Posts Tagged ‘CAS’

Actual Trauma on the Set of NBC’s Trauma – Star Aimee Garcia Busts Her Finger

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Lovely “Helicopter Hero” Aimee Garcia had a mishap a few days back in San Francisco while filming a scene for new (and improved?) Trauma.

As she recently related to NBC’s Natalie Morales:

“I was doing a scene where my ex-military boyfriend gets in a fight, and it was scripted that I just stand there … I just got involved. I pulled one actor off of another and they loved it. They said, ‘Keep doing it.’ We did it 12 times and I didn’t realize on the first take I broke my finger.”

Here’s the video from the Today Show.

A finger mishap always makes for good TV of course, especially when you don’t lie about it.  

Let’s hope Aimee can get her left hand back on that giant twirlypopper’s collective control sooner rather than later.

Courage.

NBC’s Trauma is Back on TV But With the Worst Ratings Ever

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Take a look for yourself to see dude just drive off the Bay Bridge due to a moment’s inattention in last night’s episode of NBC’s Trauma serial. (Do you think you’d survive after falling so far inside a Jeep Cherokee Classic? I don’t think it’d be possible, but maybe the breast implants inside the car softened the jolt or something.)

Yesterday’s relaunch, debuting the first new ep since November 2009, earned ratings of 1.4/3, which are 22% lower than last year’s average for the show.

Shooting in North Beach as it looked last year near the top of Kearny Street, the most-filmed block on any street in Northern California:

Anyway the bad ratings add up to trouble, according to The Wrap:

“The problem started at 9 p.m., with the previously sorta-canceled “Trauma” (1.4/3) returning from the grave as a Nielsen zombie. It hit its lowest rating yet, falling 22 percent from its fall average and 13 percent from its last original. It wouldn’t be shocking if NBC decided to quickly replace “Trauma” in the timeslot. That’s because “Trauma” tainted “L&O,” which managed a third-place 1.5/4 at 10 p.m. — down 25 percent from last week, when NBC aired a double dose of the drama from 9-11 p.m. Worse, “L&O” was actually off 6 percent from what “The Jay Leno Show” had been averaging at 10 p.m. Mondays.

“NBC — which actually did quite well last week, given the fact that it had to fill 5 hours of primetime post-Jay– does not want to see any negative Leno-to-scripted comparisons at 10 p.m. Period.”

Not saying I would or could do a better job, but maybe the whole concept of shooting this kind of old-school TV show on location on the Streets of San Francisco was a bad idea? Is that possible?

On It Goes. How much longer will this Great San Francisco Nielsen Zombie last?

Our California Academy of Sciences Says Recession, What Recession

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Not literally or anything, but it appeared to be packed this past weekend. And I asked them, I says, “Is this a free day or something?” And they’re all like, no, it’s just a regular old three-day weekend, just business as usual.

Now, I’ve heard all the complaints. Let’s deal with them, below.

Become a member or get your tickets online ahead of time, and then you avoid this line around the building.

Click to expand.

“The CalAcademy is too small.”

All right, I’ll tell you I was never in there at the old building – I understand it had cool stuff that you miss. But some people, especially the NIMBY neighbors in the nearby Inner Sunset area, think the new building is too big, too popular. The Academy couldn’t continue with the old building due to earthquake concerns – what was considered a safe enough building before in the last century is no longer considered safe enough now. Sorry. Damn you, San Andreas Fault, damn you.

 “The CalAcademy is too crowded.”

So they must be doing something right, right? What you’re saying, in a way, is that the CalAcademy is too cheap.

 “The CalAcademy is too crowded with kids.”

Yep, especially when those school buses roll up. Oh well. The Academy has a mission of public education, does it not? That’s for the benefit of California’s kids. Does that directly benefit you today right now? Maybe not. Sorry.

 “The CalAcademy is too expensive.”

Well, this ties in with the first complaint. How can it too expensive if it’s packed all the time? You know how much the Monterey Bay Aquarium is these days? $30. If you live in San Francisco, you’re entitled to something close to 20 days of free admission per year plus a free NightLife entry on your birfday (assuming the stars align and they’re having a NightLife around the time of your birthday.)

“Them free days, they’re even more crowded.”

Well, yeah. Get there early, why don’t you? (Or get there late in the day, when there’s less of a line (tho your chances of getting into the Planetarium and/or rainforest dome will be lower). The Bernard Osher Foundation Third Wednesday of the Month Free program is open to all, so of course it gets crowded those days. But the zip-code based free days are less crowded, so San Franciscans, including you born-and-raised-San Franciscans, you old goats, get six of those not-so-crowded days a year.

