My Movie

I am Jet lag free now. If only I had a brain....oh, well. I shall be content to just lose the jet lag and forget about gaining a brain. Last night I saw the film, PRIDE, that I shot in May. While I was in China one of Jane's friends had told her that she saw me in the film, so I decided to see it before it ends it's run here (in its third week). How interesting seeing what I worked on, to view it in a finished product rather the the disorganization of the shoot. And the film is excellent!
Even Hollywood critic Jim liked this film because it is serious, touching, realistic, well acted and directed, and held my attention throughout. I did not expect such a high quality production because the shoot gave me the impression it was typical Hollywood foolishness. The lead actor Terrence Howard (who won an Academy Award as a supporting actor a few years ago) is spellbinding. All of the characters gave realistic performances and the script seemed to be written by someone who was intent on telling his story rather than amusing an audience with silly stereotypes, violence and the hyperbole and distortion that are found in most Hollywood films.
As for my small role, it consisted of three background shots. One was a quick pan of the camera of me in the crowd, another was a close up of me showing displeasure for a moment as to what was happening in the film and the third is a shot of me for about 10 seconds as I look about the area and gesticulate behind the judges of the film swim meet. If you see this film and know me you will recognize me in it. Haha Thank God I wasn't asked to chat on a cell phone in the film. My air flights are sometimes long and tiring, but nothing of any great event. Not so for one guy who recently flew in first class and got a big surprise from the airline. The first-class passenger on a flight from Delhi to London awoke find the corpse of a woman who had died in the economy cabin being placed in a seat next to him, according to British Airways The economy section of the flight was full, and the cabin crew needed to move the woman and her grieving family out of that compartment to give them some privacy, the airline said.
The surprised passenger, Paul Trinder, says that he was sleeping during a February flight from India and woke up when the crew placed the dead woman in an empty seat near him. "I didn't have a clue what was going on. (Haha Neither did the dead body, Paul.) The stewards just plonked the body down without saying a thing. I remember looking at this frail, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill," Paul said. "When I asked what was going on, I was shocked to hear she was dead."
British Airways says that about 10 passengers die each year in flight and that while each situation is dealt with on an individual basis, safety is paramount. "The deceased must not be placed in the galley or blocking aisles or exits, and there should be clear space around the deceased," the statement said. "The wishes of family or friends traveling with the deceased will always be considered, and account taken of the reactions of other passengers." Because there was space in the first class cabin, that "allowed the family members traveling with the deceased some level of privacy in their grief," the British Air said. "We apologize to passengers in the first cabin who were distressed by the situation - our cabin crew were working in difficult circumstances and chose the option that they believed would cause the least disruption."
David Learmount, a former pilot and cabin crew member who now writes about the aviation industry for Flight International magazine, is considered an expert in handling such matters. He has said that each airline has to deal with the relatively rare situation on an individual basis. He said that diverting the flight would be an unusual move, and that the captain would be consulted before the crew acted. "Personally, I think they did the thing that was the best thing to do," he said. "Really, you want as much as possible to isolate the person. "It's an isolated incident. It's not as if it happens every day, but you do have to take in people's sensibilities when it does happen."
Well, that is interesting and propitious news for me. I may finally have the chance to fly first class some day....if I can just manage to die while on board.