Work Party & Event Planning Day

As someone once said, "Many hands make light work" (or words to that effect - thanks Tina for your words of wisdom), and we proved that to be true at today's Work Party.  Before we even arrived, Carol N and Queen Debbie already had two work stations set up and all the fleece sorted out and ready to go.  There were so many pretty (or should I say handsome) patterns to choose from . . .

Beautiful fleece blankets in the making

We selected the first two and quickly got to work.  With so many talented quilter ladies in our group who bring their special cutting mats, rotary cutters and special rulers, plus nine pair of willing hands, we had our ten blankets finished up lickety split.

These special tools make the job a breeze

Add in some willing hands and it doesn't take long
to get the blankets finished up

Working in teams helps too!

As each blanket is completely cut, we either
finished tying it on the table

Or moved it to the sofa so the cutters
could start another one

Some of the ladies roamed from one table to the
other, wherever hands were needed

Another blanket almost finished

And so the process continued . . . 

Soon all the blankets were cut and tied, and it was time for lunch.  But first we circled up to pray for the boys who would receive these blankets, and to thank God for our friendships and for the food we were about to enjoy. 

Forming the prayer circle

Now . . . Lunch . . . 

Chicken Enchiladas, Rice, Refried Beans, Salad, Chips, Veggies . . .
YUM!

Dig in!

After lunch, we sat around Carol N's dining room table and went over all the events that are still coming up this year, and to plan a few more.  We always have so much fun and adventure to look forward to.

Thank you, Queen Debbie, for leading us through these outreach projects.  It's such a blessing to be able to make even the tiniest bit of difference in the lives of these boys.

With our finished blankets
Front - Leslie, Chris, Joy, Carol N, Seema
Back - Barbara, Carol N, Queen Debbie, Sharon

Excellent job ladies!  Well done!

  

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

What a fun day!  Princess Seema arranged for us to have a tour of Warner Bros. Studios, to see where some of our favorite movies and TV shows were/are filmed.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by . . .

Daffy and Bugs
Welcome to Warner Bros. Studios!
Joy, Carol N, Princess Seema, Debbie, Chris, Sharon, Leslie

Once inside, there were so many things to take in . . .

Best Picture Oscars

For any Harry Potter fans, there was a huge exhibit full of artifacts from the movies.  Here is just a small sample of what is there . . .

The fireplace where Hogwarts' invitations addressed to
 Mr. H. Potter, the Cupboard under the Stairs,
flew out, but Harry was unable to open even one

Voldemort's cape from the Dark Forest

Troll legs and club

Bed used by overnight travelers on the Knight Bus,
which traveled "From Here to There" and
"From There to Here"

Some of the costumes worn by
Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger

Gryffindor
 One of the four houses of
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Students in this house are noted for courage,
chivalry and determination

Princess Seema made it into Gryffindor!
Congrats!  Say "Hi" to Harry for us.

After we finished with the Harry Potter exhibit, we met our tour guide and hopped onto our transportation for the day . . .

Our Ride

It was so interesting to drive around the back lot and see where various movie and TV show scenes are shot . . . one of the things that was really incredible is how SMALL these places are.  They seem so big when you see them in the movies, but in reality, these are very tiny spaces.

For example . . . this street is filled with row houses, each one different and some of the fronts can be changed from stucco to brick to wood, depending on what is needed for the scene. They can shoot up close so it looks like an individual house, or back the camera out for a street scene.  The magic of the movies . . .

Listening to the Tour Guide explain how
these houses are used in various productions

Looking down the street

See how narrow each "house" is

This is one of the houses where the exteriors
can be changed from brick to wood to whatever is needed

This street is full of commercial buildings
that are used to represent a variety of businesses.
See the "L" in the distance?

A closer look at the "L" - Chicago's  Elevated Train.
The building behind the "L" was used
for some exterior shots of the TV show "ER"

Something interesting - there was never an actual train on these tracks.  Because each scene had to be shot several times, they didn't want a train running through some takes and then not in others.  Train sound effects were added in later as needed.

Central Park

Something else interesting.  This is a tiny little park in the middle of the back lot.  But in the movies, it is often used to represent a jogging trail through Central Park in New York City.  With tight camera angels and special effects, you would never know it wasn't the real thing.

Here are some more areas of the back lot - houses, churches, and streets that have been used in many shows that were or still are filmed at Warner Bros. Studios . . .

Do any of these look familiar?

I really wish we could have just walked around, up and down some of these streets on our own.  There was so much more to see that we couldn't really appreciate from our little bus.

Next stop . . . . . Batman!!!  Here are just a few of the Batmobiles inside the exhibit . . .

We had a couple favorites . . .

Can we have a ride?  Please?

And of course . . .

The Big Man himself - Batman!!!

Should I admit that in our exuberance, we almost knocked him over?  Fortunately, we caught him just in time.  That could have been really bad . . .

We also got to see inside the set for "Supergirl", which was just wrapping up it's first season on CBS.  The show will move to the CW when the second season debuts in October.  Because the show was still being filmed, we weren't allowed to take any photos inside the set - they didn't want to give away any spoilers.  It was really interesting to walk through the "cave", Cat's office, and other scenes from the show.  And we learned so much about how they use lighting, skylines painted on fabric, and special camera angles that make the viewer think it's daytime, or nighttime, or that you're looking through a window of a skyscraper (when you're actually on the ground floor), so many tricks of the trade.  We'll never look at a movie or TV show in the same way again,

After the guided tour, we went into Stage 48, which is an interactive soundstage that explores various phases of the TV show or movie-making process.

Stage 48: Script to Screen

Here is just a sample of what there is to see inside this soundstage . . .

Artists renderings from various animated films

Interactive screens where you can design different sets

Costumes from various productions

Characters from "Corpse Bride"

Crazy set where one person looks like an elf
while another becomes a giant.
More movie magic!

And of course . . . . Central Perk from "Friends" . . .

Everyone's favorite coffee shop

The Cast of "Friends"

What a great show!

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. inside Central Perk

Fun!!!!

They had another interactive area where you can actually get into scenes from the movies . .

Like "Gravity"

Sharon donned a space suit . . . 

Everything was great until she started "spacewalking"
Yikes!

Sharon really got into this part of the tour . . .

Controlling her Alien

Emmy Awards

What a really fun, interesting and informative day.  We were still talking about all the things we had experienced and learned as we enjoyed a yummy dinner at BJ's . . .

Sharon, Princess Seema, Leslie, Debbie, Carol N, Joy & Chris

Thank you Princess Seema for making this happen.  We had a blast!!!!!