Not a whole lot to report today. I saw Megan Fox again, from much further away this time. She wore something red and very tight. The scene appeared to be “girls with bags walking down the path.” Security is way tighter, no photos and many more barricades. 

A coworker of mine met Shia LaBeouf yesterday around 6:00 pm as he was leaving work. He said Shia was very nice and personable, signed autographs for everyone and even let people take pictures with him.

Earlier today I heard one of the security people in my building saying they needed to use our property for filming something involving a car. I doubt I’ll get to see it, which is sad because I really wanted to see untransformed transformers much more than the human celebrity types. Oh well!

According to rumor, filming ends this weekend, so that’s it from me!

The Transformers 2 set proved to be much more eventful today. This morning there were people with orange logo passes around their necks milling around. They also covered the mini love sign with something that may be meant to look like ivy but really looks more like ratty green cargo netting.

When I went to the library at lunch I walked through gaggles of waiting extras, more security and far more equipment. Many of the female extras appeared incredibly overdressed and heavily made up, while the males mostly wore long shorts and t-shirts.

Then, on my way back from the library I noticed a group of extras had been taken off to one side. I chose that particular path and ended up walking right past Megan Fox with a blonde actress I didn’t recognize. They both wore ridiculously tall shoes, more makeup than I think I’ve ever seen, are rail thin and looked fairly miserable.

On my other side: Michael Bay with his signature tucked in button down shirt open down the chest and feathered hair. I have no idea how he keeps his hair like that in this humidity. Must be Hollywood magic!

I think that’s about as good as it’s going to get for me. When I passed by later after eating lunch they had the area I walked through roped off and even more security. I have to pass through on the way to the train again in a few hours, if they let me.

After our morning walk, Dugan (Erin’s dog: 9 month old Golden Retriever) and I were sitting in Erin’s backyard- I was reading the paper and he was watching ants and birds. I read about Parking Wars, a new show starting tonight on A & E at 10pm. The first episode focuses on Philadelphia Parking Authority workers- the meter maids and the boot people and the tow truck guys.

I thought it looked interesting. The hopes are that folks like you and me will watch it and look at said workers in a different light. I mean, duuuuuuuude, they are just working. Just like I’m working now, you’re working now, your roomate is working only a couple hours, etc…

So I left. I left thinking that maybe I’d watch this show, at least the first half because duuuuuuuuuuude Rob & Big also starts tonight, it’s third season.

I drove down to Main Street, thinking I’d run into Starbucks and then head downtown. I saw the dude, walking down the street slowly- his little computer thing dangling from a strap slung over his shoulder. I had no change. I never have change. Poop, change would be amazing…wouldn’t it Poop…yes! But no, so I scooted into a spot. The meter was expired, but the man was now strolling across the street and it shouldn’t take long for an iced mocha in one of those sizes…
Ha
Yeah, I came out and I had a ticket and the parking fella was now halfway down the block- How did he get down there so fast!

I will not watch Parking Wars.
But you should.

And duuuuuuuuuuuuude, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia…no one, no one at all told me how great that show is. No one. And it hurts.
DAVE EGGERS tonight at THE free LIBRARY…7pm…seating kind of limited- i.e. it’s going to be kind of crowded because it’s Dave Eggers. He’s that guy, that guy who wrote the crazy book about himself and the other one about running around the world and now that book about the kid from Sudan who walked to Atlanta- only to get his house robbed…yes, that Dave Eggers. Eggers who will probably maybe the voice of our generation…I really thought that would have been Britney Spea….DAVE EGGERS TONIGHT GO I AM TELLING YOU AS A FRIEND- IT WILL BE EDUCATIONALLY SUPER.

Fun, fun…enjoy the good weather, Philadelphia.

p.s. The Phillies resigned Jayson Werth…and the Lord rejoiced over greater Philadelphia, blanketing us with golden rays of splintered sun and unseasonably reasonably outstanding weather.

Duke vs Temple, tomorrow night at the Wachovia Center. Hmmm…basketball!

Ha! I’m wrong more than I’m right, and I write more than I’m wrong…

TUESDAY not WEDNESDAY, Dave Eggers will be at the Free Library. But hey, feel free to swing by the library Wednesday too. I don’t think anyone is speaking, but there might be some homeless dude in fiction who’d probably be willing to tell you some tales.

