The cabinets are installed. All the upper cabinets are actually in place, the base cabinets still have to be leveled. Once we're measured for a countertop we can put in the 400 pound cast iron sink. A few more touch-up spots of paint and we're almost a go.
Next step - Putting the microwave in this space.
Then we get measured for a countertop (white formica), I pay way too much for glass tile for a backsplash and I try and install that myself (gulp), hinge on a few doors then we're done!
There is light at the end of this very long tunnel.
Believe it or not, we've made progress. Isn't it lovely? I may even be able to move the refrigerator out of the dining room tonight.
As you can see some spots aren't painted which is approximately where the wall cabinets will hang.
Tomorow I shall see my beloved, my kitten, and my kitchen. It's been TOO many days out in the desert and I cannot wait to come home. We got GREAT work down while I was out here and there is MUCH work to be done still
Matthew should take care of that.
Today I met Steve Forte and Charlie Shoten. Both lovely gentlemen and both nice enough to give me copies of their books. I shall read them both with great haste.
And I saw The Amazing Johnathan tonight at The Sahara (thank you Fernando). Hysterical show. I was crying.
Put the turkey in the oven and turn down the lights, honey. I'm coming home.
Today we did our first installment of TOURNAMENT TRIO! My buddy Dave lasted longest. Tony Hartman from Minneapolis busted out first. Then we had a great time battling with jackhammer noise filming Matt Savage, Chip Jett and his lovely wife Karina Jett. These segments, if the sound is any good, should be awesome. Chip and Karina were lots of fun.
Tomorrow is another TOURNAMENT TRIO and then Evelyn Ng. And then on Saturday we're going to interview the very colorful Howard Schwartz who owns the fabled Gambler's Book Club. I remember doing mail order to that shop before I was old enough to gamble. It has been there forever. I'll be bringing back some books for sure.
We're all holding up pretty good. Matthew and crew are doing amazing stuff. We're really going to make what I think will be a kick-ass show. I'm pleased.
Oh! And I went to a poker party at Stevie B's house - LOTS of drunks but, like the party animal I am, I got to do my laundry. FINALLY!! CLEAN SHORTS!!!
And I won $20.00 playing Chinese Poker. I r00l.
and... I give you... the floor
See, I passed out when I saw it cause I couldn't believe it was true.
Missed a few days there. Elizabeth came in on Sunday night and spent a much-needed day off with me yesterday. We saw the Charlie & the Chocolate Factory picture. I hated it. Thanks for coming to visit, E, it was wonderful and way too brief!
Today we did interviews with Russ Hamilton, Tom McEvoy, & Barry Greenstein. Barry was my favorite interview for sure. Not only does he give all his tournament winnings to charity, he gives out books to aspiring TV producers.
Tomorrow should be fun - We're shooting the Tournament Trio in the morning and Matt Savage, and Chip & Karina Jett in the afternoon. Then I have to go over to Matthew's house to launder my undies.
I got pix from today, but I left the camera in the equipment room. Maybe tomorrow.
Last night's B.A.R.G.E. banquet was followed, as is tradition, by a speaker. This year there was a great deal of robust email and newsgroup (rec.gambling.poker) discussion about this year's chosen speaker, Wil Wheaton. He's not really a recognizable poker player and he's not an avid poster on r.g.p. I read countless emails on the B.A.R.G.E. email list about what a rotten choice he was.
He was awesome.
We have his whole address to the banquet on tape and there is no way we could incorporate the whole thing into the show, but he was quite funny. We were also lucky enough to get an interview with him afterwards.
Then it was back to the poker room to get a few more people on film. Last night we got:
Michael Zimmers - The first organizer of the B.A.R.G.E. event.
Peter Secor - One of the current organizers.
Lee Jones - Noted author of 'Winning Low Limit Hold 'Em'
Lou Kreiger - Noted author of 'Hold 'Em Excellence' (and 8 other books).
Now we're back in civilization at Sunset Station. I can't stand downtown Las Vegas.
Another long one. We set up this afternoon for more B.A.R.G.E. stuff and got about 3 seconds of useful footage and had to wait around for it to get dark to shoot Greg Raymer in the fancy steakhouse overlooking Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.
A $40.00 toke to Dan the restaurant manager seemed to smooth things over well enough to give us the best table in the house for shooting and the booth behind it for our equipment. Matthew and his crew got everything ready in record time and Greg showed up right on time at 9:00 PM.
And I didn't want him to have to eat alone, so Matthew, Lee and I joined him. MUCH better food than I would have expected at The Plaza. The potato flats were delicous as was the steak. It was great fun.
Tomorrow is Wil Wheaton. I hope he's not being shot at a restaurant or we'll REALLY be over budget. Annie - you can unfurrow that brow - It was an expensive night, but we got the BEST footage of Raymer that I have ever seen - BAR NONE.
We have an exclusive on his 'real' nickname. And I'm not telling until the show goes live.
Hopefully Matthew and I will have time to put some of the footage up in the next few days. Great day.
Living at the fabulous PLAZA hotel for the next three days and I have no internet access. I hear tell that I can get access at the Krispy Kreme down the street at Fitzgeralds. I'll find out about that tomorrow.
Today was the first day of the B.A.R.G.E. tournament and we got a great deal of b-roll and some good interviews with attendants before the Nevada Gaming Comission shut us down (don't worry, Annie - All is well). Too long a story to type right now, but our lemons have turned into lemonade as we'll be shooting Greg Raymer tomorrow night in the fancy schmancy restaurant that overlooks all of Fremont Street.
Crew has been great - Everything has been pretty smooth, actually.
This Mr. Producer stuff is hard work. It has, however, shown me that if properly motivated I can in fact be organized.
Today Matthew and I met with the poker room manager, the marketing manager, the food and beverage manager, and a restaurant manager and walked the property looking for good locations to shoot. Everyone was overly helpful and they're willing to go out of their way to see that we get whatever location we want. They even offered us about 1/4 of their 'gormet steakhouse' during opening hours to get the shot we want.
The location we picked for the player panel is beautiful - I hope it works with the 900 cameras that Matthew wants to bring in.
Everyone at Sunset Station is excited about the project and that makes me happy - It should be a great place to shoot.
Lee came in tonight from Minneapolis - We're all heading to The Plaza Hotel to meet with the head of marketing and one of the organizers of B.A.R.G.E.
At 3:00 PM we'll have our first pre-production meeting with the entire crew. Should be an easy day tomorrow.
Now - I get my 6 hours of sleep.
I must say the first day of shooting in Las Vegas went fabulously. We got set up and were ready to go - Daniel was amazingly helpful and awesome on camera. As a special treat for eatminneapolis.com readers, click on Daniel for a special sneak preview. Exclusive footage, folks. We also have him doing a HYSTERICAL impression of Phil Helmuth but you're going to have to wait for broadcast for that one.
Tomorrow is just meet & greet, handshakes and location scouting. It's been about 24 hours and I think I'm going to get some much needed sleep.
And a special goodbye to Carolina Schoonover who finally gave up her long and difficult struggle with illness on Saturday night.