Backlot T-Rex and Alpaca Express

            N and I were watching a new holographic projection of Ghost Busters when I pointed out that we'd been here.

            "What do you mean, here?"

            "The Universal Studios back lot, remember?" I jumped up on the steps and pointed out the concrete lions.

            "Oh yes! I want to go back!"

            So we did. T-Rex was with us and the noise and confusion of the current production sent him running into a nearby sound stage. We raced after him. The guard at the stage door almost didn't let us in until I told him we were with the cat. "Sorry, go right in."

            We went in. I called for T-Rex and he meowed, then slunk out to me, making his way across a pile of boxes and under a pipe then over a parked car.

            "Did you get that shot?"  Yelled a director, who looked a lot like John Candy.  “That was perfect!”

            "Got it!" came the reply.

            The director came over and thanked me for the shot, explaining that he was only just ready, and could we do it again.

            I apologized, told him we were tourists who'd been sidetracked.

            "Wow he looks almost exactly like Gunpowder!"

            T-Rex fidgeted, thinking about running away again. "Call him by name, T-Rex and he'll calm down."

            "Hello T-Rex, you've got a big name. Do you want to be a stand in for Gunpowder?"

            T-Rex immediately calmed down at being called by name and leaned over to great the director. The director scratched his head.

            "I like this one better, he didn't try to bite me." He looked at N and I, "Come back to the quiet room and lets talk a bit. How'd you like to work on my film for a couple of days?"

            N and I shrugged and went with him. A couple of twins were doing homework in the quiet room; their tutor was trying to explain something as we entered. The cat distracted the kids immediately. We introduced him, they took to T-Rex immediately, and to his credit, he let them pet him and hold him, he hugged them around the neck just like he does with me.

            "Get me the cat makeup lady, I really like this cat, we got to get a shot of this for the film. Look at him." The director ran off to find the person he was yelling after.  T-Rex was nuzzling one of the twins making her giggle.

            Just to make conversation I asked the kids what they were working on. "Math," was the disappointed reply.

            I went off into some story about ancient astronomers and how they discovered the very thing they were now learning, but because no one had thought of it before how it was all new and shiny. The story made them laugh, and more importantly, made them take another look at what they were doing. Mom came over and asked if I wouldn't mind tutoring them.

            N and I gave the whole tourist speal, yet again. While explaining, the cat makeup lady came in with Gunpowder and the cat wrangler. Gunpowder was marked very similarly to T-Rex, only his face was symmetrical. We got to talking, and discovered that they'd bought him with three other tuxedo kittens in a pet shop in San Marcos. I asked them the date. It was T-Rex's brother, or at least one of the kittens that was on sale the same time he was. They sniffed and checked one another out, bad idea, normally. But T-Rex was so on the over-stimulated-edge of things he actually calmed down to have another cat around. The makeup and cat wrangler talked a bit, and decided that Gunpowder would get a spot of black dye to make him match T-Rex's face, since they already had film of T-Rex . And they would bleach a "T" on his back leg to match. Otherwise they were close enough. I was amazed that T was calm through the whole thing. The twins insisted on seeing the make up happen, and were delighted that the twins had twin cats. There were lots of photos.

            T-Rex's willingness to come when called was a great help in shooting the next few scenes. They used Gunpowder for all of the opening doors and cages and running through tunnels shots, then T-Rex again for all of the close-up shots with the twins (who also were playing a single character.) It was great fun, and afterwards they put us up in a nearby hotel. The hotel offered T-Rex his own room, but we insisted he spend the night with us.

            Gunpowder was a famous character from children's books I’d never heard about. The hotel concierge found us several copies, and the books were delivered to the room. There was plenty of leeway for the look of Gunpowder, not a single cover had a painting of the same cat on them, one wasn't even really a tuxedo cat.    

Now, the really funny part of the dream: My name was on the cover of the books.

 

            The name AlpacaExpress.com kept running through my head. The obsessive thing again, I GOT IT, OK, sheesh! Let me go back to sleep.

            Discovered during lunch: For AlpacaExpress there is an available site at register.com - alpacaexpress.com, but it is essentially up for auction as the original owners (likely the afore mentioned Register.com themselves, I'm not cynical am I?) have let the lease lapse. I'd like to get that for Stellanova News © as it used to be "Delivered by Alpaca Express, Really ->o-." Not paying $60 for it though as I haven't yet worked out an income generating plan to make it pay for itself.

 

Ad astra per technica,

FF