An Overly Complicated Avril Update

Oh Avril, why can't you just admit that your real name is Abigail Levine and that your father is a rabbi in Queens?

So today was an exciting day for me (no duh, dude, I've been talking aboot it for like forever now). Avril is gonna be on the show, the Pats are gonna be in the house, and who knows what other craziness. Let's say I was a wee bit giddy and overexcited heading off to work today. I started off the day by taking a group of AARP members on a studio tour. The tour was a bit weird as they told me after half an hour that they had to be back on their bus in about ten minutes (the tours are usually an hour and a half). So I had to rush a bunch of seniors around like crazy - note: this is not easy.

Cool thing # 1: I take the group up to the Tonight Show studio for the tour only to find AVRIL LAVIGNE REHEARSING!!! Arrgh, the music was too loud for the AARP'ers to take or to hear me over, so we quickly, to my dismay, had to exit and get on with things.

But:

Soon afterwards, after being mocked by my coworkers and after dealing with crazy people calling NBC, it was time for me to go BACKSTAGE at the Tonight Show to fill in as lunchtime CB, meaning I signed in any people arriving to rehearse for the show. So I'm waiting and looking out for any signs of you know who, only to be greeted by some dude who is going to be exploding a watermelon on his head tommorow night and by some guy delivering lunch for Kevin Eubanks. All the while, in the room right next to me, I could hear Avril and her bandmates and stylist, etc. joking around. Some of her band guys came out and I said hello, but where was the Skater Girl herself? Well, I did see her walk by a few times in a hurry but didn't get to say anything and she was obscured by all her peoples. So my shift was almost over and still nada. The talent coordinator comes around and starts talking, asking me how I'm enjoying things at NBC. I tell her I'm doing well and really liking it. Am I doing okay with the CB job? Yeah, I explain, I'm a big Avril fan and Patriots fan so I'm psyched for the show today. Did I see Avril yet? Um, no. not really ... But WAIT, points out the woman, there she is coming this way RIGHT NOW! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!! So I look up and see Ms. Lavigne with a bunch of what I assume are her friends, chums, peeps, what have you. As they walk by I look up, smile, and say "Hey guys, how's it going?" At which point Avril turns towards me, smiles, and says "Hey."


Daaaaaaaaaamn.


See, I could gloss over that detail and just say "yeah, I met Avril today and it was awesome" or somesuch exaggeration, but I am giving you the blow by blow REALITY of what happened and not embellishing. I was talking about this very idea with some girls in line for the show who were telling me how they met Actors A B and C and I said "now what do you mean by "met?" And they were like "oh, well we just said hello, really." So if that's what "met" means then yes, I met Avril Lavigne today. But she DID say hi to me so yeah, I had my thrill for the day.

The show itself was very high-energy and fun today., I like to think part of that was how my enthusiasm carried over into the people in line. I got all Patriots fans or Patriot supporters in line rallied and psyched up to see Bill Bellicheck and Deon Branch, and talked pop songs with some of the Avril fans in attendance. Jay Leno seemed to be on his game with the monologue and the house band had some really sweet songs they did today during the commercial breaks. A really funny Jay Walking segment to start the show, with random people from the nearby Oakwood Apartments (where fellow Camp Shalom alum Matt Silver stayed when he was studying here in LA last semester through Emerson) imitating different musical stars. Annete Benning was the lead guest. Eh, okay interview but not the most exciting. Being Julia seems like a pretty cool movie though that I wouldn't mind checking out. Next up, representing NEW ENGLAND, was the winning coach and MVP of the Superbowl. Pretty low-key guys, so not the most exciting interview, but I liked how they cast New Englanders as very humble, polite, and down to earth people.

I actually was very impressed with Avril's performance. She can legit sing and play guitar, and her voice is actually really good despite what I have heard others report to the contrary. Not only did she really nail her "Nobody's Home," but she did it TWICE. Technical difficulties forced her to do the whole song over again, and she was a trooper and did it again just as good if not better than before (though she did look pretty annoyed when she heard she was going to have to do that). She quickly left the stage after so there weren't too many problems at all with crowd control and whatnot after the show. I did run into one of her band members after and told him nice job and I really liked the performance. I will also note how it's crazy how seeing her backstage she looks like any normal girl you might see at BU or whatever, but it's only on stage, decked out in full rocker attire, and with her makeup and hair done in her trademark style, that she is fully transformed into Avril Lavigne: Punk-Pop Princess.

So yeah, that was my day in a nutshell. Pretty cool, huh?

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

- LOST - Excellent episode tonight, the first new one in a while - lot's of high drama and nail-biting suspense, as I was really gripped by what was happening and how the castaways would deal with the murderous Ethan Rom. The ending was appropriately brutal and shocking, and had a lot of cool dynamics between the characters, most intriguingly with Jack being forced to trust Sawyer with a gun, which will definitely lead to some interesting stuff down the road (or, from the previews, maybe by next week). I will say that the flashbacks are getting a little bit excessive, and I don't see why they always need to have them, especially in a plot-heavy episode like this one. But, still a darn good, thrill-packed installment of TV's best new show. My grade:
A-

- Just a quick thought that JACK AND BOBBY may have had it's best episode yet tonight. They are really improving this show by leaps and bounds and making the characters more well rounded and less annoying lately. Extremely good episode - you should check out this show if you haven't seen it yet.


Man, what a day. One for the books.