Tag Archives: Ryan

Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)

Most people knew him as Mr. Spock, but I'll remember Leonard Nimoy best as the host of the spooky-ass TV show In Search Of. Man, I can't even begin to tell you how many sleepless nights my brother and I spent watching that show. The creepy theme music and archival footage was scary enough, but it was Nimoy's voice that really killed us. Whew, that show scared the shit out of us, especially when we watched it on my Mom's old B&W TV. Terrifying!

The Bigfoot and various UFO episodes were probably the most memorable, but, it was the Bermuda Triangle episode that seriously haunted my dreams. I actually lived in mortal fear of being sucked into the Bermuda Triangle for years. In fact, I still get creeped out every time I fly over water. But, hey, don't take my word for it. Check out the clip and see for yourself! So scary!

I actually met Nimoy a couple of years back at the 36th Annual Saturn Awards. I think he was there for some sort of Lifetime Acheivement award or something. Anyway I took a picture with him afterwards and he was one of the sweetest, most gracious celebrities I've ever met. Which was kind of shocking considering that he spent most of his life no doubt hounded by crazy Trekkies and film geeks like me. Not only was he friendly, cool and totally down-to-earth, but Nimoy was genuinely nice to boot. I met a lot of cool folks that night, but he was my favorite.

Thanks for all the memories, Mr. Nimoy. You will be missed…

 

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Filed under Daddy stuff, Movie Stuff, TV Stuff

So not ready for my close-up…

So, today was kinda strange. After several weeks of back-and-forth discussions, Mrs. Yeti and I were invited to appear on a daytime talk show today. I can’t say which one, because it has not started airing yet, but, the experience was completely surreal. The production staff and producers were amazing, the green room was kind of awesome (yep, we got to hang out in our own green room) and the host was very cool.

But, quicker than you can say, “Good morning, Baltimore!”, it was over. It was so weird. I mean, we had been exchanging phone calls with the show’s producers and prepping for the show for weeks. Hell, my brother even made a day-in-the-life video for us, which, sadly, will probably not be used on the show. But, hey, we had fun making it, and someday it will be an incredible time capsule of this crazy period in our lives. So, there’s always that. But after all this build-up, I guess I just thought the actual experience of being on the show would last longer. Alas, it did not.

Oh, and get this, while we were getting ready this morning, I was rushing to trim my beard and failed to check the length setting before applying the razor to my face. And guess what happened? Yep, I carved a giant hole in the left side of my beard. And it was big, the kind you can’t cover up with make-up or fancy lighting. So, the rest of my face would have to be trimmed to match the hole. The only problem was that my razor was out of charge and we were already running late.

So, I threw my razor in our bag and we hit the road with the upper half of my face shaved and the lower half not. I’m sure it was a lovely site. And perfect timing too. I mean, nothing like shaving off half your beard roughly two hours before you are set to appear on national TV. Who doesn’t love making radical changes to their looks right before a major event? Urgh…

And on top of all that, the clothes I brought to wear on the show (we each had to bring three or four outfits for them to check out) were vetoed and I ended up wearing a shirt they bought for me. Oh, that’s right, I forgot to mention the part where they called us last week and asked us for all of our clothing and shoe sizes. They asked us to describe our teeth too, which seemed odd, but hey, you do what you gotta do when Hollywood comes calling.

Anyway, the shirt was fine, it was kind of a retro bowling polo, you know, the kind Guy Fieri wears all the time. Which is cool and everything, but, it is definitely not how I normally dress, and when you couple that with the khakis I wore and my newly shorn beard, well, I felt like the freaking King of Queens or something. Nothing against Kevin James. Seriously, I love the dude. But, I have always thought he’d look way better with a beard. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me.

So, I was nervous, totally uncomfortable with how I looked and definitely with what I was wearing — Mrs. Yeti had it much worse, she actually had a top-to-bottom outfit change that left her looking like a bank teller, but, she still looked beautiful in my book —  and on top of all that, I was sweating like a pig. Anyone who knows me knows that I often sweat like a pig, but, when I’m nervous, whoa…it’s a hundred times worse.

Luckily the make-up crew was there to powder out my sheen at every turn and I ended up looking pretty decent by the time the cameras started rolling. But, after that, I don’t remember a thing. Literally! We came “back from the break”, the host chatted up some other SAHD’s on the stage and then said that there was another SAHD in the audience who she had a couple of questions for. That was me. I remember the host heading over, asking me to stand, shoving the microphone in my face and that was it. I kid you not, I went totally blank. I remember bits and pieces of things I said, and I remember Mrs. Yeti standing up and adding her two cents, but, the rest is a total blur. Crazy, huh?

And then it was over. We gave back our borrowed clothes, thanked the wonderful support staff behind the scenes — I’m not kidding, I have been on a lot of movie and TV sets and that team rocked! — grabbed a couple of waters from the basket on the table in our green room and left. Four hours never flew by so fast.

Luckily for us, my brother and sister-in-law were with us every step of the way. They sat with us in the green room before and in the audience during the entire taping, so, keep your eye out for a dude in a tan jacket and a sassy Asian chick in shiny shoes when the show airs! Anyway, they told me what I said and didn’t say during the taping, which helped. But, I guess I won’t really know how lame or cool (or both!) I looked until the show airs, which, like I said above, has not been determined.

Whew…so, that was our day. I’d love to tell you more about what we discussed and why we were chosen for the show in the first place, but, for now, all I can say is that our episode concerned families. I’ll fill you in on all the other juicy, behind-the-scenes details when I am at liberty to do so. Stay tuned for further updates…

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Filed under Daddy stuff, TV Stuff

VIDEO: Greta’s third birthday party!

Greta’s birthday party was almost a month ago and I still haven’t even downloaded the pictures from my camera yet. But, luckily, my multi-talented brother, Ryan — also known in these parts as Uncle Guy-Guy — is much more on top of things. Not only did he shoot some amazing video footage at Greta’s party, but, he also edited it, set it to music and uploaded it to the old internet machine to boot! Whew, thank God for family!

So, though it might be a while before you see any still photos of the magical little garden fairy bash we threw in honor of Greta’s third birthday, this video pretty much captures it all…beautifully! Many thanks to Uncle Guy Guy for taking the time to put this shiny little gem of a movie together for us. You did the fairies proud, hermano!

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Filed under Holidays