Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Re & Re.........

Gorgeous sunrise over the Fraser River. One of my last waits for a cast member in the Queensborough hood of New Westminster. Hmnnnnn, Deja vu, retired once, and re-retiring again soon?
 

The illustrious cast crew of Lillian's Way. Jas, Greg, Dave, Ward (honorary), Jordan, Heather, Jim, Moi, and Chris.
Will always be a fond memory........
On this filming day, and a payday as well, the mighty Teamsters always play a little pay cheque poker. Looking at the last 3 digits of the cheque number, and the cents amount, looks like that "6 6 6" was lucky enough for me to take home the pot.
On this Sunday in August we hung out with Kazu and Daniel at " Car Free Day" on Edmonds in our hood.
......and there it is. Not allowed to show anything about filming on the show, but here is the outside of the studio, lol.
Stopped at Olympic Village for a coffee on my way downtown to pick-up cast. This is another memorable view for me. Memories of all the times I picked up the Good Doctor when he lived there.
There was some smoke from forest fires that were in B.C. and Washington State on this day. My phone does not show how striking that red sun was.
....now getting back to Ward. He is pretty well known in the film circles as the "crow whisperer". How cool, he had a shirt custom made with crows on it for our Hawaiian shirt Fridays. 
The random, originally looked like a dandy dandelion shot, pic.
This part of my driving on this day I will not forget any time soon. After I picked-up the cast member in Queensborough, I headed down Hwy 91 to Hwy 99, which takes you into Vancouver. This stretch from 99 to the Oak St. bridge can take 5 minutes (5.5 km), but during rush hour, well, considering it was backed up from Hwy 91 to Vancouver........
......this 5.5 km stop and go commute took about 40 minutes, yikes.
Spent another day filming at the University of B.C., the longer you stand-by, the more you notice. Scooter, you're not fooling me, I see you!
......and wait! Without giving anything about the show away, snow in September?
Standing by and taking a stroll by False Creek in Yaletown, how can I give all this up?
...starting the transition slowly, back on one of my familiar walks close to the Edmonds sky-train station.
Okay, this might be my last (probably not) hang-out on the Fraser. (for work, anyways)


Well, I started looking for a new pair of Nike runners, with a reddish motif, and ended up with a one of a kind, sample pair with a Canada flair, score!
Close to our studio, well, the Tower of Reality......
One of the stand by locations close to the studio was very close to Burnaby Lake, and unfortunately, the railway line, lol.
The, wait for it, some of the lower train cars will provide a peekaboo Burnaby Lake view, pic.
.....okay, one more, early morning Queensborough/Fraser pic.
The boring to some, but the hanging out at circus and the cast trailers, cast vehicles plus one crew shuttle pic.
Standing by can mean many things. On this day at the PNE lot, Chris from the grip department and fellow cast driving peep Jordan, made good use of standing by time, with a little impromptu tennis action.
Some of my standing by time was spent walking around the PNE grounds. I bet a lot of fair goers don't even know this Sanctuary Pond, close to Hastings Street, even exists.
A real sanctuary, and but a short stroll from the fair action.
My, standing by waiting to take cast to set at UBC, peekaboo view of Burrard Inlet at Spanish Banks through the gap between the wardrobe truck and the wardrobe trailer, pic.
It was a beautiful, albeit chilly, late September day.
One of the last days of filming was at the Parq Casino in downtown Vancouver.
Hawaiian shirt Friday, and the last day of filming for season 1 of Lillian Way. How fitting that I may finish my film work career picking up at the Sutton Hotel. Wow, how many times and hours have I spent in this parking lot over the years?
Okay, this is definitely the last time I will be standing by on the Fraser. (at least in this particular spot) The cast member I drove the most flew home 2 days after wrap.
A catering feast on the last day of filming, so many seafoods, meats, salads, desserts and veggie dishes. (Sorry if this pic offends anyone, lol.)
So blessed that is the same catering team that looked after us so well on the Good Doctor. Almost go time, let the feast begin! (So spoiled, how can I retire???)
Hmmmnnnnn, had to drive the executive producer for the next show on that last night. My transport peeps will be working on it soon enough. Will I be there, hmmmnnnnn again.......

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Catching up....

A little tardy with this blog, but all of a sudden I seem to have more time on my hands. This pic goes back to a wonderful Sunday in early August at Spanish Banks.
 

