Sunday, September 21, 2008

Stuff You Gotta Do!


Enter your pet in the "Picture Perfect Pet Contest" sponsored by WeTv and Febreze. Do it before Oct. 27! Of course I submitted a picture of The Purse Dog. I told her to win me $5000 and she said she would do her best. Click here for details: Picture Perfect Contest

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And starting tomorrow, Mon. 9/22 at 9am PDT a random drawing begins to get red carpet bleacher seats for the upcoming Oscars (Feb. 2009). Drawing ends Sun. 9/28. Click here for details: Oscars.org. Of course I would rather be walking on the red carpet, but I'll just have to settle for the bleachers. I've heard it's really fun though!
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Here's a little 'celebrity sighting' story for you. I think I'll call it "Vivian's Always Been A Little Crazy...even in the 70's!"

I remember a time I snuck onto the set of show to see Shaun Cassidy. Remember him? It was 1978. I was a senior in high school. "The Hardy Boys" was being filmed at "Lion Country Safari" in Laguna Canyon in Orange County. The episode was supposed to be the Hardy Boys (Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson) going to Africa to solve a crime, of course! Isn't that what they did on every episode? I suppose it was cheaper for the production company to go down to Orange County than it was to really go to Africa. One of my friend's brothers worked at Lion Country Safari and told us they would be filming there. (Lion Country Safari no longer exists here in Orange County, but it was a theme park where you could drive your car amongst lions and giraffes, hippos, etc. They had a sign outside the park that said "No Trespassing: Violators Will Be Eaten!") In 1978 I was deeply in love with Shaun Cassidy, so I was going to do whatever it took to get up close and personal to him. There were three of us girls trying to sneak in to see Shaun Cassidy that day. My friend drove her Datsun 710 and two of us squished into the trunk. I remember being in that trunk, my face smashed against the lid and thinking, "all this just to see Shaun Cassidy?" Well we got in! Luckily in those days security didn't check the trunk like they do in lots of places nowadays. We drove around a bit and found our friend's brother. He let us hang out with him and we got to meet the crew and other actors on the set. It was a fun day.

Now I wish I could tell you that we met Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. We only saw them from a distance. They weren't huge stars, but they were kept pretty guarded. They hung out in their trailers most of the day. One of the crew got us their autographs. Perhaps the crew warned them that there were these 3 crazy girls hanging out on the set and it was safer for them to stay in their trailers! Perhaps they thought we were more dangerous than the lions and tigers at Lion Country Safari! Oh well, it was worth it to us. We got to see them in person, get their autographs and we had a fun story to go home and tell to our friends.

Now I'm a little too old to be hiding in the trunk of a car just to see celebrities. I hope I get to sit in the bleachers next year at the Oscars though! Wish me luck!

Now, stop reminiscing Vivian! ...get back to quilting!

3 comments:

Suzanne said...

I loved Shaun Cassidy...hey, Parker Stevenson wasn't too bad either!

I remember Lion Country Safari. One time we went, a lioness was rubbing against one of the staff cars wanting food...the worker kept revving the engine trying to get rid of her...a big old lion walked up and bite the tire of the workers car and the two cats just walked away. That was one flat tire!!!!!

Myra said...

I love your purse doggie... 8-)
Sounds like a trip down memory lane for you..... 8-)

Mark and Stefani McCune said...

I'll vote for the purse dog! How fun to remember Lion Country Safari. Is that the place where they had the big (live) lion you could get your picture with? Or was there a big lion at Magic Mountain? Can't remember the lion's name. Hmmm.