{image1} The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind experience. From Racing Sausage Day at City Hall, to appearances around Milwaukee and finally wrapping up with five days in Hollywood to re-shoot scenes for the Touchstone Picture release "Mr. 3000" starring friend of the Racing Sausages Bernie Mac. I, along with my buddy the Italian Sausage, made the trip out west. Here is the journal I kept during our adventures.
Tuesday, February 17
I didn't think that alarm clocks worked at 4:20 a.m. The clock may have worked, but I definitely took some time to get started. Accompanied by our own personal entourage that numbered five along with employees of Midwest Airlines and many Brewer fans, we made it through Mitchell International on our way to an 8:50am flight and our trip to California.
Only had one mission for the day upon touching down in the City of Angels - meet with Director Charles Stone and his staff for an inspection and briefing on our itinerary at the Disney studios. We passed with flying colors and we're on our way back to our hotel.
Having difficulties adjusting to the new time zone and suffering a little jet lag - that's right, even sausages can suffer jet lag - we turned in shortly after returning to the hotel to get refreshed for our first day on set.
Wednesday, February 18
Today is our first day on set. We are at Dodger Stadium by 6am to go through a quick walk through, some breakfast and then lights, camera and action. I am a part of three scenes today with the Italian setting along the sidelines waiting for his day in the limelight.
To set the scene, there is a bit of tension between the Hot Dog and Bernie Mac a.k.a. Stan Ross. To be honest, the Hot Dog does not like Stan. What we learn later is that Stan took a ball from this kid nine years ago and now the kid has grown up and doesn't really like Ross. In summary, my first day on set is spent insulting Bernie Mac and getting away with it.
That Bernie Mac is a pretty good guy. He comes off as a little bit surly in the film, but is a big teddy bear once the director screams cut. Not sure that I'll be invited back to his next film, but today has been a lot of fun.
Little disappointed that I did not get my own trailer. For that matter, I didn't even get to share one with the Italian or any of the other actors. Hopefully, that will be in my next film.
Thursday, February 19
We have the day off today, but are perhaps busier than we were on Wednesday. We start off our day with a little sightseeing at Universal Studios. Don't have a whole lot of time to spare. We are supposed to be catching a ride over to the FOX lot at 9:45am to tape, "The Best Damn Sports Show, Period" at 10:30am.
The Italian and I had a blast with this one. We got to race one of the hosts, Chris Ross, star in a special "Way Beyond the Glory" feature and did several other fun skits in addition to closing out the show. In their own words, they treated us like the Beatles.
We left the show around 4:45 with enough daylight to check out the Pacific Ocean. Stretched out our casings with a couple of wind sprints down the coast before cruising up Sunset Boulevard on our way back to the hotel.
Friday, February 20
Back for our second day of shooting. We spent the majority of the day underground. Couple of scenes in the tunnel around the Brewers clubhouse. Chris Noth joined Bernie Mac today.
The Italian was on set today, but I have to be honest that I think I stole the camera. It was the Hot Dog's exchange with Stan Ross. Let's just say, that I nailed it.
Saturday, February 21
Back on the Disney lot today, but first we got a chance to do a little sightseeing around Hollywood. Visited Mann's Chinese Theatre, the infamous Hollywood sign, the Beverly Hills Hotel and Rodeo Drive, baby! Lots of fun.
We wrapped up our day of shooting at Disney. We were scheduled to be a part of the promo shoots for the film, but being a little behind schedule resulted in us getting bumped. That's life.
Sunday, February 22
Heading back to Milwaukee. Thank you, Hollywood! Check us out on the silver screen in September 2004.
