Vacation

Can't believe that June is nearly over and I have not been able to post anything entertaining, relevant or otherwise engaging for a while. It has been a busy month, much busier than anticipated. As the saying goes, "no rest for the wicked".

Starting my vacation in a few hours, will be flying to Ontario to visit family & friends. Looking forward to it. Actually, bringing my sister and nephew back with me for a visit in Vancouver. This is my nephew's (6 years old) first trip on an airplane, so exciting for him...and us.

Flying on the red-eye tonight, which is always an interesting experience. A few years ago on a similar trip, I woke up briefly to see two yellow eyes staring at me...needless to say this caused me to jar out of my seat slightly and utter a brief, muffled shriek. The flight attendant asked the passenger to place the cat back into the carrier. Of course, I chuckle about this incident now but at the time it was a little disconcerting.

This visit, we will see 'Evita' at the Stratford Festival. Can't wait, my mom has been wanting to see this musical for a few decades now, it will be a special evening.

At midnight June 29/30, my sister and I will be seeing the opening of 'Eclipse', getting very excited to see that, it is my favourite book of the Twilight Saga.

It will be an action-packed time - fun, frolick and frivolity awaits!

David Slade Writes a Note to Fans

In honour of the Twilight Facebook page reaching 6 million followers, David Slade, director of The Twilight Saga-Eclipse, wrote the following note:

Dear fans of The Twilight Saga,

I want to congratulate you for reaching over 6 million fans on The Twilight Saga Facebook page.

It's hard to fathom that it was just over one year ago that I started constructing this third and epic adventure which takes place in the town of Forks.

I want to share a story about one of our days of shooting with you.

It was a Friday night and the rain was relentless. We were at La Push to shoot the tribe's histories, a great speech by Billy Black. We had Taylor and Kristen and the whole wolf pack around a campfire as the heavens let loose on us.

Gil Birmingham was in fine form as the rain hammered down on us all, we adjusted our lights so that the rain vanished into the black of night.

We constructed a tent over the scene to keep everyone dry as we worked, every 15 minutes or so we would have to tip it to stop the collecting rain from splitting the fabric.

For some reason still unknown, around 3am, the wolf pack stood exactly in the way of several gallons of rainwater as it was being cleared. Being the wolf pack, they just laughed it off as they stood there soaked to the bone.

We worked through the mud and the rain all night, until we had the scene perfected.

As we left, dawn was now cracking and in the dim light I passed a small army of fans who had braved the weather for the entire night, still standing there, holding drenched flowers and waiting to get a glimpse of our actors.

So, to those of you who stood behind our security, who waited in line at theatres overnight, to those of you who just love these stories, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is a love letter to you.

Each day I felt the weight of your favourite scenes, your favourite lines, your dreams and your imagination.

It has been an unforgettable journey, and now as I finalise the last prints to ready the film for your local theaters, I cannot wait for you to see it.

Sincerest Regards,
DAVID SLADE

I actually remember that night David is talking about in the note. "LaPush" is actually Minnekhada Regional Park in Coquitlam, BC where 'Jacob Black's' house is located. I wasn't one of the Twi-hards waiting all night in the pouring rain, however Gil Birmingham who plays Jacob's dad, Billy Black, tweeted throughout that night about the progress of this scene and how wet and cold it was. I recall being thankful I didn't have to be outside. They began filming shortly after 7pm and it was completed very early morning.

It has been said that David Slade is a perfectionist, so expectations are high for Eclipse. It is my favourite book of the series and I certainly look forward to the finished product on June 29.

The Twilight Saga - Eclipse Soundtrack

The people behind the new Eclipse Soundtrack streamed the entire deluxe version online on June 2. A novel approach to marketing and/or building of anticipation until the release of the movie on June 30. Believe me, a true Twi-hard will not require a build-up to the release of Eclipse.

I have listened to each song now a number of times, and in my opinion is the best soundtrack yet in the Saga. I loved the Twilight soundtrack, not so much the New Moon soundtrack, although I loved New Moon's score.

Some of my early Eclipse favourites: The Bravery - Ours; Florence + the Machine - Heavy in Your Arms; Sia - My Love; Atlas - Fanfarlo; The Black Keys - Chop and Change; Beck & Bat for Lashes - Let's Get Lost; UNKLE - With You in My Head; Howard Shore - Jacob's Theme (can't wait for the score); Battles - The Line; Bombay Bicycle Club - How Can You Swallow So Much; Atlast (The Time and Space) Fanfarlo remix; Cee Lo Green (Johan Hugo) - What Part of Forever. Basically I have just listed most of the soundtrack - which is rare as there is usually one, two or three songs that stand out.

Chop Shop Records, Atlantic Records and Summit Entertainment must be very happy about this-I predict the soundtrack will be a bestseller for a number of weeks this summer.