“The food’s too expensive.”

Check out the nearby Inner Sunset area for food if you want. It’s walkable. Get yourselves a perfectly cromulent  fat burrito at Gordo’s at 1239 9th Avenue near Lincoln. Get it to-go and have an outdoor picnic.

“The rainforest was closed when I was there.”

Yep, sometimes. Life’s like that. They don’t keep this kind of info a big secret, however.

“There’s no place to park.”

Maybe - that’s by design, in a way. Actually, you’re lucky to have that itty bitty sometimes overloaded underground parking garage whether you use it or not, so count your blessings. Whatever you do, don’t drive into Golden Gate Park, big mistake on busier days. Think Fulton, think Lincoln, think about spending ten minutes walking through the park to get the CalAcademy. That’s not a bug, that’s a feature. And on Sundays, all parking is free in the surrounding Inner Sunset and Inner Richmond areas – it’s totally wide open. Might not be as easy to park as you’re used to, but you can deal. And there’s plenty of bike parking since they added in a bunch of new spaces.

Here’s the thing – you gotta work the system, baby. Plan ahead, try to figure out when the place has fewer patrons, check the schedule,  make a beeline to the Planetarium to get your free show passes as soon as you get in, monitor the rainforest line to see when it’s shorter.

So, if you’re unhappy customer, you gotta think:

1. Maybe your expectations were too high because you didn’t plan ahead (which isn’t the CalAcademy’s fault), or;

2. Maybe the CalAcademy wasn’t for you (which isn’t the CalAcademy’s fault)

And all you NIMBY neighbors, please realize that the CalAcademy was here even before you.

Let’s thank Gaia we’re not saddled with some big hulking wreck that nobody wants to go to.

See you there!

An Apology From the Star of NBC’s Trauma, Plus New Filming at Oakland Islamic Center

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Why, it’s almost as if the people behind NBC’s Trauma serial have figured out a thing or two. Comes now Cliff Curtis, the New Zealand star who plays “cocky” helicopter pilot Rabbit, to say:

“The characters weren’t developed properly at first.

We took a lot of creative license, but learned from it.

We listened to the audience and to critics, and were able to satisfy a lot of complaints about the characters.

We improved the humor and the action on the front line.”

It’s almost like they’re shooting a whole new show! Good on you, Rabbit. Remember how excited people were when gorgeous Jennifer Siebel Newsom was in the pilot episode? Maybe we can get some of that back.

NBC/Universal

Now, while we’re remembering last autumn, wasn’t that the time when co-star Aimee Garcia was spinning this tale

 
O.K., hold on to that one. Now, try this on for size, per a recent interview with Cliff Curtis:
 
“NBC’s freshman “Trauma” series was considered such a sure-shot for early extinction that members of the crew gave up their apartments on San Francisco location.”
 
At The Length Truth Will Out. Moving on…
 
Shooting for, what shall we call it, Trauma II: This Time We Mean It moves to the East Bay tomorrow. Actually, they were looking for extras with Pakistani heritage just the other day. But keep in mind that when you’re an extra working on Treasure Island you get paid $1.79 more per hour than when you’re an extra working in Oakland. Why? It all has to do with the minimum wage. Anyway, you might be too late for this, but there could be other gigs coming up:
 
Mosque scenes will be filmed Wed. 2/17 at a temple in Oakland. Extras will appear to be praying when an older Pakistani woman has a seizure causing the cast member medics to respond.”
  
Take heart, extras - I can recall a time when the minimum wage was a lot less than $64/8-hour day. Oh well.
 
And of course the TV addicts are, once again, talking about how, once again, Trauma is a “goner”.
 
No matter, re-re-newed filming should continue ’til March or April, and then we’ll just have to wait and see, huh?

25 Percent More Trauma for San Francisco – NBC Approves Another Four Eps of Horrible TV Show

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Conan O’Brien’s trauma, that whole deal where he’s losing his Tonight Show gig, is helping to keep NBC’s horrible Trauma serial a few paces ahead of the grim reaper. News just came out about how NBC is ordering four more shows to help fill the prime-time hole left by Jay Leno moving from 10:00 PM back to 11:35 PM

That means that Season One will end up with 20 episodes at the very least.

