Insider: Rocha-chatter

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Celebrity Spotting at TIFF

This past weekend I went to the Toronto Film Festival with my husband, my best friend and her husband. This is the eighth year we have gone. We love not only seeing great films, but we love the celebrity spotting.

We have some strict rules about celebrity spotting... because we are spotters not stalkers. If a celebrity is on the red carpet or doing some other type of promotion for their movie... they are "on the clock" and I will take their picture. But if they are shopping or eating breakfast... it is fun to see them... but no picture taking, no autograph requests.

I took a few celebrity pictures this weekend, but unfortunately the conditions were not ideal.

Jake Gyllenhaal is across the street. No, really.

Jim Broadbent at the screening of the movie "When Did You Last See Your Father?" If only he would stand still.

Helen Hunt at the screening of her movie "Then She Found Me".

Ahhhh, finally! Steven Dorff... you can really tell it's him... sorta. *sigh* We had just seen his movie "The Passage".

Just to show that I don't always totally suck at getting a good picture, here are a couple I took at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival.

Eva Longoria

Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger

I would not make a good paparazzi.

Labels: celebrity, movies, travel

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Flight Anxiety

When I have to travel by plane I stress out. I can feel my neck tensing and my brow furrowing. It's not that I am afraid of my plane crashing. Oh no... I am afraid of flight cancellations, long lines and missed connections. Being stranded in an airport is what makes my hair stand on end. Last January, I sat in Chicago for seven hours waiting to continue my flight to Las Vegas. The flight into Chicago was 10 minutes late and although my plane was still at the gate I couldn't get on it. They had already given my seat away. I spent the rest of the day trying to get on a standby flight.

My friend Aprille slept in the San Franciso airport trying to get home after her plane was overbooked BY 100 PASSENGERS!!! The hotels were booked... so they gave her two food vouchers and wished her luck. They could have at least ordered in a few pizzas like in this story.

I just traveled to Atlanta for work and as I sat in a huge yet crowded Atlanta airport where the announcements came across as "Mirp mir muh puh puh duh too dah!" (which probably said "flight 123 gate change to gate 99, be there now or miss the plane") I started to realize how much I appreciate our little Rochester airport. Some people complain you can't hop on a direct flight to London from our airport, but it's got a lot going for it.

1. where else can you get to the airport in under 20 minutes? - I crack up when out-of-towners look at their watch and say "Welp, my flight leaves in five hours, I better head to the airport!)

2. you can park RIGHT NEXT TO THE AIRPORT - at other airports that is crazy talk. I am always amazed when I can walk right out of the airport into the garage and drive away. If you rent a car... it is parked RIGHT NEXT TO THE AIRPORT!

3. picking up friends and family on arriving flights is painless - If you are picking someone up you can either park, walk in and meet them or time it just right that you can pull up at arrivals and they can hop in. If you are quick about it and can get in and out in under half an hour the parking is free.

4. there are only two concourses - don't you love getting off the plane for a layover and realizing your connecting flight is at concourse F and you are parked at concourse A? Oh the shuttles, moving sidewalks and monorails... once I even got loaded into a giant room on tracks that rolled across the tarmac like an AT AT Walker from The Empire Strikes Back.

5. baggage claim - panic sets in when I don't see my bag coming around the conveyor belt of one of many huge luggage carousels at other airports. At ours it's like picking an apple from a farm stand.

Of course, being a small airport, there isn't a lot to choose from food wise when you are passing through. But remembering back to the Popeyes Chicken and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream consumed at the Atlanta Airport, maybe that isn't such a bad thing.

Labels: airport, travel