It was official, the band (of merry cast drivers) was back together! I haven't worked with Jim and Greg since season 4 of the Good Doctor! Man, I missed these guys!
In honor of Aunt Tam's visit, lunch at the Local in Gastown with Bro Skip, and the nieces was in order.
....the wonderful Spanish Banks Sunday with Aunt Tam.
Niece Megan joined as well.......
Cool in more ways than one!
Hey, the tide's coming in, wait for me!
The crustacean close-up.
A long rainy day stuck in my cast vehicle outside of UBC Thunderbird Sports Centre waiting to take cast home. We filmed here for many days for all the hockey related scenes. 
The walking around Riverview, waiting for wrap, another you never know what you're going to see, down by the Cafeteria building, pic.....
.....yes, you never know what you're going to see! (I'm sure this big black bear was attracted to our catering trucks, maybe?)
One of the many pics of the Annacis Channel. (Branch of the Fraser River.) I spent many a morning standing by here for a cast member who lived close by.
Always a different pic, depending on which day and what time I was there. Looking east.....
....farther down the road looking west.
An earlier stand-by.
.....a beautiful calm day looking west.
Different version of the same thing.
.....hey Rocky has come to join me!
The 0:649 sunrise pic on a late August morning.
Repetitive peacefulness.
Lol, really did spend a fair bit of the show out there.
The, picture doesn't show how big this pork belly, done so eloquently by our catering team, and yes so yummy, pic.
Not allowed to say much, if anything about the show, but this is definitely a night shoot and perhaps a Fraturday out at Riverview.
Spent one lovely fraturday standing by outside of the Strathcona Church on Princess Ave. in Vancouver while the filming was taking place nearby in a bar on Hastings.
Oh my, this humble princess pic was, well, I'm at a loss for once, lol.....
This pic jogs my memory! We were at the Wal-Mart at Queensborough in New Westminster, and all that shopping made us thirsty, so off to Match Eatery, which was close by, and actually, depending on traffic, quite close to our hood.
We were comped a $15 voucher to go to the Starlight Casino, which just happened to be attached to the Match Eatery. That's o.k., we'll take it and Ritsue left with $150, nice!
Our last Vancouver Canadians baseball game of the season.......
.... when I purchased the tickets, there was no mention of my view of home plate, lol.
.....it didn't matter, I could still see Wasabi win the sushi mascot race, AGAIN!!!
Bro Skip and Ritsue were in fine form for the Chicken Dance.
One this day, I had more time to wait for my Queenborough cast pick-up, so a exploring I did go......
Looking towards my nemesis, the Queensborough bridge......
....and then feeling more in control walking, not driving, under it....
..... and looking back, no traffic down here.
Many of these moths suntanning on the flora.....
On this day I was standing by for cast in Yaletown, and I looked up, wayyyyyy up......
.....not a good pic, but that is defineatly someone swimming way up there.
There's the man! Fellow cast driving Teamster peep Jordan, made his debut on the local boxing circuit. Dang, I know he talked about it, but to see on a live feed, impressive!
....in the blue head guard, looking smooth.....
....going in for a jab, and more.....
.....and look at that, his career is a perfect 1-0!!
The, Auntie trying to sway us towards a Caesar, but our hearts will always be favouring the classic Bloody Mary, (and yes, mine is to die for.,) pic.
Auntie gave us some eggs from her and Unks own chickens, and man 'o' man, the one at the top was a good size, but yikes, the bottom one, that's no yolk!
Another time out, this time the Gillnetter Pub in Port Coquitlam. Love the grub!
......and the location, right on the Fraser River.
Walking out on the pier after dinner, looking back......
You had to be there, lol. It was another rush hour crawl from my hood to my cast pic across that nasty Queensborough Bridge. No traffic, it takes me 7 minutes, today, it was close to 50 minutes. At least it was a nice day.
A blurry, but blissful cruise on Colebrook Road. Actually, it was a filming night, and once again we took over the road for another fraturday.
Not for the feint of heart, but we loved this squid dish at Makato restaurant on Rumble St. in our hood!
I am losing track, but I think this was our annual trip to Deer Lake Park, sadly annual, considering it is a 5 minute drive from our place....
If you go early enough, you avoid the traffic, pedestrian that is....
Mandatory selfie....
I know I am getting older when I am thrilled that I can see the light at the end that doesn't involve a whole bunch of people.
.....bad editing, tried to get a pic that didn't show all the urban sprawl......
... the flower shot, looked better with my own eye, pic....
....well I was right, even the bumble bee agreed it was a beautiful flower.
We filmed many days at UBC, which gave me many opportunities to sight-see, a tourist in my own town.
Waiting to pick-up cast. If you need a really good coffee and your in the Mt. Pleasant area, I recommend the Mighty Oak at 18th. and Columbia. (and the neighbourhood was soooooooo peacefully quiet!)
.....looking for some pictures, came across this beauty, lol. The reason I am a cast driver today stems from a background actor stint I did in Kamloops back in '07. The film is a CBC production, "Iron Road."