Will there be a Season Two for Trauma? Only Time Will Tell.

Rest assured, twirlypopper pilot / couch potato Aimee Garcia will still maintain her official website regardless of when Trauma gets cancelled.

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Look for more filming around town soon. You’ll have ten fresh episodes available on your idiot panel after the 2010 Olympics end.

Just bide your time until 9:00 PM on Monday, March 8. 2010

Cal Academy Goes Coffee Crazy – Tomorrow’s NightLife to Feature Ritual, Four Barrel and Blue Bottle

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

The people behind the popular NightLife program at our California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park know that you kids (21 and over) just love your coffee. So tomorrow’s NightLife will be heavily caffeinated:

THE GREAT SAN FRANCISCO COFFEE TASTING

“Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love” – Turkish Proverb

This week’s piping-hot party features a coffee (and tea) tasting with an opportunity to learn more about the science of coffee and how it can be harvested and produced sustainably. Some of the Bay Area”s finest local producers, including Blue Bottle, Ritual Roasters, Equator Coffee, Barefoot Coffee, Om Shan Tea, Samovar and Four Barrel Coffee are participating.

NightLife @ The California Academy of Science w/ Coffee tasting and music by Future Universal 

time: Thursday, January 21st, 6pm – 10pm
location: California Academy of Sciences
admission: Tickets are $12 ($10 for Academy members)

You’ll get so hepped up that you’ll just want to dance, dance, dance the night away in the atrium

All the deets. See you there!

FUTURE UNIVERSAL DJs

This week is Future Universal’s much anticipated return to NightLife. They are a collective of seasoned electronica DJs, artists, and promoters based in San Francisco. Focusing on exposing local talent to the world, it acts not only as an event production company, but also a talent agency. Working with local venues and groups, FU’s produced events include Super Ego, Bump, Robotronika and more.

Future Universal DJs on the Main Floor:
Sarah Delush
KidHack
Mario Muse
Matt Haegan

Future Universal DJs in the Aquarium:
Kirin Rider
PETE

Age 21 and over, with valid ID. Tickets are available online or at the door. General $12, Members $10.

Upcoming Installments:

1/28: Music by Aaron Pope and Expedition Medicine with Dr. Matt Lewin

2/4: Music from OM Records’ J-Boogie and Fred Everything and the Insect Discovery Lab

Become a fan of NightLife. Share your comments and experiences and get the latest updates.
Check out our Facebook page

First Annual Golden Gate Park Volunteer Fair is Coming February 10, 2010

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Here’s what you should do – turn off the Ricki Lake and volunteer at Golden Gate Park.

Representatives from the California Academy of Sciences, the de Young Museum, the Conservatory of Flowers, the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the San Francisco Parks Trust will all be on hand to recruit you this coming Feb. 10:  

Become a Volunteer at the Golden Gate Park Volunteer Fair!

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 – 10 AM to 2 PM

Location: Conservatory of Flower’s Orchid Gallery, 100 John F. Kennedy Drive, SF, CA 94118

Representatives of the California Academy of Sciences, de Young Museum, Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco Botanical Garden Society, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, San Francisco Parks Trust and affiliated community groups will be on hand at the Conservatory of Flowers to provide information about volunteer opportunities in Golden Gate Park. The fair is a one stop shop for an exciting and meaningful way to meet new people, pursue lifelong passions, educate the public and lend a helping hand in one of the Bay Area’s most beautiful parks! For more information, please contact, Erika Frank at 415-637-4326 or efrank@sfcof.org.

Volunteering at the Conservatory of Flowers is a great way to learn more about tropical plants, meet people with similar interests and share your knowledge and enthusiasm for plants with visitors. We invite you to become a greeter, docent, horticultural volunteer or a children’s Jungle Guide.

Volunteer opportunities

Greeters welcome visitors, check tickets and answer general questions.*
Gift Shop volunteers sell souvenirs to visitors in our Gift Shop in the Special Exhibits Gallery.
Docents provide visitors with information about the plant collections, the Conservatory, and provide guided tours.
Horticultural volunteers work directly with our plant collections and Nursery Specialists.*
Children’s Jungle Guides lead 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes on scheduled tours through the Conservatory.
Young Ambassadors are volunteers from high schools and colleges who staff the “Young Explorers Adventure Carts” for children.
Volunteer requirements

The Conservatory is looking for volunteers who can commit to working at least twice a month, or approximately 6 hours a month.

