Non-Easter and Kevin James

• Location: Train station in CT
• Date: March 30, 2008
• Description: yellow crane with an olive branch on one wing and the phrase “let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me” on the other wing

Part of my sojourn into central Connecticut was a non-Easter dinner with my family. Seth and I stayed at my parents’ house. Bright and early Sunday morning, I asked my dad (Hi Dad!) if he’d like to leave a crane with me. He said yes, and then we brainstormed places to leave cranes that weren’t stores. The train station was a winner, and so we went. Truth be told, I don’t think it was as exciting as my dad hoped. The train station was empty except for a guy taking pictures of the train tracks; the doors were locked. It’s too bad, really — the train station is very pretty on the inside. Oh well. I’d like to take a minute and point out the golf ball in the far left of this photo. What’s it doing there? How did it get behind the fencing? Will my crane be there as long as the golf ball? We’ll never know….

Tonight, Seth and I stopped by the Burlington mall. They’re filming a movie there! We hung around to see if Kevin James would magically appear on set. He didn’t. But the mall is all decorated for Christmas, and they film at night, and they have a place to sign up if you want to be an extra. They also have this:

A giant ball pit! I wanted to dive in, but they have it blocked off and people with headsets are everywhere telling you not to loiter. I imagine they’d throw a fit if I dove in. Maybe I’d get arrested? That would be a funny charge: arrested for diving into a pit of balls. Ha.

More of the set was off to the left of this photo, but they asked us not to stand and stare, and some parts of the mall were roped off. We saw at least two of the actors, some set pieces, cameras, lots of wires, and a man dressed as a security guard riding around a Segway-type machine — not sure if he was an actor or a real Burlington Mall security guard. Also, if you look at the minivan in this photo, you’ll notice that the back is dented. I’d like to see if they manage to get that in any shots of the movie.

That’s it. There were a bunch of bros [#3] wearing headsets telling us not to stand too close, and one guy that I would describe as a tool, just from the clothes he was wearing and the way he was dancing and then pointing at people with both hands as he walked by. And the director, yelling for people to be quiet. Maybe one night I’ll go to the mall in my winter clothes (even though it was 70 degrees today) and sign up to be an extra.