My Weight LOST Plan

OK, so a little while back I got this idea from Jon (I don't know if he ever decided to use it or not). Losing weight is something that I've needed to do for a long time. It's been a struggle my entire adult life. I know what you're thinking. This isn't a diet and weight loss blog. No, it's not. But here is why I am posting this.

I have set a goal to lose a certain amount of weight by June 2012. The total? 108 pounds. I have set goals to accomplish this through certain weight intervals. You probably guessed it already. I will be losing the weight in stages of 4, 8. 15, 16, 23, and 42 pounds, respectively. I think this will make it fun and then I can blog on here about each "number" I reach. My first goal is four and I have set that for the month of March. I will report back on April 1st to let you know how I did.

Another reason I wanted to turn my weight loss into a LOST theme is that I am hoping to find support in one of the greatest communities out there, the LOSTie Nation. Thanks for tolerating this bum.

Live together, die alone.

LOST Tales of an Extra: The Magic Show

So, I was an extra on LOST in Season 5 too.

THANK YER LUCKY STARS!

I promised my pals that I'd keep this down to one post (lazy bastards!). That won't be hard to do this time around because:

1. I was without Sherry.


2. I was finished by 11 a.m.


3. I brought a small paper bag full of Halloween candy (the good stuff).


4. Matthew Fox was about 4 feet away from me the entire time he was shooting.

First off, I have to tell you that I was a last minute hire. I was called at Friday, 5:30 p.m. to come in Monday morning at 5:30 a.m. to be the receptionist at the old folks home where Jack meets up with his Granddad ["316"]. I'm pretty sure the only reason they called me is because I listed "Available days with 24 hour notice and nights with 1 hour notice" at the bottom of my mini resume in VERY BIG, BOLD LETTERS, [so I'll be sure to put that at the TOP of my resume for Season 6].

As before, my caller congratulated me for "making it" and let me know that this shoot was super special because I'd be one of 4 extras on set under the age of 65. She told me to "dress appropriately" and call the magic number. She offhandedly mentioned Matthew Fox would be there but was more concerned that I remember to bring pantyhose. I told her, no problemo on the pantyhose, chica! I'm down!

LOST Tales of an Extra: The Jacket or Why Victoria Hamel is a Goddess

A WORD ON NAMES

I have a confession to make. Except for Sherry, Dawn, Shawn, Tiffany and the actors on set, I've made up all the rest of the names on my posts. I should say it's to protect people's privacy, but the truth is I simply can't remember them. Instead of keeping them anonymous, I've chosen names I think represent them accurately or ones that MIGHT be their names.



However, I can't for the life of me remember the name of the guy who took this picture of me in The Jacket! I can't even think of a good substitute name! So from now on, this very kind person will be referred to as The Photographer.

BEHOLD THE JACKET

Does this jacket scream Beverly Hills Doctor's Wife to you? No?

That's what I said! Actually, I said "EWWWW!" when the 300 pound woman at wardrobe pulled it out. I quickly retracted [because she glared at me, and she was flipping scary] and blamed my outburst on lack of sleep and the early hour. I got the impression that not too many people crossed her on a regular basis and lived to tell about it. I apologized, thanked her profusely and skittered off to the hair line.

While I waited (and scratched Lulu's ears), I wondered why on Earth anyone choosing wardrobe for the day would choose to throw The Jacket into the truck. How did that decision past muster on any standard scale?

And why me? Before I donned The Jacket, I looked kinda like a Beverly Hills Doctor's Wife, or at least a Beverly Hills Doctor's Not So Cheap Girlfriend On The Side. In fact, I thought I looked well enough to pass for Beverly Hills Doctor's Adult Daughter Who Still Uses Daddy's Money To Go Shopping.

However, wardrobe took one look at me and pulled out the one garment (out of hundreds) that made me look 1) older, 2) fatter, 3) shorter, 4) dumpier and 5) like a homeless librarian.

All I had to go on to explain this phenomenon were the words of the beautiful (obviously unavailable) man from wardrobe who helped me put it on. He assured me The Jacket was "texture." From his tone I gathered this type of thing was an unfortunate but necessary aspect of filming. He suggested that'd I'd be grateful for The Jacket in the end because, I'd be "easy to spot" when the show aired.

