Off to Hollywood...

[aerobat]

I haven't said anything about this while we were still in the "maybe and if this, then that" phase...;) but Mel Gibson :thundercl has summoned me and I must obey.:lol:

Maybe we'll have an opportunity to trade shots of whiskey...:drunken:

His new film Apocalypto is in the post-production phase and they are doing overdubs. Since all the dialogue is in Yucatec Maya, they need someone who knows that language as well as English, so they found me.

I'm flying to LA on Sunday 17th, returning to Austin on Tue 19th; I don't have my itinerary yet. I will post it when I have it. I'll be returning to LA for a week during the first week of October.

Mark, I will pick up that T-shirt from my friends Amy and David and mail it to ya!! PM me with your address!! :)

Barb

[Rebecca]

Well, I'll be jiggered! How many of you experts are out there? Enough that when the film comes out there'll be letters from folks saying, "The verb in such and such a dialogue in your film was conjugated blah blah, but most experts say it should be hoo hah, while in recent years it has been more accepted as .... etc. etc."??

That just sounds like a blast, and a fun trip to boot. Do please give us a first-hand account!!! Then, we'll all go see the movie and know what to watch for ...

[aerobat]

:lol: Since I haven't yet been sworn to secrecy and seen the rough cut of the film (both of which will happen Monday), I know nae mair than any of ye about the plot. Well...I did read the Time article, and have seen a trailer. But I am guessing that the Maya experts out there are going to be quibbling more over the storyline, the premise, and the portrayals of heart sacrifice than with the grammar. :lol: I will be reviewing the entire Yucatec script and helping with overdubs of lines that they feel don't quite work--for audio or emotional reasons. And I'll be coaching actors who are not native Yucatec speakers! That will really be interesting. :confused:

I'll dust off my Maya conjugations, don't worry. They're my strong suit...:tongue:

[Jeff California]

Can I be your chauffer? I will pick you up from LAX with my motorcycle and take you to your hotel. All I ask is to be your assistant and go to the filming lot.

Have fun and take lots of pics if possible!

[aerobat]

...for the offer! :) Actually, my filmmaker friend Amy (Nightfire Films, mostly documentaries) is picking me up at LAX and we're going to eat dinner, hang out and gossip, and then she'll take me to the hotel. We'll be working in a sound studio where they do overdubbing. They're doing the crowd scenes audio this week and next. All the filming is done--that took place in Mexico last winter.

[WillFlyToDisney]

Have a great time, Barb. Post production can be fun! :thumbsup:

[EyesSkyward]

Mel Gibson has summoned me and I must obey.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a have a new sig line. :D

- Jeff

[Barb-SAN]

;) but Mel Gibson :thundercl has summoned me and I must obey.:lol: This sounds like a great title for your Hollywood trip report!



And I'll be coaching actors who are not native Yucatec speakers! That will really be interesting. :confused: That should be fun...I saw that Time article too...let's just say the photos look "tantalizing", and they didn't spend much money on costumes. Now the question is, do they wear those costumes in post-production to stay in character? :shocked: :lol:

I'll bet the actors will be quick studies, compared to the general population.
Have a great time, congratulations....it should be a fascinating experience. I hope that it will increase awareness and interest in the ancient Mayan civilization as well. :tiphat:

[noflyingfan]

These actors today. Everybody knows that anyone worth his salt in Hollywood learns at least BASIC Yucatec.

I had a Choose Your Own Adventure book about the Mayans (http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Maya-Choose-Your-Adventure/dp/1933390050) when I was little. I don't remember anything about it though.

[aerobat]

OK, here's my itinerary:

9-17-06 (Sunday)

SWA Flight 1830 AUS- LAX via ELP

departs AUS 5:05 PM
arrives LAX 7:00 PM

9-19-06 (Tuesday)

SWA Flight 493 LAX-AUS via ELP

departs LAX 12:50 PM
arrives AUS 6:30 PM

nice, civilized hours...none o' this early morning for-the-birds hoohah :)


Sean said:

When you were studying your little heart out, did you ever imagine that speaking a dead language would get you into Hollywood?

Nope, it never crossed my mind! But then, there are still almost a million people who speak Yucatec Maya as their first language (some of them live in LA already), so Hollywood will have a few more generations to draw upon for future films.

Y'know, the war for Texas independence took place just prior to the time that there was a major uprising in Yucatan (the "Caste War") to kick out the Mexican great-grandsons of the conquistadores, and the Texas Navy even sent a battleship down to Yucatan in solidarity.:thumbsup:

But for a singular strategic mistake on the part of the Maya (they went home to plant their corn), we might be speaking Yucatexan hereabouts...;)

bix abeyele'ex y'alle'ex...;)

[Barb-SAN]

bix abeyele'ex y'alle'ex...;)

Sorry to say that Google failed me on that one! Translation please! Is it something like "goodby and good night y'all?"

Wish I could track your flight, Barb, but...I will be on the road myself and away from my computer.

For anyone who is looking for some motivation to take a commercial flight, I would HIGHLY recommend doing some flight tracking. Amazing how it puts you in the frame of mind to go fly somewhere...especially if you use Google Earth. I do think it is at least as beneficial for the person doing the tracking as for the one being tracked. :thumbsup:

[Passenger Mark]

Barb!

That is cool!

Have a great time!

[aerobat]

Barb-SAN said:

Sorry to say that Google failed me on that one! Translation please! Is it something like "goodby and good night y'all?"

