MTV shoot

03/13/07- What's more fun than an afternoon at the office? An afternoon at George
Barris' custom shop with MTV no less, that's what! So when I was invited to attend the shoot, I packed up my bags and told my boss: "See ya" - Don't worry, I was not subsequently fired or anything. I think he wished he could go too! :)

Well the custom shop of George Barris is but 15 minutes away from my day job, so after a quick stop at the post office I prepared to head out. Wait. My battery is D.E.A.D? Oh rats, I forgot my headlights on while I went in there. And it's not like hiboy is going to beep at me to alert me of my airheadedness. NOoooo... He just sat there, peaceful, quiet, and let me walk away the sneaky little devil. Just to have the immense pleasure to break down on me when I needed him most. Fortunately a guy approached me at the same moment "Hey nice car you got there..." .. me: "Oh yeah? Got some jumper cable to fire up that nice car?" :) . And since he did, I knew I was going to be back on the road in time to catch the shoot. Of course, modern guys get a bit disoriented when they are told the battery is in the trunk. It also makes for interesting gyrations trying to line up cars in a ... Do I dare say it? 69 position. Invariably the jumper cables are much too short and it takes a lot of head scratching until you finally get it right. On my List of things to buy: A 20 feet long jumper cable set. :)

Well I am now on the road and Hiboy is still laughing his head off. OK, he got me. But that's OK, I'll get him back later - I KNOW WHERE HE LIVES! ;). A few vroom vroom (and shuckles) later, I arrived at the George Barris shop, located on the corner of Riverside and Lankershim, in Studio City. One eye on my alternator gage indicated my battery is happily recharging so we should be A-OK. George immediately recognized me from our brief encounter at the Grand National Roadster Show 2007. He gives me a big hug and asks his daughter to snap a photo of us in front of my car. He also invites me to his upcoming "cruise back to the 50's" Culver City car show - do I see a new hiboy adventure in my near future? :). But one adventure at a time please. And this one is about to get pretty good. Two unmarked large white vans pull in and a dozen guys jump out, armed to the teeth. A SWAT TEAM?? No, wait, it is the MTV crew. They are armed with big cameras, lights, monitors, big clamps (don't ask LOL) and lots of clip boards :). Oh yeah baby!

While the crew sets-up I have a chance to chat with George and Tony, his custom shop manager - who beat me at the Burbank road Kings show, taking a first place with his custom car while I took second (and has been playfully teasing me about it ever since LOL). George has an impressive collection of toys (no, no, not THAT king of toys LOL) and an even more impressive collection of vintage photos from all eras, with him, his cars and every possible celebrity you can possibly imagine. (Steve McQueen, Bo Derek, James Dean... And the list goes on and on...). I was absorbed in his photo collection when I heard a voice: " Hey Faith, can you move your Hiboy and park it in front of the office, MTV would like to use it". And that's the fastest I have ever moved my car :). I spent the next 5 hours watching the crew film, picking their brains about technical stuff, following them to the second shoot location (a car wash) where I was once again asked to loan Hiboy. I was proud of my little guy, here he was, surrounded by cameras and lights, and he looked oh so good...

Oh no! My hotrod is going to become a TV star and then he is going to leave me for a younger woman. LOL. Wait. I have his keys in my pocket. So I should be OK, right? RIGHT??? :))

I enjoyed showing the MTV producer the engine. He was not car savvy so I explained to him what he was looking at. Another crew member sat in my hotrod and confessed he had always dreamt of owning one. The others all, at some point or another, told me: "You got a real cool car!". Yes, even the guy with the blue hair :). Later that day the producer was monitoring the cameras and I was able to snap a couple shots showing the actress with a bit of Hiboy in the background... The shoot was for a reality TV dating show and is supposed to air maybe in April, so I'll have to try to catch it.

Meanwhile, I got to also meet Brad Masterson, a cool younger hotrodder who invited me to visit his shop and meet legends Bill Hines. Brad and I talked welding (yeah, I know, I'm WEIRD) and it was refreshing to meet a young guy who actually knows how to hammer weld. Well, that was a fun afternoon and beat the HECK out of WORKING. ;)