Easy to spot, I thought, Sure. As in: "Awww, look -- she must have been Jack's deranged piano teacher!"

Tales of an Extra: Don't Be The Pogue, Part 2

DON'T MISS YOUR SHOT

I don't really have a Career career. Instead, through the years I've had 100 (or so) hobbies [I like to call them "projects"]. Sometimes I use a hobby to make a little money, and sometimes the hobby uses me. Rarely, a hobby takes over my life and requires a Hobby Intervention, with Hobby Rehab and/or a Hobby Exorcism as appropriate to set me free.

Free to pursue the NEXT hobby, that is.

One hobby that's stuck with me since childhood is photography. I'm not talking snapshots of emotional reactions to various life events, either. Almost as soon as I could point and click, I've been waving for people to scoot, duck, turn or leave the frame. I became a lifer after receiving my first camera for Christmas [one of those disk cameras -- remember them?], and from that moment on I was willing to stand in traffic or climb the nearest tree (or car or buddy) -- anything to get The Shot.

And I'm not too bad at it. In fact, photography has saved my ass every Christmas for the past two years because despite the fact that O'ahu is Hawai'i's haven for litterbugs, it's still pretty easy to snap a beautiful picture of something natural, rub out the tourists with Photoshop, sign it, frame it and send it to your mom [and it's WAY cheaper than that new coffee maker she wanted].

Yep. Everybody loves a pretty picture of "paradise." However, during the time frame of Christian's funeral, I was getting bored with landscapes and was digging into what I call "Algae Abstracts." Basically, I take extreme closeups of interesting things because I like how the final image morphs into an abstract composition. They aren't crowd pleasers per se, but the ones I take can only be taken in Hawai'i, and I won't live here forever. Therefore, I take my camera everywhere just in case because there's nothing more aggravating to folks like me than seeing The Shot and not having a camera handy.

I'm sure you already see where this is going.

LOST Tales of an Extra: Of Golden Moments

Welcome to Celebrity 101

I've been asked to briefly clarify a few celebrity-related terms I've thrown around. After much consideration, I figured that the quickest (I'm sure you're thanking God) and easiest way to explain them is to give textbook examples of each one.

1. The Golden Moment

Briefly defined, a golden moment is a chance encounter with a celebrity that is "cool." It's usually positive, makes a good story and often results in a memento of some kind.

Example:

Remember that church youth group ski trip? One of the ladies chaperoning us was a brilliant musician -- classically trained pianist, perfect pitch, 4-octave singing voice -- the works. Her musical talent was developed early in life, and her parents (having big dreams for her future away from nowhere'sville, Mississippi) set her up with a voice coach who matched her with 2 other girls to form a singing group. Once the group had a little practice (in church, of course), the coach decided her girls were ready to hit the road and win some contests.

One such contest was at the Mississippi State Fair, which trolled around the state every fall. After singing (and losing to some guy with an accordion), the four of them walked around the game booths -- Ring Toss the Duck, Pop the Balloons with Darts, Baseball in the Basket -- that sort of thing. As they passed by the Knock the Pyramid of Little Bowling Pins Over Booth, a guy drew his arm back to throw and accidentally smacked our girl in the face! He turned around and apologized profusely. He made sure she was okay and threw balls at pins until he won the biggest prize, a huge stuffed animal, which he then gave to her with MORE apologies.

That guy was Elvis [effing] Presley.

Unfortunately, this was before Elvis was really HUGE and our girl led too sheltered a life to recognize him. She didn't even keep the stuffed animal [ACK!!], and proceeded to go on with her life not realizing that she'd had the Granddaddy of ALL Golden Moments until she was older. She graduated from high school then quickly married a man who, eventually, preached that Rock 'N' Roll was "devil's music" because it incited youth to lose control, disobey their parents and have lots of sex. (Ironic, right?)

2. The Reverse Golden Moment

This is a little trickier to explain. The reverse golden moment is an encounter with a celebrity where you recognize them, they realize that you recognize them, and then you let them go (outta the goodness of your heart).

Example:

When I was in college (oh so many years ago), R.E.M. was BIG. I mean, mainstream, all-over-MTV big. They were on tour and (for some strange reason) did a gig in our crummy little town.