All volunteers are required to have an interview with the Director of Volunteer Services- Erika Frank, complete an application, and go through our Training Program (depending on the position). We provide our volunteers with the training they need for their position, along with ongoing educational and social programs that promote a positive volunteer experience.

We appreciate our volunteers and invite you to join our dedicated and fun group.

Interested volunteers should contact Erika Frank, Director of Volunteer Services, at (415) 637-4326 or efrank@sfcof.org.

* Full training program not required for this position

NightLife at the Academy of Sciences – Thursdays Starting at 6:00PM, Free on Your Birthday!

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

The popular NightLife program at our California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park is back for 2010, starting tonight at 6:00 PM. 

This is what it looks like.

What’s new for 2010?  

-Special V.I.P. tickets for $59 each.

-Free entry on the Thursday night closest to your birthday! (This special deal starts up February 4, 2010)

All the deets are below.

You can mingle with people on the dance floor…

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…or with the animals in the rainforest dome:

via Alumroot

Or go downstairs with your drink and attract a predator or two:

See you there!

WEEKLY “NIGHTLIFE” EVENTS AT THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES RE-LAUNCH FOR 2010 ON JANUARY 14
Every Thursday, visitors ages 21+ can experience the museum at night
Exciting new programming, VIP Tours, and resident DJs are part of 2010 lineup
 
NightLife, the California Academy of Sciences’ popular evening event series, returns in 2010 with an exciting new programming lineup, resident DJs, VIP Tours, and a new birthday promotion.  Every Thursday night, the Academy transforms into a lively venue filled with provocative science, music, mingling, and cocktails, as visitors ages 21 and up get a chance to explore the museum from 6-10pm. Tonight, NightLife’s 2010 lineup begins with performances by The Un-scripted Theater Company, and music by accomplished DJ and producer Michael Anthony.
 
What’s New?
Programming details for each week are available at www.calacademy.org/events/nightlife. Highlights in the upcoming three months include:

January 21: The Great San Francisco Coffee Tasting, with music by Future Universal DJ Collective. Sample the wares of local sustainable coffee roasters including Blue Bottle, Ritual Roasters, Equator Coffee, Barefoot Coffee, and Four Barrel Coffee, and try your hand at “Coffee Jeopardy.”

February 11: Romance and Reproduction, with music by Resident DJ Jeff Stallings.  In honor of Valentine’s Day, roam the Academy and learn about some of the animal kingdom’s most amorous creatures and unique sexual behaviors.  The species with the world’s largest sexual organ? The snake you might find at the center of a “breeding ball”?  Gender-bending clownfish? Find them all at the Academy.

March 25: The Science of Love, and music by Zach Moore & Deckard.  Join Scientific American’s Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina for a fun and engaging multimedia discussion on the psychological, physiological, chemical and social effects of love, including the latest science on emotional intimacy.  

In honor of NightLife’s upcoming first anniversary, the Academy is announcing a new NightLife birthday promotion. Effective February 4, visitors can get into NightLife for free within 7 days of their birthday by showing a valid photo ID at the door. The offer is good for a single admission ticket only.
 
NightLife VIP Tours now offer visitors the opportunity for a more exclusive Thursday evening experience. Tickets ($59 per person) include admission to NightLife, a one-hour behind-the-scenes tour featuring the Academy’s renowned gem and mineral collection and interaction with Academy researchers in the lab, express entry into the building, an open bar in a reserved cocktail area prior to the tour, VIP access to the rainforest, and a reserved pass for the 8:30 planetarium show.
 
NightLife continues to feature a range of San Francisco’s most popular DJ acts, and is now home to three resident DJs, who will each perform once per quarter:

Aaron Axelsen— Live 105 music director, and founder of SF indie club Popscene
Aaron Pope—The Academy’s own environmentalist by day, eclectic and energetic DJ by night
Jeff Stallings— An SF club fixture, whose sets feature Balearic, African, Bedouin and Latin beats

Every Week
Each Thursday evening, NightLife features entertainment and bars stocked with food and drinks available for purchase. Visitors can explore the Academy’s exhibits– from the fish, snakes and other creatures in the aquarium, to the dioramas of African Hall—and attend Planetarium shows and stargazing sessions on the living roof (when weather permits). 
 
In addition, each week includes engaging science programming and activities that introduce visitors to cutting-edge science in an informal, social environment. Programming highlights during NightLife’s inaugural year included sustainable seafood cooking demonstrations with local celebrity chefs, film screenings, performance art, robot demonstrations, chocolate tastings, and talks by filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, adventurer David de Rothschild, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and other notable figures.
 
