Filming Glee

Sometimes my roommate is crazy.  And sometimes she takes me with her down her rabbit hole of crazy.  But at least usually the rabbit hole tends to lead somewhere awesome.

Last night Kari's sister had heard a rumor via the internet that Glee was going to be filming in Grand Central today.  We knew they had been in the area, in fact they were definitely right near my work a couple days ago but I missed it.  Originally the plan for the day was for us to get up early and wait in line for rush tickets for a show but instead Kari really really wanted to go see if we could find the filming and I agreed.

So instead of leaving the apartment at 7am like crazy people to go stand in line, we left the apartment at 6am like crazy people to follow an internet rumor.....like crazy people.

We started and didn't see anything, but we did walk past the trailers and saw a bunch of signs.  Eventually we followed the signs pointing to the set and saw them setting up and going in and out of a subway station.

They were calling it "Downtown"
probably so they could be subtle

This is apparently where they were holding people

To the set!

The set from across the street

Unfortunately, at this point we thought thats all we were going to see.  We couldn't figure out how to get into the subway where they might be filming, as it all seemed blocked off.  The internet was also less than helpful.

We were going to do some shopping anyway, so decided to wait around until the shops opened at 10. While we were waiting, however, we kept checking twitter and other various social networking sources and eventually people kept posting things like "I saw the Glee cast on the subway!" or "I saw the Glee cast in Grand Central".  We knew they must be somewhere!  So we wandered alll over Grand Central, eventually heading down into the subway and made our way all the way back to the shuttle to Times Square.  And sure enough, there they were!

It was so neat to be able to watch them rehearse.  Lea Michelle (Rachel) and Kevin McHale (Artie) were there.  It was also just fascinating to be able to see the filming process and watch the crew move around and watch people direct the extras.  We waited around and watched for a little while but eventually more and more people found it and it got to be so busy with annoying fans that we left.  But it was such a fun experience!!  The production assistants were pretty nice and let us take pictures as long as there was no flash, so here are some fun ones!

One thing I thought was funny is that they put up fake signs that said 14 Street - Union Square, even though there were still other signs that still said Grand Central.  Oh the magic of television.

Proof I was there!

It's the wand that chooses the wizard, Allison

This has been a fairly low key weekend and will continue to be so because my plans for today revolve mostly around finally cleaning my room.

However, yesterday I finally set up my wand remote control that I got for Christmas.  I kind of kept forgetting about it and then not having the time to read through the directions and set the whole thing up.  I still haven't programmed a command for every gesture it can do, but that will come in time.  So far the wand can turn the TV on and off, mute it, and flick the channels up and down.  My next plan is to teach it to control the volume.

The opening paragraph in the directions on how to work the wand are also written in such a way that I was very amused.  Harry Potter fans are amazing (I can only assume that's why this object exists in the first place).  Here's what it says:

This product is not a toy; it is an instrument of control. In order to use it properly and become an expert wizard or witch, you will have to practise using it. Once you are the wand's master, you will need to teach it to control things in your home. Only then will you be ready to perform your magic.

To be completely honest, all of the reviews of this object are completely accurate in that it's very difficult to control and do the right movements.  But it is oh so satisfying when it works that it just about makes up for it.

I made a little video for you to enjoy to highlight what it can do since I was so excited about it!

Everything is Awesome!

Over the weekend I saw the Lego movie with Seth and it was actually really cute.  It had gotten good reviews both critically and by word of mouth so I had high hopes for it, and it was great!  I really liked how the animation was done in that it's clearly very smoothly animated, but it's also purposely clunky because in theory everything is made of legos.  I thought the humor was very smart and while it is a kids movie it did a good job at putting in adult humor without making it too blue.

The best part is that there is a song that keeps repeating throughout the movie called "Everything is Awesome" and let's face it, that tends to be my mantra in life.  It will now be stuck in my head forever.

Here's a fun clip from the movie where you hear the song:



And these are just fun "bloopers" they released online from the movie that doesn't give anything away.



Just for fun, this is my other new favorite happy song.  I just learned (thanks to the Oscars) that it was in the movie Despicable Me 2.