For anyone who remembers Jimmy Durante, it's "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!" (note the reference to a primary cultigen of the Maya ;) )

Actually, it means "how the heyuck ARE y'all?" :tongue:

I would be delighted if someone wants to track me. It's civilized hours, too :nod:--perfect for pizza and beer at the 'puter! :cheers:

Mark! Got the addy...thanks! I will do what I can! Barb

[tabbygirl]

I don't know which is more exciting - being in such demand or the mere fact that you are fluent in this language!

What an adventure this will be! Never mind the flight reports, just keep a blog of everything that happens.:tongue:

Seriously, BIG congratulations! Have a wonderful, exciting, interesting time. I will try to track you, too.

(Let us know if Mel Gibson is a freak, 'K?)

[aerobat]

I had a wonderful trip to Hollywood.
Did not meet Mel this round.
I have been sworn to secrecy about the movie.
Um, what movie?!?:confused: ;)
The flying was excellent! :thumbsup:

Barb

[WillFlyToDisney]

Welcome home, Barb!

[Jeff California]

Welcome back! Looking forward to hearing about the experience more after the film is released!

Jeff

[noflyingfan]

I have been sworn to secrecy about the movie.
Um, what movie?!?:confused: ;)

And now we know...

Barb is REALLY working on Snakes On A Plane II: The Mayan Asp. :shocked:

[aerobat]

:lol: be careful what you asp for...:lol:

There is a trailer for Apocalypto...

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1809249345

sooo...what I can say is (remember Millennium?) an airliner over Guatemala is snatched by aliens conspiring with the ancient Mayans and is transported into the past, where the plane simply evaporates, leaving the pax unharmed but stranded in the high treetops, being screeched at by howler monkeys whose morning repast has been rudely interrupted. The monkeys are throwing unmentionable things, as they are wont to do, so pax tie their clothes together and make "ropes" on which to work their way down. Once on the forest floor, they find a trail, and start walking.

That's all I can tell you...:angel:

[WillFlyToDisney]

Any movie with howler monkeys has to be good! :happyguy:

[aerobat]

This recording is nowhere near as good as they get, but it's the best I could find in a quick search...

http://www.naturesongs.com/howler1.wav

they are called b'a'atz' in Maya...:)

Oh, the pax finally reach an ancient Maya city after a full day's walk and a bit of swimming. A few are lost to snakes and alligators along the way, and a deep mudhole gets a couple more. ;) Mosquitoes, deerflies and ticks take a toll, too. Especially since most of their clothes were left hanging in the trees...

When they make first human contact, they realize they were far better off in the high canopy with monkey poop being thrown at them...:eek:

[noflyingfan]

I'm at work, so I can't watch the trailer you posted just now, but I really hope you're making up all this plot stuff. Because it really sounds worse than Snakes on a Plane.

[aerobat]

oh, it's much worse than SOAP, but inspired by it, absolutely.

As for whether I am making this up, mum's de woid. ;)

[noflyingfan]

It sounds about as good as Jeff's musical about typhoid or whatever it was.

[aerobat]

whoa, I missed that...song and dance routines? Vomiting and diarrhea? Jeff! catch me up!

Aerobat- "has had typhoid so she knows" - Barb :)

[Barb-SAN]

Wecome back, Barb. Will be looking forward to the day you are not pledged to secrecy and can reveal all from behind the scenes:) .

Here's a link to the article about the movie from Mar.27 Time magazine. Note that there are 4 photos (you have to scroll through them).

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174684,00.html

So are you up to your ears in Mayan language scripts now?:cool:

Some of your description reminds me of "Survivor Guatemala", of which I watched the first couple episodes, strictly for the photography.:lol:

[noflyingfan]

whoa, I missed that...song and dance routines? Vomiting and diarrhea? Jeff! catch me up!

Aerobat- "has had typhoid so she knows" - Barb :)

Actually, I was wrong. It was about a cricket game. But a musical about typhoid sounds like it would be more fun.

[WillFlyToDisney]

Actually, I was wrong. It was about a cricket game. But a musical about typhoid sounds like it would be more fun.

Well maybe in a "Sweeney Todd" sort of way....

[noflyingfan]

Hey, if they can make a musical out of "The Color Purple," they can make a musical out of anything.

[aerobat]

Some of your description reminds me of "Survivor Guatemala", of which I watched the first couple episodes, strictly for the photography.:lol:

What, my tale of time travel and bad endings for airline passengers in the jungles of yore? :tongue: I never watched Survivor Guatemala, but I can imagine. And I can imagine things far worse, too...;) ...I think that makes me a good fit for a Mel movie. :) Of which I cannot speak...

whazzup with the smilies, anyway? They aren't moving...at least not for me. :confused:

[WillFlyToDisney]

Hey, if they can make a musical out of "The Color Purple," they can make a musical out of anything.

I actually wanted to see that one...

[noflyingfan]

It was a great book, but somehow, I just can't see it as a musical. Then again, I don't know if I would have been able to see Les Miserables as a musical either.

[Passenger Mark]

whazzup with the smilies, anyway? They aren't moving...at least not for me. :confused:

Hey Barb,

I saw where you had posted this a couple of places... and I was waiting to see if anyone else was having problems. I guess not, and I'm not, so I think it is your puter.

I seem to remember this happening before, and Chelle said it was a stuck cookie. I think you have to go to the Options deal on your browser, clear the cookies, and history, reboot, and they should work!

[aerobat]

I am flying back to LAX on Sunday, this time to work with Mel's post-production editors for the whole week doing ADR. Returning Saturday 7th...same flight numbers/times on SWA as before. I ought to have time to check in at TF from LA. :) Meanwhile, I am very busy getting ready to leave. Cat rescue and travel make an awkward mix. Anybody ever seen the Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure? She is a lightweight; she has only eight.

Barb