Since launching on February 12, 2009, NightLife has been named “Best Steamy Date Night” by 7×7 Magazine, “Best Place to Party Like it’s 1929” by San Francisco Magazine, and “Best Penguin Party” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
 
What:   NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences (for adults ages 21+) Featuring music, cutting-edge science, and food and cocktails available for purchase
When:   Every Thursday, 6-10 pm
Where: California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Cost:     $12 per person ($10 for Academy members)
             Tickets available at the door or online at www.calacademy.org/event_tickets/

Trauma Dies Today: It was Bad for NBC But Was it Good for San Francisco?

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Word comes today from Anna Bloom of the NewYork TimesesesBay Area Blog about how production of NBC’s horrible Trauma TV series will shut down tonight.

Certainly, Trauma has been traumatic for NBC, but what about San Francisco? Would we have been better off without subsidizing this inchoate production? Did we really pay SFPD officers to just hang out around the set for the filming of twelve episodes instead of having the cops do their regular jobs? 

Duboce Park as seen by Troy McClure SF. Click to expand:

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How does the Scene in San Francisco scheme work? The TV people pay for the cops but then we turn around and give the TV people all the money back?

“What costs are eligible for refund?

  • Fees paid to City Departments for the use or rental of City property, equipment or employees including: Port, MUNI, SPFD [SFPD?], SFFD, DPT, DPW, Treasure Island, Recreation and Parks, and all City buildings
  • All daily use fees paid to the San Francisco Film Commission
  • All payroll taxes paid to the City and County of San Francisco.”

So after Unfortunate, Innocent-Looking Whore In Tube Top and Flip Flops #5 cashes her minimum-wage paycheck for two days of temping (no benefits obviously) and we pay the cops full salary (or full salary plus?) to not do their jobs, what are we left with?

Certainly, Trauma was good for certain people in San Francisco, but was it good for San Francisco and San Franciscans overall? Is this the kind of thing we want to do again? Are there any Lessons to be Learned here?

Mmmmm….

San Francisco Braces for Trauma – Viewing Parties Scheduled for NBC’s New Series This Monday

Friday, September 25th, 2009

What can people say about Trauma, debuting this Monday at 9:00 PM on the National Broadcasting Company’s Channel 3, that hasn’t been said? You’ve already seen the shut-down I 280 freeway explosion,  the monstrous twirlypoppers above Market Street, the filming in North Beach and in the Financh and on spooky Polk Street (the new Home for Halloween in San Francisco since the Castro party got shut down – Polk Street is the new Castro!), the start of the Deathwatch, ever more twirlypopppers, and a pitch for a perfectly cromulent substitute that could be filmed in the 415. Whew! Mercy.

Well, Amy Chozick at the Wall Street Journal takes a stab at it here with “Blowing Up on the Small Screen, NBC tries to create big-budget, movie-style special effects once a week,” where we learn that Angela Bromstad, President of Prime-Time Entertainment at NBC, considers the new serial an “adrenalized version of ‘E.R.‘” O.K. then. (Somebody at this point could say something about how Technology’s March of Progress, the very same one that allows NBC / Universal / Open 4 Business Productions to do special effects cheaper these days, has given people other viewing options – so that’s why you’re never going to get anything close to an E.R. kind of viewership, beaucoup explosions ou pas.)

But look here, they’re still shooting this thing – here’s the scene last night at the always-foggy Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park. Hopefully this massive shoot didn’t disturb the late-night patrons checking out the fantastic Tut exhibit at the de Young Museum and/or the generous attendees of the annual Big Bang Gala at the California Academy of Sciences. There were scores of Traumatics milling about the Concourse Bowl, on the lower left. Look at them crane lights. Click to expand:

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Ha! Sometimes it’s not foggy in GGP, as this shot of the Concourse from 1894 shows. Art imitates Life:

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All right, on with the Viewing Parties skedded for Monday night. Will people actually develop drinking games where you have to take a slug every time “emergency staff countermands legal requirement, medical dogma, or orders from superior because they know it will kill the patient,” or something like that?

People will. Throw in “Sex Act On The Job,” “Twirlypopper Destroyed,” and “Beefcake! Beefcake!” and you’ll have a Tuesday morning hangover.

Good times.

See you Monday, in front of the Idiot Panel!