Have you read What is the What yet? I finished it early, early, early Saturday morning and immediately jumped onto this here interweb to research more about Sudan and the plight of the story’s subject, Valetino Achak Deng. Pretty heavy stuff, dude. Heavy.
But the book is amazing.

And you know what else is amazing?
Juno.
I saw it Saturday afternoon at the Ritz at the Bourse - my first time at that Bourse and you know, I like the escalators, made me feel like I was at Disney World - and as soon as it was over, I turned to my sister and said- I’m just going to stay and watch the next one.

I love Juno.
I love the movie Juno.
I love the writing.
I love the music.
I love the parents.
I love Juno…specifically Juno of Juno, Ellen Page as Juno.
Coming home Saturday night, I said that Juno might be my ideal woman and in fact, I think that YES indeed she is my ideal woman.
“You’re ideal woman is a pregnant teenage chick?” Allison, Big’s ladyfriend, asked.
“Apparently.”

And duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude… The Wire???

I was standing in Target this afternoon, looking for a dress for a friend’s wedding (I know, big spender) when I overheard a woman talking excitedly into her cell phone.

“Your dad saw Bono this afternoon! He was taking a walk over his lunch hour and spotted him, tinted sunglasses and all, in front of the Inquirer building.”

The U2 front man is in town to receive the Liberty Medal for the work he’s done with his organization DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa). The Liberty Medal will be presented tonight at the National Constitution Center and is awarded each year to a person who has “demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty of conscience or freedom from oppression, ignorance or deprivation.” It comes with a $100,000 prize.

For those of you who missed out on the limited free tickets that were given out for the award ceremony, you can watch it via live webcast starting at 7 pm. If you want an abridged version of the presentation, around 9 pm this evening, they’ll have an edited version available that will clock in at an easy two minutes.

Apparently, rumor has it that former long-time NBC10 weather guy John Bolaris is planning a return to Philly from his current digs in NYC. He left five years ago for a stint at WCBS but now is hinting at his intention to return, possibly because WCBS demoted him to the weekend weather. Last month the Daily News reported that he might be heading for Fox29 but that is totally unconfirmed right now.

I would be thrilled to have John Bolaris back in Philly, as I used to watch him with my grandparents when I would visit, long before I ever moved here permanently. My grandmother always had something of a crush on him, and so I feel a certain amount of transplanted affection.

A couple of years ago, I heard a rumor through a friend that one of the guys I had gone to high school with had auditioned for American Idol. It turned out to be true and he even made one of the early episodes sometime in the third season, as one of the people that they ridicule and then send off the stage in shame. I later heard that he was still thrilled to have had the experience, those five minutes of humiliating fame had been totally worth it in his opinion.

Next Monday, August 27th, wannabe American Idols from all over the Philadelphia area will have the opportunity to try out for their own five, ten or fifteen minutes of fame, when the American Idol producers bring the auditions to the Wachovia Center. If you want to be one of the ones to try out, I recommend getting there early. Try two days early, as the line opens at 6 am on Saturday, August 25th.

Liza Minnelli will be at the Prince Music Theater 2007 Gala for one night only, Tuesday May 15th. Seating is limited to 450 people who will get to see and hear Liza up close and personal, singing favorites, ‘Caberet’, ‘New York, New York’ and hear Liza premiere the songs of Kay Thompson.
This is a major event for the Prince and all the stops have been pulled out. Tickets will go fast so act now.

Beware drivers, as I have a feeling that traffic in the Philadelphia region is going to be mightly screwed up on January 27th, because Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall (the former Camilla Parker Bowles) will be visiting our city. It is a Saturday, so the impact won’t be as intense as it might have been had they been showing up on a weekday, but I’m sure that it will cause some closures and rerouting.

It is a cool visit though, because they’re coming in part to check out our city’s award-winning Mural Arts Program.

There’s a royal visit in Phila.’s future [Inquirer]

Philadelphia native, Cheyney University graduate and ‘60 Minutes’ reporter Ed Bradley died today of leukemia at the age of 65. He started his career as a DJ at Philly’s WDAS and got his first taste of reporting when he covered the North Philadelphia riots in the late 1960’s. Over the course of his reporting career, Bradley won 19 Emmys and broke much ground for African-Americans in the field of television journalism.

He will be missed.

Ed Bradley of ‘60 Minutes’ dead at 65 [Yahoo News]