I went to our film and video association Christmas party last Saturday night and ran into a lot of people. Since there has been almost no work this year for anyone, "What are you doing" seemed to be the common greeting. I ran into the man who had interviewed me for "LOST" and he has posted it on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-h_t_Or-o (or just put Rick Romer in the search window) I laughed when I saw it again because I couldn't believe some of the things I said. It took the producer 6 months to get permission from "LOST" and he had to submit the questions ahead of time. At least I didn't have to submit my answers ahead of time. Oh well, my 12.5 minutes of fame will live on in cyberspace. I got a lot of strange looks from people at the party while having a glass of wine with the co-executive producer on "LOST," Jean Higgins. It's been 3 years since they dumped me and living on a 40 x 60 mile island does make carrying grudges difficult. The reality is that she is still the most knowledgeable film person I've ever met and I will probably get more Christmas cards that she does. Ultimately, I doubt I will ever know the reason behind my dismissal.
Yahoo!'s flickr gives me daily accounts of each picture viewed and a 28 day viewing graph for the totals. There were over 12,000 views the first month and I average about 400 a day! The views seem to be more seasonal than career related, however. My thanksgiving table has now been surpassed by Macy's Christmas trees as the most popular views of my 30 year career! I recently helped a woman by putting in the lights for all of the Hilton Hawaiian Village trees and managed to cram 4,300 lights in their main tree alone. Against my advice, the hotel workers plugged it into the overhead chandelier which promptly blew out. The chandelier is so big that a worker climbed inside it to drop the cable down to the tree from a new circuit they ran. Unfortunately he used 14 gauge Romex wire instead of 12 and the load kept tripping the plugging strip because it was carrying too high a load. It was nice not to have to be in charge on that job and just put in the lights. Now I'm doing my own Christmas stuff--which I swear I just put away.
The Hawaii Film Office didn't quite shut down. They did fire the director and all of the staff except for one--not unlike chopping off all your fingers except for one. The former Maui film commissioner (each island/county also has a commissioner) is the head of the division that is above the State Film Office so she has been asked to fill in. I tried calling her yesterday and her cell phone message bank was full and she hasn't answered my email all week so I think she may really be swamped. Not a surprise. (UPDATE: She did call, did come over for my Christmas party, and yes, she IS swamped--but they are handling all film permit requests!)
Lately I've heard more rumors of the "5-0" film than the "Magnum" one. I wouldn't put any money on either one right now. George Clooney is going to do a feature here starting next month. The decorator will, of course, being in his/her entire crew and even the job of shopper/buyer will be going to someone else here locally. The politics involved in giving out the local job calls take precedent over actual experience, ability, or the full page ad I have in the Media Index Guide. Their loss--my unemployment extension (again) kicks in next week.
Maybe a little unrealistic of me, but I invited President Obama to visit his boyhood mentor's home (just happens to be the one I live in) when he spends Christmas here later this month. I doubt that it will happen since the mentor is a pretty controversial figure. I know he lived in my house because of the address in his FBI files! Still, if he and Michelle want to pop over one night with 10-12 secret service guys, I could whip up some egg nog or something.
Well, nothing really "Magnum" related to report--in fact, nothing even Set Decorator related to report either! Maybe I should just change the title of this blog so I can ramble more about my exciting life??!!
In case nothing more exciting does happen in the next 2 weeks to report, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! On the other hand, if I have a picture of me and the President standing in front of my fireplace to post, I will!
Mele Kalikimaka and Hauole Makahiki Hou,
Rick Romer
