power you do. i wouldn't be able to walk away, i'd probaly call her a bitch and then walk away or something if she got attitude with me. im a REALLY, almost overly, nice person....but when someone gets attitude with me... omg. watch out bitch cause i KNOW you just didnt....
lol, i dont try to fight or anything stupid but i do say something. cant help it, i need to try to work on that though. it could get me in trouble. bah...

tim, do you know of any 'proxy' sites.... like, um...a web annonymizer site? any that start with https:// ? comment in here if you do. my school blocks my journal site. :( it sucks.

well, bye bye

-Lea!

Tim! Check it out! Kimmy (of the Lioness Den) gots a new website! Aww, yeah...show me the love.

I bet you ain't so fat. I bet you hot. Woo!