Later that weekend, my pal Christine was at a very crowded bar, inching her way past the barstools to the bathroom. She said it was shoulder-to-shoulder, one of those "this place is TOO flipping CROWDED!" nights. Anyway, she hit a slow spot and stood waiting for the mob to shift, so she could get by. She was belly to belly with a (shorter than her) guy. She prepared to say something funny and appropriate for the moment because she's "from the South, and that's just good manners."

When she looked down, she found herself locked eye-to-eye with Micheal Stipe [lead singer of R.E.M.], who saw that she recognized him. After a momentary rush of excitement, Christine noticed that he looked ABSOLUTELY terrified, worse than deer-in-headlights, scared to DEATH. She quickly put together that his being recognized in that bar with all those people would spark a near riot.

So she did the "only humane thing." She looked away and moved off like nothing ever happened.

How much you wanna bet he told that story to "the guys" on the tour bus?

(Me too!)

If you have a Golden Moment or even a Reverse Golden Moment, feel free to share in the comments section. They are more common than you think!

I'm sorry, but is there a celebrity out there sexier than Elvis in his prime?

I don't think so.

(Sorry Matt.)

LOST Tales of an Extra: Don't Be The Pogue, Part 1

"THE SHERRY"

My pal Sherry despises Matthew Fox.

It's not HATE hate, where she might "accidentally" run over him with her car if given the opportunity. It's more like she finds him profoundly offensive. You see, Sherry believes in a bottom line of human behavior. Anything below this line is Rude, and anyone who knows better but still hangs out below that line is a Jackass. Since most people you meet instinctively try not to be a Jackass, pretty much anyone at any given time can meet you halfway even if it's no more than a "Hey" when you catch their eye as you pass by them on the street. This is the key to Sherry's super powers: she gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and a minimum level of respect before she ever says a word.

[Well, that and the fact that she's totally hot.]

She and I have discussed this at length, and although we do agree that "Feigning Ignorance and Interest" is the best way to get a man talking, we disagree on the level of skill it takes to schmooze like she can. She says that all you have to do is ask, and I say, no, all you have to do is ask the right person the right way at the right time. There's a big difference. What she does is put the whammy on people with her fantastic PR skills. It's so amazing to watch in person, I started calling it "The Sherry."

For instance, during our day shooting Christian's funeral, Sherry chatted up the crew, who are mostly male and mostly home-grown [born and raised in Hawai'i], about what it's like to work on LOST full-time. They liked her so much, they gave her a crew T-shirt [unavailable to the public, mind you] AND a copy of the call sheet for the NEXT DAY [a REALLY BIG Deal]. She got a crew member to snap a polaroid of me and Shawn on set, which was the only picture of any extra on set that day because our cameras were not allowed.  [In fact, if anyone was seen with a camera or shooting pictures with their cell phones they were immediately tossed out on their ass.]

And she did all this without actually asking for anything because that's not why Sherry does what she does. She just likes meeting new people. Period. And they like meeting her because she's friendly, interesting, intelligent and fun, [And totally hot. Let's not forget.] and they give her stuff just to make her smile [because she has a really great smile].

What makes it even worse is that she's a genuinely nice human being. More than once, she's gone out of her way to help me out of a jam, and she's the first one to defend the cashier at the grocery store if the customer in front of her is acting like a total jerk. For minimum-wage-earning retail alumni (like me), Sherry is a dream come true in a sea of jerkies!

So it really cracks me up that she can't stand Matthew Fox.

LOST Tales of an Extra: How To Make Friends in 10 Hours or Less

Let it never be said that acting isn’t working.

You're laughing. Okay, if I had to sit around for 8 - 10 hours at a time [and get paid an OBSCENE amount of money to do it], I’d probably laugh at that statement, too. However, I wasn’t pretending to be someone else 36 seconds at at time for the better part of 18 hours, and no one gives a crap if I look bloated after lunch. Consider all the high stakes and "celebrity" factors involved in the job [when was the last time your bad day at work or good day at the gym was national news?], and you’ll see that being an actor is actually hard work.

But not for the extra! Never mind that I made exactly $156 for 17 hours of my time, or that it didn’t cover the dress I bought that no one even saw. Ignore the verbally abusive PA from hell incident. Overlook the sunburn, waiting and, of course, The Jacket, and you'll see,

Being an extra is JUST PLAIN FUN.

The very best part of the entire experience for me was chatting with so many cool people all day long. Christine said I hit it on a good day, which was lucky since it was such a long one. If there are only 4 or 5 extras, you might be stuck with someone who’s no fun to talk to, like The SAG Guy ["Everybody hates The SAG Guy"], but if there are a ton of extras, over 100 to be exact, you can always move around, and you’re sure to find someone interesting.

While Sherry and Dawn were stuck outside for more shots -- since they were standing behind Sayid, Kate, Hurley and Nadia chatting on the church steps before -- [All for naught, I’m afraid. That entire scene didn’t make the finale at all!], I had a chance to sit inside and chit chat.

LOST Tales of an Extra: It's All Fun and Games Until the Pissy P.A. Yells at You

Originally Posted: 5/8/2008

THE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

You may not be surprised to learn that the Hollywood professional filmmaking sphere has a social caste system that rivals any in the ancient world. In fact, you might even think that the “major stars” are the VIPs, bursting with clout, whims and dictatorial power over those all around the set. However, from what I observed, the “star” treatment simply meant that certain actors got to sit in the shade or leave the set during “down” periods. And those other guys: directors, assistant directors, producers, executive producers -- all meaningless.

The backbone of the entire hierarchy is actually the production assistant [PA].

LOST Tales of an Extra: 4:45 a.m.

So I was an extra on LOST.*

SHERRY [SHERRY BABY]

Remember Tina's and my adventures at the LOST symphony? Tina's friend Sherry quit her job in D.C. and moved to Hawai’i to start a new life.  Sherry and I bonded during one of her scouting trips when I took visiting LOST sets around O'ahu, and we quickly became good pals when she arrived in December.

What makes Sherry so awesome is her ability to strike up a conversation with anyone on the street. She's so good at it, either they end up being friends for life OR she ends up walking away with something really cool - a t-shirt, a party invite, you name it. She's also always looking for something new to try (because that's how you meet new people), so when I saw the ad in Craig’s list calling for extras to work on LOST, she was the first person I forwarded it to.

The application was simple: send in two snapshots (close-up and full length) and fill out a form jammed with check boxes (race being top of the list) and fill-in-the-blanks (weight, height, skills). But my life is Not Simple, and although I swore to Sherry I'd apply and I was DYING to be on set, I couldn't work the logistics of simultaneously looking nice AND having someone to take my picture.

I know. Pathetic.

And I continued to be pathetic when, a few weeks later, Sherry rang to let me know she had gotten “the call.” They were filming a “big scene” and needed about 100 extras. She said I shouldn't be too hard on myself. There were still two seasons to go, and they'll always need new extras. Besides, it'd be an 12 + hour work day, and probably wouldn't be fun at all. She felt so bad about me missing it, she actually offered to slap me senseless (but only if it would make me feel better).

THEN she said:

“Well, the girl said they were short and did I know anyone else who might be interested -- do you think that might be something you’d like to do, Amy? You know, just to help them out?”

[I love Sherry when she's evil!]

LOST in Life: The LOST Symphony of Honolulu

Well lovely LOST readers, it's come to this. My lack of LOST and my BITTERNESS after the Emmy awards have given me the LOST blues.

Lately, I've been thinking back on all my LOST adventures -- an escape if you will -- to spruce up my LOST love and, hopefully, put me in the right state of mind for Season 2 of LOST Rewatch (starting November 29th).

For those of you who don't know, I moved to Hawai'i with my family in July of 2007.  I was already a HUGE LOST fan and was way excited to share an island with the show [being closer to Matthew Fox didn't make me cry none neither]. Since then, I've been lucky enough to do some very cool stuff both on and off the set.

So here it is: Part 1 of my memories of being LOST in Life on location.

THE LOST SYMPHONY OF HONOLULU


Originally posted December 2, 2007

After such a LOOOOONG time since the season finale of last MAY, there is not much LOST to be had, so as soon as I saw the advertisement for “The Lost Symphony,” I immediately called and got 2 tickets. The performance was a one-time event where the Honolulu Symphony would perform Michael Giacchino's amazing soundtrack for the show.  I was not going to miss any opportunity to hear it live, AND I'd get my LOST fix [I was really hurtin' by December].